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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Job 37:3

It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Lightning;   Religion;   Thompson Chain Reference - Lightning;   Meteorology;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Nature, Natural;   Testimony;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Lightning;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Elihu;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Deluge of Noah, the;   Earth, Corners of the;   End;   Lightning;   World (Cosmological);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Providence;   Suspended Letters;   Symbol;   Thunder;   West;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Hebrew Names Version
He sends it forth under the whole sky, And his lightning to the ends of the eretz.
King James Version
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
English Standard Version
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
New Century Version
He turns his lightning loose under the whole sky and sends it to the farthest parts of the earth.
New English Translation
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, even his lightning to the far corners of the earth.
Amplified Bible
"He lets it loose under the whole heaven, And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
New American Standard Bible
"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning travels to the ends of the earth.
World English Bible
He sends it forth under the whole sky, And his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Geneva Bible (1587)
He directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his light vnto the endes of the world.
Legacy Standard Bible
Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
Contemporary English Version
and when I see his lightning flash across the sky.
Complete Jewish Bible
He sends it out under all of heaven, his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Darby Translation
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Easy-to-Read Version
He sends his lightning to flash across the whole sky. It lights up the earth from one end to the other.
George Lamsa Translation
Under the whole of heaven the people shall praise him, and his light shines upon the ends of the earth.
Good News Translation
He sends the lightning across the sky, from one end of the earth to the other.
Lexham English Bible
He lets it loose under all the heavens, and his lightning to the earth's corners.
Literal Translation
He lets it loose under the whole heavens, and His lightning to the wings of the earth.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
He gouerneth euery thinge vnder the heauen, and his light reacheth vnto the ende of the worlde.
American Standard Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, And his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Bible in Basic English
He sends it out through all the heaven, and his thunder-flame to the ends of the earth.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and His lightning unto the ends of the earth.
King James Version (1611)
Hee directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his lightning vnto the ends of the earth.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
He directeth it vnder the whole heauen, and his light vnto the endes of the worlde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
His dominion is under the whole heaven, and his light is at the extremities of the earth.
English Revised Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
He biholdith ouere alle heuenes; and his liyt is ouere the termes of erthe.
Update Bible Version
He sends it forth under the whole heaven, And his lightning to the ends of the earth.
Webster's Bible Translation
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.
New King James Version
He sends it forth under the whole heaven, His lightning to the ends of the earth.
New Life Bible
He lets it loose under the whole heaven. He lets His lightning go to the ends of the earth.
New Revised Standard
Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Under the whole heavens, he letteth it loose, His lightning also, unto the wings of the earth;
Douay-Rheims Bible
He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the ends of the earth.
Revised Standard Version
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.
Young's Literal Translation
Under the whole heavens He directeth it, And its light [is] over the skirts of the earth.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth.

Contextual Overview

1 "My heart pounds as I think of this. It trembles within me. 2 Listen carefully to the thunder of God's voice as it rolls from his mouth. 3 It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction. 4 Then comes the roaring of the thunder— the tremendous voice of his majesty. He does not restrain it when he speaks. 5 God's voice is glorious in the thunder. We can't even imagine the greatness of his power.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

He: Psalms 77:13, Psalms 97:4, Matthew 24:27, Revelation 11:19

lightning: Heb. light

ends: Heb. wings, Job 38:13, Isaiah 11:12, *marg.

Reciprocal: Job 28:26 - a way Job 38:25 - General Psalms 29:7 - flames Luke 17:24 - as

Cross-References

Genesis 37:13
When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, "Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them." "I'm ready to go," Joseph replied.
Genesis 37:14
"Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along," Jacob said. "Then come back and bring me a report." So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.
Genesis 37:20
"Come on, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.' Then we'll see what becomes of his dreams!"
Genesis 37:22
"Why should we shed any blood? Let's just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he'll die without our laying a hand on him." Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.
Genesis 37:23
So when Joseph arrived, his brothers ripped off the beautiful robe he was wearing.
Genesis 37:30
Then he went back to his brothers and lamented, "The boy is gone! What will I do now?"
Genesis 37:32
They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: "Look at what we found. Doesn't this robe belong to your son?"
Judges 5:30
‘They must be dividing the captured plunder— with a woman or two for every man. There will be colorful robes for Sisera, and colorful, embroidered robes for me. Yes, the plunder will include colorful robes embroidered on both sides.'
2 Samuel 13:18
So the servant put her out and locked the door behind her. She was wearing a long, beautiful robe, as was the custom in those days for the king's virgin daughters.
Ezekiel 16:16
You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He directeth it under the whole heaven,.... His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny x atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isaiah 5:6, are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;

and his lightning unto the ends of the earth: it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, Matthew 24:27; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.

x Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He directeth it under the whole heaven - It is under the control of God, and he directs it where he pleases. It is not confined to one spot, but seems to be complaining from every part of the heavens.

And his lightning - Margin, as in Hebrew “light.” There can be no doubt that the lightning is intended.

Unto the ends of the earth - Margin, as in Hebrew “wings.” The word wings is given to the earth from the idea of its being spread out or expanded like the wings of a bird; compare Job 38:13; Ezekiel 7:2. The earth was spoken of as an expanse or plain that had corners or boundaries (see Isaiah 11:12, note; Isaiah 24:16, note; Isaiah 42:5, note), and the meaning here is, that God spread the lightning at pleasure over the whole of that vast expanse.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 37:3. He directeth it under the whole heaven — He directeth it (the lightning) under the whole heaven, in the twinkling of an eye from east to west; and its light-the reflection of the flash, not the lightning, unto the ends of the earth, so that a whole hemisphere seems to see it at the same instant.


 
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