Job 37:6

King James Version

For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
"He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down.

English Revised Version
For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; likewise to the shower of rain, and to the showers of his mighty rain.

Update Bible Version
For he says to the snow, Fall on the earth; Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.

New Century Version
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,' and to the shower, ‘Be a heavy rain.'

New English Translation
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall to earth,' and to the torrential rains, ‘Pour down.'

Webster's Bible Translation
For he saith to the snow, Be thou [on] the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.

World English Bible
For he says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth;' Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.

Amplified Bible
"For He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth'; And [He speaks] to the showers and to the downpour [of His mighty rains], 'Be strong.'

English Standard Version
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,' likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Which comaundith to the snow to come doun on erthe, and to the reynes of wijntir, and to the reynes of his strengthe.

Berean Standard Bible
For He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the gentle rain, 'Pour out a mighty downpour.'

Contemporary English Version
Snow and heavy rainstorms

American Standard Version
For he saith to the snow, Fall thou on the earth; Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.

Bible in Basic English
For he says to the snow, Make the earth wet; and to the rain-storm, Come down.

Complete Jewish Bible
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth!' — likewise to the light rain, also to the downpour.

Darby Translation
For he saith to the snow, Fall on the earth! and to the pouring rain, even the pouring rains of his might.

Easy-to-Read Version
He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth.' And he says to the rain, ‘Pour down on the earth.'

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For He saith to the snow: 'Fall thou on the earth';

King James Version (1611)
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth: likewise to the small raine, and to the great raine of his strength.

New Life Bible
For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,' and to the rain, ‘Be strong.'

New Revised Standard
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth'; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain,

Geneva Bible (1587)
For he sayth to the snowe, Be thou vpon the earth: likewise to the small rayne and to the great rayne of his power.

George Lamsa Translation
For he said to the snow, Fall on the earth; likewise to the gentle rain, and to the heavy rain;

Good News Translation
He commands snow to fall on the earth, and sends torrents of drenching rain.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, to the snow, he saith, Fall earthwards, - Also to the downpour of rain, yea the downpour of his mighty rains.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the winter rain, and the shower of his strength.

Revised Standard Version
For to the snow he says, 'Fall on the earth'; and to the shower and the rain, 'Be strong.'

Bishop's Bible (1568)
He commaundeth the snow, and it falleth vpon earth: he geueth the rayne a charge, and the showres haue their strength and fall downe.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
commanding the snow, Be thou upon the earth, and the stormy rain, and the storm of the showers of his might.

Christian Standard Bible®
For he says to the snow, “Fall to the earth,”and the torrential rains, his mighty torrential rains,

Hebrew Names Version
For he says to the snow, 'Fall on the eretz;' Likewise to the shower of rain, And to the showers of his mighty rain.

Lexham English Bible
For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth'; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain—

Literal Translation
For He says to the snow, Fall on the earth; also to the shower of rain, and the shower of heavy rains.

Young's Literal Translation
For to snow He saith, `Be [on] the earth.' And the small rain and great rain of His power.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
When he commaundeth the snowe, it falleth vpon the earth: As soone as he geueth the rayne a charge, Immediatly the showers haue their strength and fall downe

New American Standard Bible
"For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.'

New King James Version
For He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth'; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.'

Legacy Standard Bible
For to the snow He says, ‘Fall on the earth,'And to the downpour of rain and the downpour of rains, ‘Be strong.'

Contextual Overview

⁶ For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. ⁷ He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. ⁸ Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. ⁹ Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. ¹⁰ By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. ¹¹ Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: ¹² And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. ¹³ He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

he: Job 38:22, Psalms 147:16-18, Psalms 148:8

likewise to the small: etc. Heb. and to the shower of rain, and to the showers of rain of his strength. Job 36:27

great: Genesis 7:10-12, Ezra 10:9, Ezra 10:13, Proverbs 28:3, Ezekiel 13:11, Ezekiel 13:13, Amos 9:6, Matthew 7:25-27

Reciprocal: Job 37:13 - whether Psalms 65:9 - visitest Acts 14:17 - and gave

Cross-References

Genesis 44:18
Then Judah came near unto him, and said, Oh my lord, let thy servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharaoh.

Judges 9:7
And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For he saith to the snow, be thou [on] the earth,.... In the original it is, be thou earth: hence one of the Rabbins formed a notion, that the earth was created from snow under the throne of glory, which is justly censured by Maimonides f; for there is a defect of the letter ב, as in 2 Chronicles 34:30; as Aben Ezra observes; and therefore rightly supplied by us, on the earth. This is one of the great and incomprehensible things of God. What is the cause of it, how it is generated, what gives it its exceeding whiteness and its form, we rather guess at than certainly know; and there are some things relative to it not easy to be accounted for: as that it should be generated in the lower region of the air, so near us, and yet be so cold; and be so cold in its own nature, yet be like a blanket warming to the earth; and that being so cold, it should fall in hot countries, as in many parts of Africa, as Leo Africanus asserts g; and though so easily melted, yet lies continually upon the top of a burning mountain, Mount Etna, as observed by Pineda and others. God has his treasures of it, and he brings it forth from thence; it is at his command, it goes at a word speaking; it is one of the things that fulfil his word, Psalms 148:8. And if what Pliny h says is true, that snow never falls upon the high seas or main ocean, the expression here is, with great exactness and propriety, be thou on the earth. However, this is certain, that to the earth only it is useful, warming, refreshing, and fructifying; it has a wonderful virtue in it to fatten the earth. Olaus Magnus i reports, that in the northern countries, where it falls in great plenty, the fields are more fruitful than any others, and sooner put forth their fruits and increase than other fields prepared and cultivated with the greatest labour and diligence: and that they are often obliged to drive off the cattle from them, lest they should eat too much and burst, the fields and meadows becoming so luxurious by it; and frequently they mow off the tops of herbs and grass with their scythes, to prevent their growing too thick. The word of God, as for its purity, so for its warming, refreshing, and fructifying nature, is compared unto it,

