Job 37

Elihu ends his speech by pointing to the storm. Thunder, lightning, snow, ice and heat all obey God, and no one fully understands them. If we cannot grasp the weather, we cannot call the Almighty to account. His power is matched by His justice, and the right response is reverent fear.

Job 37:1

Elihu is shaken by the approaching storm. His heart pounds as if it would jump out of his chest. The thunder is more than weather to him. It is a sign of God’s nearness, and it fills him with awe.

BSA: heart (“the seat of emotions, will, and intellect”): His whole inner person is shaken, not just his feelings.

Job 37:2

Elihu calls his hearers to listen to the thunder as the voice of God. Thunder is pictured as speech coming from His mouth. Creation is not silent. It declares the power of its Maker to anyone who will pay attention.

BSA: Listen closely (“hear attentively, give ear”): He asks for careful attention, not a passing glance at the sky.

See also: Psalm 29:3-4.

Job 37:3

God sends His lightning flashing across the entire sky. It reaches from one horizon to the other. No corner of the earth lies outside His control or beyond His notice.

BSA: ends (“extremities, most distant places”): God’s reach extends to the farthest edges of the world.

Job 37:4

After the flash comes the roar. The thunder is compared to the roar of a lion. Elihu says God does not hold the lightning back while His voice sounds. The whole display is under His command.

BSA: roaring sound (“like a lion’s mighty roar”): The thunder is pictured as the roar of a great beast, sounding fearsome and strong.

Job 37:5

Elihu sums up: God’s thunder is wonderful, and His works are beyond our understanding. This is the main point of the chapter. Human knowledge has limits, and God is not obliged to explain Himself to us.

BSA: comprehend (“fully understand, grasp, know”): We may see what God does, but we cannot take it all in.

See also: Romans 11:33.

Job 37:6

God speaks, and snow falls and rain pours. Elihu pictures the weather as obeying a word of command. Even the quiet snow and the heavy downpour come at His bidding.

BSA: downpour (“heavy rain, strength of His power”): Even a heavy rainstorm shows the strength of God’s power.

Job 37:7

In bad weather, people are shut indoors and their work stops. Elihu says God does this so that everyone may recognize His work. When our hands are idle, we are given time to look up and notice Him.

BSA: seals up (“shuts or locks”): God locks up human activity, as one would seal a door, so that people stop and take notice.

Job 37:8

Even wild animals know to take cover when the storm comes. They go into their dens and wait. The picture is a gentle one: the creatures sense a power greater than themselves and submit to it.

BSA: lairs (“dens, coverts, hiding places”): Animals hide away from a storm they cannot resist.

Job 37:9

Storm winds and bitter cold arrive as if sent from stores kept in reserve. Elihu describes the weather as something God brings out at His own time, from places we cannot see.

BSA: chamber (“inner, private”): The storm comes out of a hidden storeroom that belongs to God.

See also: Job 38:22.

Job 37:10

Ice forms by the breath of God, and wide waters freeze solid. Winter is not blind chance. It is His breath that turns flowing water into something hard and still.

BSA: breath (“divine, life-giving”): The same God who gives life breathes out the frost.

Hebrew: נִשְׁמַת (nishmat, H5397) — “breath.” This is the same word used when God breathed into Adam. The ice, like life itself, comes from God’s breath.

See also: Genesis 2:7.

Job 37:11

God fills the clouds with water and scatters lightning through them. A cloud is heavy with rain, yet it hangs in the sky. Elihu points out that God manages the whole thing.

BSA: loads (“fills, weights with moisture”): The clouds are weighed down with water at God’s doing.

Job 37:12

The clouds turn and swirl, but they are not wandering. They go where God directs and do what He commands across the earth. Nothing in the sky acts on its own.

BSA: direction (“divine”): The movement of the clouds follows God’s own steering.

Job 37:13

God uses the weather for different ends. It may correct, or it may water the land and bless it. In every case Elihu says He acts in loving devotion. Storms and rains both fall within His kindness.

BSA: loving devotion (“kindness, mercy, or lovingkindness, reflecting His nature”): Even what looks like hard weather comes from the character of a God who is faithful and kind.

Hebrew: חֶסֶד (chesed, H2617) — “loyal love, steadfast kindness.” This word means love that keeps its promises. It is often used of God’s covenant faithfulness.

Job 37:14

Elihu turns to Job directly. He asks him to stop, stand still, and think about God’s wonders. The first step toward wisdom is quietness. Job has been speaking a great deal. Now he is invited to be silent and look.

BSA: stand still (“be steadfast”): Job is called to stop and stay put, not to rush ahead with answers.

See also: Psalm 46:10.

Job 37:15

Elihu asks Job a question he cannot answer. Does he know how God sends out the clouds or makes the lightning flash? The questions begin to prepare Job for the much larger ones God will ask Himself.

See also: Job 38:34-35.

Job 37:16

The floating of the clouds is another wonder. Great masses of water hang in the air. Elihu says this is the work of One who is perfect in knowledge. Our knowledge is partial, but His has no gaps.

BSA: perfect (“unblemished, flawless”): God’s knowledge has no flaw or missing piece.

Job 37:17

Elihu asks Job to recall a hot day, when the south wind drops and the land lies still. Job’s clothes cling to him in the heat. He is helpless against the weather, and cannot do anything about it.

BSA: hushed (“is still, quiet”): The land is silent and breathless under the heavy heat.

Job 37:18

Can Job spread out the sky like God does? The sky in a heat spell looks hard and shiny, like a polished bronze mirror. Elihu’s point is plain. Job has no such power, so he is in no position to instruct God.

BSA: mirror (“a polished surface, a looking glass”): Ancient mirrors were polished metal, which gives the picture of a hard, glaring sky.

Job 37:19

Elihu speaks with a trace of sarcasm. If Job is so wise, let him tell them what to say to God. Elihu admits that he and the others cannot arrange a case, because they are in the dark. Human understanding falls short.

BSA: darkness (“obscurity, ignorance”): The darkness is not only lack of light but lack of understanding.

Job 37:20

Elihu asks whether anyone should tell God that he wants to speak. To press a demand on the Almighty would be to risk being swallowed up. He sees it as foolish to push into God’s presence on our own terms.

BSA: swallowed up (“consumed, destroyed, annihilated”): Meeting God’s full glory without humility would overwhelm a person completely.

Job 37:21

No one can look straight at the sun when it blazes in a clear sky. If we cannot bear the brightness of a created thing, we cannot bear the full sight of its Maker. The comparison shows how limited we are.

BSA: gaze (“look directly, stare”): Even a steady look at the sun is too much for human eyes.

See also: Exodus 33:20.

Job 37:22

God comes in golden splendor, surrounded by awesome majesty. The north was often linked with the home of the divine. The light and glory around Him are more than we can bear.

BSA: majesty (“terrible, fearful”): His glory is so great that it brings holy fear.

Job 37:23

The Almighty is beyond our reach, yet He is not a tyrant. He is great in power, and just. He does not oppress. His strength and His goodness go together, and that is what makes Him worth trusting.

BSA: oppress (“afflict, humble”): God does not crush people, however great His power.

Hebrew: שַׁדַּי (Shaddai, H7706) — “Almighty.” This is an old name for God that stresses His overwhelming strength. It is the name used of Him often in Job.

Job 37:24

Elihu closes on the fear of God. People revere Him because He is great. And God does not favor those who think themselves wise. The wise are not above Him. Humility, not cleverness, is the right posture before Him.

BSA: fear (“revere, stand in awe of”): The fear meant here is deep respect and awe, not mere terror.

See also: Job 28:28; Proverbs 9:10.