Job 37:12 Komentář

Elihu here goes on to extol the wonderful power of God in the meteors and all the changes of the weather: if, in those changes, we submit to the will of God, take the weather as it is and make the best of it, why should we not do so in other changes of our condition? Here he observes the hand of God, I. In the thunder and lightning (Job 37:1-5). II. In the frost and snow, the rains and wind (Job 37:6-13). III. He applies it to Job, and challenges him to solve the phenomena of these works of nature, that confessing his ignorance in them, he might own himself an incompetent judge in the proceedings of divine Providence, (Job 37:14-22). And then, IV. Concludes with his principle, which he undertook to make out, That God is great and greatly to be feared (Job 37:23, Job 37:24).

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 37 Elihu in this chapter proceeds to show the greatness of God as it appears in other of his works of nature, which greatly affected him, and to an attention to which he exhorts others, Job 37:1; particularly thunder and lightning, the direction, extent, and order of which he observes, Job 37:3; and then suggests that besides these there are other great things done by him, incomprehensible and unknown in various respects; as the snow, and rain, lesser and greater, which come on the earth at his command, and have such effect on men as to seal up their hands, and on the beasts of the field as to cause them to retire to their dens, and there remain, Job 37:5; and then he goes on to take notice of wind, and frost, and the clouds, and dispersion of them; their use and ends, whether in judgment or mercy, Job 37:9; and then calls on Job to consider these wondrous works of God, and remark how ignorant men are of the disposition of clouds for the rainbow; of the balancing of them; of the heat and quietness that come by the south wind, and of the firmness of the sky, Job 37:14; and from all this he concludes the terrible majesty, unsearchable nature of God, the excellency of his power and justice; and that men therefore should and do fear him, who is no respecter of persons, Job 37:21.

And it is turned round about by his counsels,.... The cloud is, and that by the wind, which is turned about to all points of the compass, according to the will of God; by the counsels of him who sits at the helm, as the word signifies, and orders all things according to the counsel of his own will: to which owing every shifting of the wind, and the various motions of the clouds; that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth; as all his creatures do; the several meteors in the air, clouds, stormy wind, fire, hail, snow, and vapour, all fulfilling his word; and which they do everywhere in the several parts of the world whither they are sent, Psa 107:25. So ministers of the word drop down or withhold the rain of Gospel doctrine, and carry it into the several places of the world, as the Lord directs them; see Isa 5:6.

Which traverse all things in a circuit, whithersoever the will of their Ruler shall lead them. To every thing which He shall command them upon the face of the earth. For holy preachers often wish to exhort some persons, but cannot do so. Some they often wish to avoid, but are yet most urgently compelled, by the impulse of inward instigation, to exhort them. Let us behold the cloud of God, how it is led by the hand of Him Who guides it, even to those things which it does not seek after: and is, again, kept from following its own impulse, by the hand of Him who governs it. When Paul was shaking his raiment, and was wishing to depart from the Corinthians, he surely heard, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city. [Acts 18, 9, 10] Again, when he had wished to go to the Thessalonians, he was kept back, and said, I wished to come unto you, even I Paul, both once and again, but satan hindered me. [1 Thess. 2, 18] For satan could not of himself hinder the journeys of so mighty an Apostle; but, while opposing, he ignorantly subserved the design of the secret dispensation; in order that Paul, while he wished to visit other persons, and was unable, might more suitably benefit those, from whom he could not depart. The clouds of God, therefore, traverse all things in a circuit, because they illuminate the ends of the world with the light of preaching. But, because being subject to the Divine will, they cannot fulfil their own wishes, they cannot go any where, except where the will of their Ruler shall lead them. For often when they are led by the will of their Ruler, they seek to do one thing, but are disposed otherwise. For they frequently desire to correct some of their hearers in a gentle way, and yet their speech is turned into sharpness. They frequently seek to be severe with others, but yet their vigour is restrained by the spirit of gentleness. As, therefore, they cannot go whither they will, so also they cannot act as they will. For because the inward Judge keeps hold of them, when He sends them, so also does He modify and take them up, when He leads them on, so that sometimes they arrange one thing in their thought, but carry another into effect; they sometimes begin in one way, but end in another. Because then they serve according to that which is commanded them, let it be rightly said, Whithersoever the will of their Ruler shall lead them, to every thing which He shall command them upon the face of the earth. For they find the way of their preaching the more open, in that they are guided to it, not by their own will, but that of their Teacher.

After he has discussed the usefulness of the clouds he describes their movement saying, "The clouds circle over everything." For the clouds do not stop above only one part of the earth from which the vapor has risen, but by the force of the winds they are carried to different parts of the earth. The winds generally follow the motion of the sun like some great circle and so East winds blow in the morning, then the southerlies come, and finally towards the evening, westerly winds. So the clouds move in a circle as a consequence of this. To show that this proceeds from divine providence he says, "Wherever the will of the governor (God) leads them," since the clouds do not always reach every part of the heavens, but sometimes this one and sometimes that one as God disposes them. The clouds cause a variety of effects, for example, rains, snow, hail, thunder, and the like. Just as the movement of the clouds over the earth depends on divine disposition, so also the effects caused by the clouds depend on this disposition and so he says, "to any place where he commands them on the face of the land," as if he said: The effect the clouds produce on the earth depends on divine precept.

Elihu continues to set forth the wisdom and omnipotence of God, as manifested in the thunder and lightning, Job 37:1-5; in the snows and frosts, Job 37:6-8; in various meteors; and shows the end for which they are sent, Job 37:9-13. Job is exhorted to consider the wondrous works of God in the light, in the clouds, in the winds, in heat and cold, in the formation of the heavens, and in the changes of the atmosphere, Job 37:14-22. The perfections of God, and how he should be reverenced by his creatures, Job 37:23, Job 37:24.

And it is turned round about by his counsels - The original is difficult: והוא מסבות מתהפך בתחבולתו vehu mesibboth mithhappech bethachbulothav; which has been thus paraphrased: And he - the sun, makes revolutions - causes the heavenly bodies to revolve round him, turning round himself - turning round his own axis, by his attachments - his attractive and repulsive influences, by which the heavenly bodies revolve round him, and by which, as if strongly tied to their center, בחבל bechebel, with a cable or rope, they are projected to their proper distances, and prevented from coming too near, or flying off too far. That they may do whatsoever he commandeth them - That men may perform his will, availing themselves of the influences of the sun, moon, times, seasons, etc., to cultivate the earth for the sustenance of themselves and their cattle. Upon the face of the world in the earth - אל פני תבל ארצה al peney thebel aretsah, over the surface of the habitable world. Perhaps the above exposition may appear to be too far-fetched; and possibly the passage refers only to the revolutions of the seasons, and the operations connected with them.

(Job 37:1-24) At this--when I hear the thundering of the Divine Majesty. Perhaps the storm already had begun, out of which God was to address Job (Job 38:1).

it--the cloud of lightning. counsels--guidance (Psa 148:8); literally, "steering"; the clouds obey God's guidance, as the ship does the helmsman. So the lightning (see on Job 36:31-32); neither is haphazard in its movements. they--the clouds, implied in the collective singular "it." face of the world, &c.--in the face of the earth's circle.