Passage

Job 38

Book: Job · NASB95

Job 38 opens YHWH's whirlwind speech (Job 38-41), the climactic divine answer that follows thirty-five chapters of human debate over Job's suffering. God does not explain the wager of Job 1-2 or audit Job's righteousness; instead He cross-examines Job through some seventy unanswerable questions about cosmology, meteorology, zoology, and astronomy. The chapter is the Bible's most extended argument for what contemporary philosophers call cognitive asymmetry between Creator and creature, and it is the load-bearing biblical anchor for Skeptical Theism as a response to the evidential Problem of Evil.

Key verses

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 'Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me! Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding...'" (Job 38:1-4, NASB95)

"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this." (Job 38:17-18, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Then Jehovah answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel By words without knowledge? 3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; For I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. 4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. 5. Who determined the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who stretched the line upon it? 6. Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened? Or who laid the corner - stone thereof, 7. When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, When it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb; 9. When I made clouds the garment thereof, And thick darkness a swaddling-band for it, 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: 15. And from the wicked their light is withholden, And the high arm is broken. 16. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep? 17. Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee? Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18. Hast thou comprehended the earth in its breadth? Declare, if thou knowest it all. 19. Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof, 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof? 21. Doubtless, thou knowest, for thou wast then born, And the number of thy days is great! 22. Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, Or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, Against the day of battle and war? 24. By what way is the light parted, Or the east wind scattered upon the earth? 25. Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder; 26. To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27. To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, And to cause the tender grass to spring forth? 28. Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? 30. The waters hide themselves and become like stone, And the face of the deep is frozen. 31. Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades, Or loose the bands of Orion? 32. Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train? 33. Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth? 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover thee? 35. Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are? 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who hath given understanding to the mind? 37. Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven, 38. When the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together? 39. Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40. When they couch in their dens, And abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41. Who provideth for the raven his prey, When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?" (Job 38:1-41, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind, 2. “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3. Brace yourself like a man, for I will question you, then you answer me! 4. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if you have understanding. 5. Who determined its measures, if you know? Or who stretched the line on it? 6. Whereupon were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7. when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8. “Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke out of the womb, 9. when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness, 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. 15. From the wicked, their light is withheld. The high arm is broken. 16. “Have you entered into the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in the recesses of the deep? 17. Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? 18. Have you comprehended the earth in its width? Declare, if you know it all. 19. “What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is its place, 20. that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house? 21. Surely you know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great! 22. Have you entered the treasuries of the snow, or have you seen the treasures of the hail, 23. which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? 24. By what way is the lightning distributed, or the east wind scattered on the earth? 25. Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm; 26. To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man; 27. to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow? 28. Does the rain have a father? Or who fathers the drops of dew? 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? The gray frost of the sky, who has given birth to it? 30. The waters become hard like stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen. 31. “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades, or loosen the cords of Orion? 32. Can you lead the constellations out in their season? Or can you guide the Bear with her cubs? 33. Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish its dominion over the earth? 34. “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That abundance of waters may cover you? 35. Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’ 36. Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind? 37. Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky, 38. when the dust runs into a mass, and the clods of earth stick together? 39. “Can you hunt the prey for the lioness, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, 40. when they crouch in their dens, and lie in wait in the thicket? 41. Who provides for the raven his prey, when his young ones cry to God, and wander for lack of food?" (Job 38:1-41, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 2. Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? 3. Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. ^{answer: Heb. make me know} 4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. ^{hast: Heb. knowest understanding} 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? 6. Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; ^{foundations: Heb. sockets} ^{fastened: Heb. made to sink?} 7. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8. Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? 9. When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, 10. And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, ^{brake: or, established my decree upon it} 11. And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? ^{thy: Heb. the pride of thy waves} 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? ^{ends: Heb. wings} 14. It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. 15. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. 16. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth? 17. Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death? 18. Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. 19. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? ^{to the bound: or, at, etc} 21. Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great? 22. Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, 23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? 24. By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth? 25. Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; 26. To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27. To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? 28. Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? 30. The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. ^{is: Heb. is taken} 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? ^{Pleiades: or, the seven stars: Heb. Cimah} ^{Orion: Heb. Cesil?} 32. Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? ^{Mazzaroth: or, the twelve signs} ^{guide: Heb. guide them} 33. Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth? 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee? 35. Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are? ^{Here: Heb. Behold us?} 36. Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? 37. Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, ^{stay: Heb. cause to lie down} 38. When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together? ^{groweth: or, is turned into mire: Heb. is poured} 39. Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, ^{the appetite: Heb. the life} 40. When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? 41. Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat." (Job 38:1-41, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And Jehovah answereth Job out of the whirlwind, and saith:, 2. Who [is] this, darkening counsel, By words without knowledge? 3. Gird, I pray thee, as a man, thy loins, And I ask thee, and cause thou Me to know. 4. Where wast thou when I founded earth? Declare, if thou hast known understanding. 5. Who placed its measures, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched out upon it a line? 6. On what have its sockets been sunk? Or who hath cast its corner-stone? 7. In the singing together of stars of morning, And all sons of God shout for joy, 8. And He shutteth up with doors the sea, In its coming forth, from the womb it goeth out. 9. In My making a cloud its clothing, And thick darkness its swaddling band, 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. 15. And withheld from the wicked is their light, And the arm lifted up is broken. 16. Hast thou come in to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Hast thou walked up and down? 17. Revealed to thee were the gates of death? And the gates of death-shade dost thou see? 18. Thou hast understanding, Even unto the broad places of earth! Declare, if thou hast known it all. 19. Where [is] this, the way light dwelleth? And darkness, where [is] this, its place? 20. That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house. 21. Thou hast known, for then thou art born And the number of thy days [are] many! 22. Hast thou come in unto the treasure of snow? Yea, the treasures of hail dost thou see? 23. That I have kept back for a time of distress, For a day of conflict and battle. 24. Where [is] this, the way light is apportioned? It scattereth an east wind over the earth. 25. Who hath divided for the flood a conduit? And a way for the lightning of the voices? 26. To cause [it] to rain on a land, no man, A wilderness, no man in it. 27. To satisfy a desolate and waste place, And to cause to shoot up The produce of the tender grass? 28. Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29. From whose belly came forth the ice? And the hoar-frost of the heavens, Who hath begotten it? 30. As a stone waters are hidden, And the face of the deep is captured. 31. Dost thou bind sweet influences of Kimah? Or the attractions of Kesil dost thou open? 32. Dost thou bring out Mazzaroth in its season? And Aysh for her sons dost thou comfort? 33. Hast thou known the statutes of heaven? Or dost thou appoint Its dominion in the earth? 34. Dost thou lift up to the cloud thy voice, And abundance of water doth cover thee? 35. Dost thou send out lightnings, and they go And say unto thee, 'Behold us?' 36. Who hath put in the inward parts wisdom? Or who hath given To the covered part understanding? 37. Who doth number the clouds by wisdom? And the bottles of the heavens, Who doth cause to lie down, 38. In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together? 39. Dost thou hunt for a lion prey? And the desire of young lions fulfil? 40. When they bow down in dens, Abide in a thicket for a covert? 41. Who doth prepare for a raven his provision, When his young ones cry unto God? They wander without food." (Job 38:1-41, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: YHWH, addressing Job out of a whirlwind (se`arah); the same theophanic storm-form that accompanies Sinai (Exodus 19), Elijah (1 Kings 19), and Ezekiel's call (Ezekiel 1:4)
Audience: Job, after his three friends (Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar) have exhausted their retribution-theology, and after Elihu's preparatory speech (Job 32-37)
Location: Uz, an unidentified land east of Israel (likely north Arabia or Edom-adjacent)
Time period: patriarchal setting (no Mosaic Law, sacrifices offered by family head, lifespans in the centuries); literary composition contested, with some scholars dating to the Solomonic wisdom period (~10th c. BC), others post-exilic (6th-4th c. BC)

