Job - 38:20



20 that you should take it to its bound, that you should discern the paths to its house?

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Job 38:20.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, And that thou shouldest discern the paths to the house thereof?
That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof.
That thou shouldest take it to its bound, and that thou shouldest know the paths to its house?
That thou dost take it unto its boundary, And that thou dost understand The paths of its house.
That you should take it to the bound thereof, and that you should know the paths to the house thereof?
So that you might take it to its limit, guiding it to its house?
In this way, you might lead each thing to its final place, and understand the paths of its house.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

That thou shouldest take it to the bounds thereof - Margin, "or, at." The sense seems to be this: God asks Job whether he was so well acquainted with the sources of light, and the place where it dwelt, that he could take it under his guidance and reconduct it to its place of abode.
And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? - The same idea is repeated here. Light has a home; a place of abode. It was far distant - in some region unknown to man. Did Job know the way in which it came, and the place where it dwelt so well, that he could conduct it back again to its own dwelling? Umbreit, Noyes, and Herder, suppose that this is to be understood ironically.
"For thou hast reached its boundaries!
For then knowest the path to its dwelling!"
But it has been commonly regarded as a question, and thus understood it accords better with the connection.

Shouldest take it to the bound thereof? - Or, as Mr. Good, translates, "That thou shouldest lay hold of it in its boundary." That thou shouldest go to the very spot where light commences, and where darkness ends; and see the house where each dwells. Here darkness and light are personified, each as a real intelligent being, having a separate existence and local dwelling. But poetry animates everything. It is the region of fictitious existence. I believe this verse should be translated thus: - "For thou canst take Us to its boundary; for thou knowest the paths to its house." This is a strong irony, and there are several others in this Divine speech. Job had valued himself too much on his knowledge; and a chief object of this august speech is to humble his "knowing pride," and to cause him to seek true wisdom and humility where they are to be found.

That thou (n) shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?
(n) That you might appoint its highways and limits.

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,.... Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds;
and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see Psalm 19:4. And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

Dost thou know its place so well as to be able to guide, ("take" as in Isaiah 36:17) it to (but UMBREIT, "reach it in") its own boundary, that is, the limit between light and darkness (Job 26:10)?

Take it - Bring or lead it: and this it refers principally to the light, and to darkness, as the consequent of the other. Bound - Its whole course from the place of its abode whence it is supposed to come, to the end of its journey. Know - Where thou mayst find it, and whence thou mayst fetch it.

*More commentary available at chapter level.


Discussion on Job 38:20

User discussion of the verse.






*By clicking Submit, you agree to our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.