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Contemporary English Version
Job 28:26
Bible Study Resources
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when he established a limit for the rainand a path for the lightning,
When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
when he made a decree for the rain and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
when he made rules for the rain and set a path for a thunderstorm to follow,
When he imposed a limit for the rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
When He made a limit for the rain And a way for the thunderbolt,
When He made a limit for the rain, And a course for the thunderbolt,
When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;
When he made a decree for the rayne, and a way for the lightening of the thunders,
When He set a limit for the rainAnd a course for the thunderbolt,
when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,
when he made a law for the rain and cleared a path for the thunderbolts;
In appointing a statute for the rain, and a way for the thunder's flash:
He decided where to send the rain and where the thunderstorms should go.
He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning and the thunder.
When God decided where the rain would fall, And the path that the thunderclouds travel;
when he made a rule for the rain and a way for the thunder's lightning bolt,
When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the flash, the thunderclap,
when he set the rayne in ordre, and gaue the mightie floudes a lawe:
When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;
When he made a law for the rain, and a way for the thunder-flames;
When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the storm of thunders;
When hee made a decree for the raine, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
When he made a decree for the rayne, and a way for the lightninges of the thunder:
When he made them, thus he saw and numbered them, and made a way for the pealing of the thunder.
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
Whanne he settide lawe to reyn, and weie to tempestis sownynge;
When he made a decree for the rain, And a way for the lightning of the thunder;
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt,
He made the laws for the rain and laid out a path for the lightning.
He decided how much rain would fall, and the path for the lightning.
when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt;
When he made, for the rain, a decree, and a way for the lightning of thunders,
When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms.
when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
In His making for the rain a limit, And a way for the brightness of the voices,
When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt,
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
he made: Job 36:26, Job 36:32, Job 38:25, Psalms 148:8, Jeremiah 14:22, Amos 4:7, Zechariah 10:1
a way: Job 37:3, Psalms 29:3-10
Reciprocal: Job 5:10 - giveth Psalms 135:7 - he maketh lightnings
Gill's Notes on the Bible
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder. Decreed within himself that he would give it; for rain is his gift alone, and which none of the vanities of the Gentiles can give, and a wonderful blessing to the earth it is; and which God bestows on all sorts of men, both good and bad, and causes it to fall sometimes on one place and sometimes on another, sometimes in greater, sometimes in lesser showers; and according to his sovereign pleasure he gives or withholds it; the effects of which are quickly seen. Mr. Broughton renders the clause, "he made a bound for the rain, and a way for the lightning of thunder", or "the lightning and the thunder", as Ben Gersom, who thinks the copulative ו, "and", is wanting. Thunder is from God, it is his voice, and the word here used is in the plural number, "voices" m, signifying various claps of thunder; and lightning generally accompanies it, which, though first perceived, they are both at once the eye doing its office quicker than the ear; and a cloud also is usual; and so some render the word for lightning, as in Zechariah 10:1; it may signify the way of the lightning out of the thunder cloud, and attending claps of thunder; the thunder breaks the cloud and makes a path for the lightning: the Targum is,
"a path for the lightnings, which run with the voices or thunders;''
but, though the course or path the lightning steers is very quick and very extensive from east to west, and cannot be traced by us. God that made it knows it, and he knows the path and place of wisdom. Sephorno interprets this of the thunder and lightnings at the giving of the law, which he understands by wisdom, as do other Jewish writers: Pliny n speaks of thunder and lightning as chance matters; but Seneca o more truly ascribes them to divine power and Providence, as here.
m קולות "vocum", Piscator, Mercerus, Drusius. n Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43. o Nat. Quaest. l. 2. c. 13. 31.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
When he made a decree for the rain - A statute or law (חק chôq) by which the rain is regulated. It is not sent by chance or hap-hazard. It is under the operation of regular and settled laws. We cannot suppose that those laws were understood in the time of Job, but the fact might be understood that the rain was regulated by laws, and that fact would show that God was qualified to impart wisdom. His kingdom was a kingdom of settled law and not of chance or caprice, and if the rain was regulated by statute, it was fair to presume that he did not deal with his people by chance, and that afflictions were not sent without rule; compare the notes at Job 5:6.
And a way - A path through which the rapid lightning should pass - referring, perhaps, to the apparent “opening” in the clouds in which the lightning seems to move along.
The lightning of the thunder - The word “lightning” here (חזיז chăzı̂yz) properly means “an arrow,” from הזז hāzaz, obsolete, to pierce through, to transfix, to performate; and hence, the lightning - from the rapidity with which it passes - like an arrow. The word “thunder” (קולות qôlôt) means voices, and hence, “thunder,” as being by way of eminence the voice of God; compare Psalms 29:3-5. The whole expression here means “the thunder-flash.” Coverdale renders this, “when he gave the mighty floods a law;” but it undoubtedly refers to the thunderstorm, and the idea is, that he who controls the rapid lightning, regulating its laws and directing its path through the heavens, is qualified to communicate truth to people, and can explain the great principles on which his government is administered.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 28:26. When he made a decree for the rain — When he determined how that should be generated, viz., By the heat of the sun evaporation is produced: the particles of vapour being lighter than the air on the surface, ascend into the atmosphere, till they come to a region where the air is of their own density; there they are formed into thin clouds, and become suspended. When, by the sudden passages of lightning, or by winds strongly agitating these clouds, the particles are driven together and condensed so as to be weightier than the air in which they float, then they fall down in the form of rain; the drops being greater or less according to the force or momentum, or suddenness, of the agitation by which they are driven together as well as to the degree of rarity in the lower regions of the atmosphere through which they fall.
A way for the lightning of the thunder — ודרך לחזיז קולות vederech lachaziz koloth. קול kol signifies voice of any kind; and koloth is the plural and is taken for the frequent claps or rattlings of thunder. חז chaz signifies to notch, indentate, or serrate, as in the edges of the leaves of trees; חזיז chaziz must refer to the zigzag form which lightning assumes in passing from one cloud into another. We are informed that "this is a frequent occurrence in hot countries." Undoubtedly it is; for it is frequent in cold countries also. I have seen this phenomenon in England in the most distinct manner for hours together, with a few seconds of interval between each flash. Nothing can better express this appearance than the original word.