Isaiah 55:10;

likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength: that is, God says to these as to the snow, be upon the earth; and they presently are, whether lesser or larger showers: the lesser or more gentle, according to Seneca k, fall in, the winter, and the larger in spring; the former when the north wind blows, the latter when the south; but whenever they come, they fall by the direction of God, and at his command. He and he only gives rain, the vanities of the Gentiles cannot; and these are sent to water and refresh the earth, and make it fruitful; for which reason also the word of God is compared thereunto,

Deuteronomy 32:12. The Targum is,

"to the rain after rain in summer, to ripen the fruits; and to the rain after the rain, to cause the grass to bud in winter in his strength.''

So a shower of rain in the singular number signifies rain that falls in summer; and a shower of rain in the plural what falls in winter.

f Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 26. g Descriptio Africae, l. 1. c. 27, 28. l. 2. c. 27, 46, 69. h Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 103. i De Ritu Gent. Septentr. l. 19. c. 15. k Nat. Quaest. l. 4. c. 4.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For he saith to the snow - That is, the snow is produced by the command of God, and is a proof of his wisdom and greatness. The idea is, that; the formation of snow was an illustration of the wisdom of God, and should teach people to regard him with reverence. It is not to be supposed that the laws by which snow is formed in the atmosphere were understood in the time of Elihu. The fact that it seemed to be the effect of the immediate creation of God, was the principal idea in the mind of Elihu in illustrating his wisdom. But it is not less fitted to excite our admiration of his wisdom now that the laws by which it is produced are better understood; and in fact the knowledge of those laws is adapted to elevate our conceptions of the wisdom and majesty of Him who formed them. The investigations and discoveries of science do not diminish the proofs of the Creator’s wisdom and greatness. but every new discovery tends to change blind admiration to intelligent devotion; to transform wonder to praise. On the formation of snow, see the notes at Job 38:22.

Be thou on the earth - There is a strong resemblance between this passage and the sublime command in Genesis 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.” Each of them is expressive of the creative power of God, and of the ease with which he accomplishes his purposes.

Likewise to the small rain - Margin, “and to the shower of rain, and to the showers of rain of his strength.” The word which is used here in the Hebrew (גשׁם geshem), means “rain” in general, and the phrase “small rain” ( גשׁם ( מטר mâṭâr geshem), seems to be used to denote the “rain” simply, without reference to its violence, or to its being copious. The following phrase, “the great rain of his strength” (עזוּ מטרות גשׁם geshem mâṭârôt ‛ôzû) refers to the rain when it has increased to a copious shower. The idea before the mind of Elihu seems to have been that of a shower, as it commences and increases until it pours down torrents, and the meaning is, that alike in the one case and the other, the rain was under the command of God, and obeyed his will. The whole description here is that which pertains to winter, and Elihu refers doubtless to the copious rains which fell at that season of the year.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 37:6. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth — SNOW is generally defined, "A well-known meteor, formed by the freezing of the vapours in the atmosphere." We may consider the formation of snow thus: - A cloud of vapours being condensed into drops, these drops, becoming too heavy to be suspended in the atmosphere, descend; and, meeting with a cold region of the air, they are frozen, each drop shooting into several points. These still continuing their descent, and meeting with some intermitting gales of a warmer air, are a little thawed, blunted, and again, by falling into colder air, frozen into clusters, or so entangled with each other as to fall down in what we call flakes.

Snow differs from hail and hoar-frost in being crystallized: this appears on examining a flake of snow with a magnifying glass; when the whole of it will appear to be composed of fine spicula or points diverging like rays from a centre. I have often observed the particles of snow to be of a regular figure, for the most part beautiful stars of six points as clear and transparent as ice. On each of these points are other collateral points, set at the same angles as the main points themselves, though some are irregular, the points broken, and some are formed of the fragments of other regular stars. I have observed snow to fall sometimes entirely in the form of separate regular six-pointed stars, without either clusters or flakes, and each so large as to be the eighth of an inch in diameter.

The lightness of snow is owing to the excess of its surface, when compared with the matter contained under it.

Its whiteness is owing to the small particles into which it is divided: for take ice, opaque almost to blackness, and pound it fine, and it becomes as white as snow.

The immediate cause of the formation of snow is not well understood: it has been attributed to electricity; and hail is supposed to owe its more compact form to a more intense electricity, which unites the particles of hail more closely than the moderate electricity does those of snow. But rain, snow, hail, frost, ice, c., have all one common origin they are formed out of the vapours which have been exhaled by heat from the surface of the waters.

Snow, in northern countries, is an especial blessing of Providence; for, by covering the earth, it prevents corn and other vegetables from being destroyed by the intense cold of the air in the winter months; and especially preserves them from cold piercing winds. It is not a fact that it possesses in itself any fertilizing quality, such as nitrous salts, according to vulgar opinion: its whole use is covering the vegetables from intense cold, and thus preventing the natural heat of the earth from escaping, so that the intense cold cannot freeze the juices in the tender tubes of vegetables, which would rupture those tubes, and so destroy the plant.

Mr. Good alters the punctuation of this verse, and translates thus: -

Behold, he saith to the snow, BE!

On earth then falleth it.

To the rain,-and it falleth:

The rains of his might.

By the small rain, we may understand drizzling showers: by the rain of his strength, sudden thunder storms, when the rain descends in torrents: or violent rain from dissipating water-spouts.