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At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of his place.
Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth.
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
After it a voice roareth: he thundereth with the voice of his excellency; and he will not stay them when his voice is heard.
God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend.
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?
Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind?
Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?
Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness.
Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up.
And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.
Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty.
Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict.
Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

37:11 wearieth the thick cloud. Although the language is figurative, the meteorology is accurate. The mystery of the “balancing of the clouds,” keeping them aloft against the force of gravity, is mentioned in Job 26:8 and 37:16. This mystery has been solved by modern science, so that it is now understood that the droplets of liquid water in the clouds are kept aloft by the force exerted by updrafts of wind. When the droplets coalesce to form large drops of water, however, then their weight can overcome these forces and the drops will fall to the ground as rain or snow. That is, by increased “watering,” the clouds become thick and can no longer maintain their stability, being “wearied,” so to speak. Note also Job 36:27,28. The condensation of water vapor into droplets and then into raindrops or snowflakes is apparently facilitated by electrical discharges in the atmosphere—the lightning, then thunder, then rain or snow. Note Job 37:3-6.


37:12 his counsels. The Hebrew word here actually means “steering” or “guidance,” in that God “steers” the storm in such a way as to accomplish His purpose. This purpose could be threefold (Job 37:13) as follows: (1) correction, calling people back to acknowledge His sovereign power; (2) land, providing cleansing and nourishment for regions needing it; (3) mercy, sending water to those people meriting and praying for it.


37:15 Dost thou know. Elihu’s challenge to Job could still be posed today. The phenomena of the water cycle (winds, clouds, lightning, rainfall, run-off, evaporation, etc.) had been studied in detail and are understood in part. Nevertheless they are so vast and so complex that weather forecasting is still largely statistical, as much art as science.


37:22 out of the north. The word translated “fair weather” (Hebrew zahab) is used over 175 times in the Old Testament, but is translated “gold” in every instance except here. Thus it probably should read: “Gold cometh out of the north.” Almost certainly this refers to the “northern lights,” or Aurora Borealis, suggesting the “terrible majesty” of their Creator.


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