Theological reading

The form of the answer is the answer. God does not respond to Job's question (why am I suffering?) with a why-explanation. He responds with seventy interrogatives about creation that Job cannot answer. The argumentative move is not concession or evasion: it is a demonstration that the epistemic gap between God's perspective on cosmic order and Job's perspective on his own suffering is so vast that Job is not in a position to draw the inference "my suffering is unjust because I see no reason for it." The conclusion Job reaches in 42:3 ("I have declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know") is the theodicy: not that the suffering had no reason, but that the absence-of-evident-reason carries no weight against a maker whose competence the cosmos itself attests.

The content of the cross-examination tracks the cosmological argument. The questions cluster around themes the modern apologist re-deploys as theistic arguments: foundations of the earth (cosmological fine-tuning, vv. 4-7), boundary of the sea (anthropic constraints, vv. 8-11), morning-stars-singing-together (joy and beauty as data, v. 7), the constellations Pleiades, Orion, Mazzaroth (astronomical order, vv. 31-33), the lioness and the raven (providential care extending past human concern, vv. 39-41). The chapter functions in the canon as God's own argument-from-design (cf. Romans 1:18-21; Psalms 19:1-6).

The whirlwind is a refusal of the friends' theology. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had insisted that suffering tracks sin and prosperity tracks righteousness, a tight retribution principle. God's speech does not concede this principle; it dwarfs it. The lioness eats; the raven's young cry to God; the wild ox cannot be domesticated. The cosmos is not a courtroom where each consequence is owed; it is a maker's house where the maker's purposes exceed the audit any creature could perform. This is why Job 42:7 has God rebuke the friends ("you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has") rather than Job: Job questioned God honestly; the friends defended God with a theology that flattens Him.

Skeptical Theism reads this chapter as the Bible's own meta-argument about evil. The skeptical theist holds: even if no apparent reason explains a particular suffering, that does not entail no reason exists, because creatures have no way to assess the space of all possible reasons a maximally-knowledgeable being might have. Job 38-41 is the canonical, narrative-form version of exactly that move. ris3n's Evidential Problem of Evil Defeater uses this chapter as the load-bearing scriptural anchor for the cognitive-asymmetry response.

Key words

H7307 - ruach, ruach (Strong's H7307), wind / spirit; cognate with the whirlwind imagery of v. 1, though the noun here is se`arah
H1254 - bara, bara' (Strong's H1254), the create verb undergirding the foundations-of-earth interrogation (vv. 4-7)
H3045 - yada, yada` (Strong's H3045), know / understand; the repeated demand "if you know" (vv. 4, 5, 18, 21, 33)
H7225 - reshit, reshit (Strong's H7225), beginning / first; conceptual pair with the foundations of the earth

Theological themes

Cognitive asymmetry. The creature is not positioned to audit the Creator; the gap between divine and human perspective is the chapter's argumentative engine.
Theodicy by demonstration, not explanation. God answers suffering not with reasons but with creation, showing the maker's competence rather than itemizing the case.
Creation as ongoing argument. The cosmos itself functions as evidence: foundations, sea-boundary, morning-stars, constellations, providential care.
Refusal of tight retribution theology. The friends' principle (suffering tracks sin) is rejected by the chapter that follows (42:7).
Theophanic storm. The whirlwind joins Sinai, Carmel, and the chariot-vision as canonical theophany: God speaking in storm.

Cross-references

Job 42.5, Job's response: "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You"
Romans 11.33-36, the doxological parallel: "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!"
Isaiah 55.8-9, "My thoughts are not your thoughts", the same cognitive-asymmetry principle in prophetic form
Psalms 139.7-12, the closest psalmic parallel on divine inscrutability
Romans 1.18-21, the New Testament's argument-from-creation that parallels Job 38's structure

Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.