Job 37

Job 37:1

37:1-13 Elihu continues to delve into various realms of nature to show the wisdom, power, awesome majesty, and golden splendor of God. His descriptions of nature, of a thunderstorm with its heavy rain, or of the whirlwind, snow, gentle rain, cold . . . winds of the north, thick and bright clouds, or bright sunlight, are classic. 37:14-23 Elihu ends with a direct appeal: “Listen to this, O Job, stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.” He goes on to challenge Job’s knowledge of nature: how the clouds are balanced and why he gets hot when the southwind blows. These lead up to the similar, but even more challenging, nature questions that the Creator Himself will pose to Job in the next main section of the book. Such excellent . . . power surpasses our feeble comprehension. It is best to fear the Lord and to submit to His discipline, and not to be like Job, criticizing Him as unfair. 37:24 Elihu’s last verse is the application to Job, a concise conclusion to the whole matter. The first line of verse 24 is easy to understand; the second is difficult in the NKJV (and other versions). Francis Andersen translates the second line differently by taking the negative word in Hebrew in this construction as an assertion rather than a negation: Therefore men fear Him; Surely all wise of heart fear Him!