Job 38
Job 38 is the 38th chapter of the Book of Job in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is anonymous; most scholars believe it was written around 6th century BCE. This chapter records God's "response" to the allegations put forward by Job in earlier chapters.
Text
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 41 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE; some extant ancient manuscripts of this version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.
Analysis
The structure of the book is as follows:- The Prologue
- The Dialogue
- The Verdicts
- The Epilogue
- Elihu's Verdict
- God's Appearance and Job's Responses
- *God's First Speech
- **Theme Verse and Summons
- **The Physical World
- **The Physical Earth
- **The Sea
- **The Morning
- **The Outer Limits of the Earth
- **Light and Darkness
- **The Waters – Snow, Hail, Rain, Frost, Ice
- **The Heavenly Bodies
- **Storms
- *The Animal World
- **God Provides for the Lions and Ravens
- **The Mountain Goats
- **The Wild Donkey
- **The Wild Ox
- **The Ostrich
- **The Warhorse
- ***The Hawk and the Eagle
- **Brief Challenge to Answer
- *Job's First Reply – An Insufficient Response
- *God's Second Speech
- *Job's Second Reply
| First speech | Second speech |
| A. Introductory formula | A1. Introductory formula |
| B. Thematic challenge The revelation of the Lord to Job is the culmination of the book of Job, that the Lord speaks directly to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering—without cursing God, holding his integrity, and nowhere regretted it – but he was unaware of the real reason for his suffering, so God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin and Job's suffering had not cut him off from God, now Job sees the end the point that he cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made, so it is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him. The first speech focuses on God's design and control of the world, whereas the second speech raises the issue of God's justice. Theme verse and summons (38:1–3)Verse 1 reintroduces God as YHWH, who speaks out of the whirlwind. The speech of God starts by asking the question "Who?" but it is not meant for Job to identify himself, but rather to explain why Job takes the current stance toward God, so despite being considered right, Job's understanding is too limited to see God's purposes.Verse 1
The mysteries of God's physical worlds (38:4–41)After posing the challenge to Job, God's speech covers the mysteries of earth and sky beyond Job's understanding and the mysteries of animal and bird life that surpassed Job's understanding. The key point here, as introduced by the "who" questions, is to show how limited Job's knowledge is to understand the whole situation. The use of lighthearted illustrations softens God's questioning of Job, that it is not intended to be a strong rebuke to Job, but to open Job's "eyes".Verse 8Crenshaw notes that the narrator uses the image of a midwife assisting at the birth of the seas and in "clothing" them with clouds and darkness.Verse 31
|