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Read the Bible

New American Standard Bible (1995)

Job 37:10

"From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blessing;   Breath;   God;   God Continued...;   Meteorology and Celestial Phenomena;   Religion;   Thompson Chain Reference - Frost;   Meteorology;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Clouds;   Providence of God, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nature, Natural;   Testimony;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Frost;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Breath;   Ice;   Water;   Wind;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Breathing;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Breath;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Crystal;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Frost;   Ice;   Strait;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Ice is formed by the breath of God,and watery expanses are frozen.
Hebrew Names Version
By the breath of God, ice is given, And the breadth of the waters is frozen.
King James Version
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
English Standard Version
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
New Century Version
The breath of God makes ice, and the wide waters become frozen.
New English Translation
The breath of God produces ice, and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.
Amplified Bible
"Ice is made by the breath of God, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
New American Standard Bible
"From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
World English Bible
By the breath of God, ice is given, And the breadth of the waters is frozen.
Geneva Bible (1587)
At the breath of God the frost is giuen, & the breadth of the waters is made narrowe.
Legacy Standard Bible
From the breath of God ice is made,And the expanse of the waters is frozen.
Berean Standard Bible
By the breath of God the ice is formed and the watery expanses are frozen.
Contemporary English Version
and the breath of God freezes streams and rivers.
Complete Jewish Bible
By the breath of God, ice is given, and the wide waters freeze over.
Darby Translation
By the breath of God ice is given; and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Easy-to-Read Version
God's breath makes ice and freezes even large bodies of water.
George Lamsa Translation
By the breath of God ice is given; and he causes abundant water to pour down.
Good News Translation
The breath of God freezes the waters, and turns them to solid ice.
Lexham English Bible
By God's breath, ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen.
Literal Translation
Ice is given by God's breath, and the expanse of waters is frozen.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
At the breth of God, the frost commeth, & the waters are shed abrode.
American Standard Version
By the breath of God ice is given; And the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Bible in Basic English
By the breath of God ice is made, and the wide waters are shut in.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
By the breath of God ice is given, and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
King James Version (1611)
By the breath of God, frost is giuen: and the breadth of the waters is straitned.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
At the breath of God the hoare frost is geuen, and the brode waters are frosen.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And from the breath of the Mighty One he will send frost; and he guides the water in whatever way he pleases.
English Revised Version
By the breath of God ice is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Whanne God makith blowyng, frost wexith togidere; and eft ful brood watris ben sched out.
Update Bible Version
By the breath of God ice is given; And the width of the waters is straitened.
Webster's Bible Translation
By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
New King James Version
By the breath of God ice is given, And the broad waters are frozen.
New Living Translation
God's breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water.
New Life Bible
Water becomes ice by the breath of God. The wide waters become ice.
New Revised Standard
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
By the breath of GOD, is given - frost, and, the breadth of waters, is congealed;
Douay-Rheims Bible
When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters are poured out abundantly.
Revised Standard Version
By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.
Young's Literal Translation
From the breath of God is frost given, And the breadth of waters is straitened,

Contextual Overview

6 "For to the snow He says, 'Fall on the earth,' And to the downpour and the rain, 'Be strong.' 7 "He seals the hand of every man, That all men may know His work. 8 "Then the beast goes into its lair And remains in its den. 9 "Out of the south comes the storm, And out of the north the cold. 10 "From the breath of God ice is made, And the expanse of the waters is frozen.11 "Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. 12 "It changes direction, turning around by His guidance, That it may do whatever He commands it On the face of the inhabited earth. 13 "Whether for correction, or for His world, Or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.

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

Genesis 27:29
May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you."
Genesis 37:7
for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf."
Genesis 37:10
He related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?"
Genesis 37:11
His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind.
Isaiah 60:14
"The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you 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.


 
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