# Job 38.12

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-05-06 | updated: 2026-05-06 -->

**Book:** [Job](/codex/job/) · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 10. And marked out for it my bound, And set bars and doors, 11. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
>
> **12. Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days began, And caused the dayspring to know its place;**
>
> 13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it? 14. It is changed as clay under the seal; And all things stand forth as a garment: (Job 38:10-14, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 10. marked out for it my bound, set bars and doors, 11. and said, ‘Here you may come, but no further. Here your proud waves shall be stayed?’
>
> **12. “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;**
>
> 13. that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it? 14. It is changed as clay under the seal, and presented as a garment. (Job 38:10-14, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 10. And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, <sup>brake: or, established my decree upon it</sup> 11. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? <sup>thy: Heb. the pride of thy waves</sup>
>
> **12. Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;**
>
> 13. That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it? <sup>ends: Heb. wings</sup> 14. It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. (Job 38:10-14, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 10. And I measure over it My statute, And place bar and doors, 11. And say, 'Hitherto come thou, and add not, And a command is placed On the pride of thy billows.'
>
> **12. Hast thou commanded morning since thy days? Causest thou the dawn to know its place?**
>
> 13. To take hold on the skirts of the earth, And the wicked are shaken out of it, 14. It turneth itself as clay of a seal And they station themselves as clothed. (Job 38:10-14, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** narrator + Job + friends + LORD (multi-voiced dialogue)
- **Audience:** wisdom-tradition Israel
- **Location:** land of Uz (Edomite region)
- **Time period:** events possibly patriarchal-era; composed unclear, likely c. 1500-500 BC

## Theological reading

## Key words

- [H3045 - yada](/codex/h3045-yada/), *yada* (Strong's H3045). Also appears in: [Genesis 3](/codex/genesis-3/), [Genesis 12](/codex/genesis-12/), [Genesis 19](/codex/genesis-19/).

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.