Job 38:35

JPS Old Testament

Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee: 'Here we are'?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?Do they report to you: “Here we are”?

Hebrew Names Version
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'

King James Version
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go and say unto thee, Here we are?

English Standard Version
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are'?

New Century Version
Can you send lightning bolts on their way? Do they come to you and say, ‘Here we are'?

New English Translation
Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Will they say to you, ‘Here we are'?

Amplified Bible
"Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

New American Standard Bible
"Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

World English Bible
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are?'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Canst thou sende the lightenings that they may walke, and say vnto thee, Loe, heere we are?

Legacy Standard Bible
Can you send forth lightnings that they may goAnd say to you, ‘Here we are'?

Berean Standard Bible
Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?

Contemporary English Version
or will lightning flash at your command?

Complete Jewish Bible
Can you send lightning bolts on their way? Will they say to you, ‘Here we are'?

Darby Translation
Dost thou send forth lightnings that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

Easy-to-Read Version
Can you give a command to the lightning? Will it come to you and say, ‘Here we are; what do you want, sir?' Will it go wherever you want it to go?

George Lamsa Translation
Can you send forth the lightnings, that they may go, and say to you. Here we are?

Good News Translation
And if you command the lightning to flash, will it come to you and say, "At your service"?

Lexham English Bible
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go? And will they say to you, ‘Here we are'?

Literal Translation
Can you send lightnings, that they may go and say to you, Here we are ?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Canst thou thodre also yt they maye go their waye, & be obediet vnto the, sayege: lo, here are we?

American Standard Version
Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say unto thee, Here we are?

Bible in Basic English
Do you send out the thunder-flames, so that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?

King James Version (1611)
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may goe, and say vnto thee, Here we are?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Canst thou send the lightninges also, that they may go their way, and be obedient vnto thee, saying, Lo here are we?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And wilt thou send lightnings, and they shall go? and shall they say to thee, What is thy pleasure?

English Revised Version
Canst thou send forth lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whethir thou schalt sende leitis, and tho schulen go, and tho schulen turne ayen, and schulen seie to thee, We ben present?

Update Bible Version
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, Here we are?

Webster's Bible Translation
Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say to thee, Here we [are]?

New King James Version
Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, "Here we are!'?

New Living Translation
Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?

New Life Bible
Can you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are'?

New Revised Standard
Can you send forth lightnings, so that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are'?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Canst thou send forth the lightnings, so that they go, and say to thee, Behold us?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are?

Revised Standard Version
Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

Young's Literal Translation
Dost thou send out lightnings, and they go And say unto thee, `Behold us?'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'?

Contextual Overview

²⁵ Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, or a way for the lightning of the thunder; ²⁶ To cause it to rain on a land where no man is, on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; ²⁷ To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth? ²⁸ Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? ²⁹ Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoar-frost of heaven, who hath gendered it? ³⁰ The waters are congealed like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. ³¹ Canst thou bind the chains of the Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? ³² Canst thou lead forth the Mazzaroth in their season? Or canst thou guide the Bear with her sons? ³³ Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth? ³⁴ Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Canst: Exodus 9:23-25, Exodus 9:29, Leviticus 10:2, Numbers 11:1, Numbers 16:35, 2 Kings 1:10, 2 Kings 1:14, Revelation 11:5, Revelation 11:6

Here we are: Heb. Behold us, 1 Samuel 22:12, Isaiah 6:8, *marg. Isaiah 65:1

Reciprocal: Job 36:30 - he Psalms 18:14 - he shot Psalms 29:7 - flames Jeremiah 10:13 - uttereth Matthew 8:9 - Go Matthew 24:27 - as

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we [are]?] Thy humble servants; we have been where thou didst send us, and have executed what we were bid to do, and are returned, and here we are waiting further orders; see Matthew 8:9; no; lightnings are only at the command of God, and there have been some awful instances of it, Leviticus 10:1; but not in the power of men; indeed we have an extraordinary instance in Elijah, who, at the motion, and under the impulse of the spirit of prophecy in him, called for fire, or lightning, to consume captains with their fifties, and it came down on them, and consumed them, 2 Kings 1:10; but he is not to be imitated herein: when the disciples of Christ desired the same upon a provocation, they were severely reproved by him, Luke 9:54; were these at the call and dispose of men, what dreadful things would be done in the world! for if good men, when provoked, would make use of such a power to destroy the lives of men, much more bad men; and our eyes would continually behold the flashes of lighting, and our ears hear the roarings of thunder, and the terrible effects thereof; but neither mercies nor judgments are at the command of men, but of God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Canst thou send lightnings? - That is, lightning is wholly under the control of God. So it is now; for after all that man has done to discover its laws, and to guard against it, yet still man has made no advances toward a power to wield it, nor is it possible that he ever should. It is one of the agencies in the universe that is always to be under the divine direction, and however much man may subsidize to his purposes wind, and water, and steam, and air, yet there can be no prospect that the forked lightning can be seized by human hands and directed by human skill to purposes of utility or destruction among people; compare the notes at Job 36:31-33.

And say unto thee, Here we are - Margin, “Behold us.” That is, we are at your disposal. This language is derived from the condition, of servants presenting themselves at the call of their masters, and saying that they stood ready to obey their commands; compare 1Sa 3:4, 1 Samuel 3:6,1 Samuel 3:9; Isaiah 6:8.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 38:35. Canst thou send lightnings — We have already seen that the lightning is supposed to be immediately in the hand and under the management of God. The great god of the heathen, Jupiter Brontes, is represented with the forked lightnings and thunderbolt in his hand. He seems so to grasp the bickering flame that, though it struggles for liberty, it cannot escape from his hold. Lightnings - How much like the sound of thunder is the original word: ברכים Berakim! Here are both sense and sound.

Here we are?] Will the winged lightnings be thy messengers, as they are mine?