Job 38 · Verse 9

Job 38:9

When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
Job 38:9, King James Version

Job 38:9 in other translations

BSBwhen I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
WEBwhen I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
ASVWhen I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it,
YLTIn My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band,
DARBYWhen I made the cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it;
BBEWhen I made the cloud its robe, and put thick clouds as bands round it,
WebsterWhen I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it,

What does Job 38:9 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 When I make the cloud the garment - Alluding to the cloth in which the new-born infant is first received. The cloud was the same to the newly raised vapor, as the above recipient to the new-born child. And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it - Here is also an allusion to the first dressings of the new-born child: it is swathed in order to support the body, too tender to bear even careful handling without some medium between the hand of the nurse and the flesh of the child. "The image," says Mr. Good, "is exquisitely maintained: the new-born ocean is represented as issuing from the womb of chaos; and its dress is that of the new-born infant." There is here an allusion also to the creation, as described in Gen 1:1, Gen 1:2. Darkness is there said to be on the face of the Deep. Here it is said, the thick darkness was a swaddlingband for the new-born Sea.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 38:4-11

For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance, even concerning the earth and the sea. As we cannot find fault with God's work, so we need not fear concerning it. The works of his providence, as well as the work of creation, never can be broken; and the work of redemption is no less firm, of which Christ himself is both the Foundation and the Corner-stone. The church stands as firm as the earth.

Read the full comment on Job 38:4-11 →

Job 38:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

בְּשׂוּמִ֣יbe.su.Miwhen made IH7760
עָנָ֣ן'a.Nancloud[s]H6051
לְבֻשׁ֑וֹle.vu.Shoclothing itsH3830
וַ֝עֲרָפֶ֗לva.'a.ra.Feland thick darknessH6205
חֲתֻלָּתֽוֹ\׃cha.tu.la.Toswaddling-band itsH2854

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 38:9

  • Genesis 1:2

    And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thick.
Ge 1:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 38:8

    Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?

  • Job 38:9

    When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,

  • Job 38:10

    And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,

Read all of Job 38

Job 38:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Cuando puse yo nubes por vestidura suya, y por su faja oscuridad.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Quand je fis de la nuée son vêtement, et de l’obscurité ses langes;
German
Elberfelder 1871		als ich Gewölk zu seinem Gewande und Wolkendunkel zu seiner Windel machte,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		cum ponerem nubem vestimentum ejus, et caligine illud quasi pannis infantiæ obvolverem?