the Week of Proper 23 / Ordinary 28
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King James Version
Job 37:10
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- InternationalParallel Translations
God's breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.
By the breath of God ice is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
By the breath of God ice is given; And the width of the waters is straitened.
The breath of God makes ice, and the wide waters become frozen.
The breath of God produces ice, and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
By the breath of God, ice is given, And the breadth of the waters is frozen.
"Ice is made by the breath of God, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
Whanne God makith blowyng, frost wexith togidere; and eft ful brood watris ben sched out.
By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.
and the breath of God freezes streams and rivers.
By the breath of God ice is given; And the breadth of the waters is straitened.
By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.
By the breath of God, ice is given, and the wide waters freeze over.
By the breath of God ice is given; and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
God's breath makes ice and freezes even large bodies of water.
By the breath of God ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
By the breath of God, frost is giuen: and the breadth of the waters is straitned.
Water becomes ice by the breath of God. The wide waters become ice.
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
At the breath of God the frost is giuen, & the breadth of the waters is made narrowe.
By the breath of God ice is given; and he causes abundant water to pour down.
The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.
By the breath of GOD, is given - frost, and, the breadth of waters, is congealed;
When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters are poured out abundantly.
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
At the breath of God the hoare frost is geuen, and the brode waters are frosen.
And from the breath of the Mighty One he will send frost; and he guides the water in whatever way he pleases.
Ice is formed by the breath of God,and watery expanses are frozen.
By the breath of God, ice is given, And the breadth of the waters is frozen.
By God's breath, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen.
Ice is given by God's breath, and the expanse of waters is frozen.
From the breath of God is frost given, And the breadth of waters is straitened,
At the breth of God, the frost commeth, & the waters are shed abrode.
"From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen.
"From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
From the breath of God ice is made,And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Job 38:29, Job 38:30, Psalms 78:47, Psalms 147:16-18
Reciprocal: Psalms 147:18 - General John 3:8 - wind
Cross-References
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.
And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?
And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee; The city of the Lord , The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
By the breath of God frost is given,.... By the word of God, as the Targum; at his command it is, at his word it comes, and at his word it goes, Psalms 147:15; or by his will, as Ben Gersom interprets it, when it is his pleasure it should be, it appears; it may be understood of a freezing wind from the Lord, for a wind is sometimes expressed by the breath of his nostrils, Psalms 18:15; and as the word "God" added to things increases the signification of them, as mountains of God are strong mountains; so the breath of God may signify a strong wind, as Sephorno notes, the north wind q;
and the breadth of the waters is straitened; by the frost they are reduced and brought into a narrower compass; or made hard, as Mr. Broughton renders it; so hard as to walk upon, to draw carriages on, and lay weights and burdens very great upon; or become compact or bound together, like metal melted, poured out, and consolidated; though some think it refers to the thawing of ice by the south winds r, when the waters return to their former breadth; which is done by the breath or commandment of God, as appears from the place before quoted from the psalmist, Psalms 18:15; for it may be rendered, "and the breadth of the waters is pouring out", so the Targum, when thawed; or through the pouring down of rain, so the Syriac and Arabic versions, "he sends forth plenty of water".
q "Induroque nives", &c. Ovid. r "----cum vere reverso Bistoniae tepuere nives", &c. Statii Theb. l. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
By the breath of God frost is given - Not by the violent north wind, or by the whirlwind of the south, but God seems to “breathe” in a gentle manner, and the earth is covered with hoary frost. It appears in a still night, when there is no storm or tempest, and descends upon the earth as silently as if it were produced by mere breathing. Frost is congealed or frozen dew. On the formation and cause of dew, see the notes at Job 38:28. The figure is poetical and beautiful. The slight motion of the air, even when the frost appears, seems to be caused by the breathing of God.
And the breadth of the waters is straitened - That is, is contracted by the cold; or is frozen over. The waters are “compressed” into a solid mass (במוצק bemûtsaq), or are in a state of “pressure” or “compression” - or so the word used here means. What were before expanded rivers or arms of the sea, are now compressed into solid masses of ice. This, also, is proof of the greatness and power of God, for though the cause was not understood by Elihu, yet there was no doubt that it was produced by his agency. Though the laws by which this occurs are now better understood than they were then, it is no less clearly seen that it is by his agency; and all the light which we obtain in regard to the laws by which these things occur, only serve to exalt our conceptions of the wisdom and greatness of God.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Job 37:10. By the breath of God frost is given — The freezing of water, though it is generally allowed to be the effect of cold, and has been carefully examined by the most eminent philosophers, is still involved in much mystery; and is a very proper subject to be produced among the great things which God doeth, and which we cannot comprehend, Job 37:5. Water, when frozen, becomes solid, and increases considerably in bulk. The expansive power in freezing is so great, that, if water be confined in a gun-barrel, it will split the solid metal throughout its whole length. Bombshells have been filled with water, and plugged tight, and exposed to cold air, when they have been rent, though the shell has been nearly two inches thick! Attempts have been made to account for this; but they have not, as yet, been generally successful. The breath of God freezes the waters; and that breath thaws them. It is the work of Omnipotence, and there, for the present, we must leave it.
The breadth of the waters is straitened. — This has been variously translated; מוצק mutsak, which we here render straitened, we translate Job 37:18 melted. Mr. Good thinks that the idea of a mirror is implied, or something molten; and on this ground it may be descriptive of the state of water formed into ice. He therefore translates: -
By the blast of God the frost congealeth,
And the expanse of the waters into a mirror.
I have only to observe, that in the act of freezing wind or air is necessary; for it has been observed that water which lay low in ponds did not freeze till some slight current of air fell on and ruffled the surface, when it instantly shot into ice.
