to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
weight
מִשְׁקָ֑לmish.Kal
H4948
weight (numerically estimated) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
winds
לָר֣וּחַla.Ru.ach
H7307
wind · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
weigheth
תִּכֵּ֥ןti.Ken
H8505
to balance · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
waters
וּ֝מַ֗יִםu.Ma.yim
H4325
water · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
measure
בְּמִדָּֽהbe.mi.Dah
H4060
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 135:7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
Isaiah 40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a meas…
Job 12:15 Behold, he withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 28:20–end
The question which Job had asked (Job 28:12) he asks again here; for it is too worthy, too weighty, to be let fall, until we speed in the enquiry. Concerning this we must seek till we find, till we get some satisfactory account of it. By a diligent prosecution of this enquiry he brings it, at length, to this issue, that there is a twofold wisdom, one hidden in God, which is secret and belongs not to us, the other made known by him and revealed to man, which belongs to us and to our children.
I. The knowledge of God's secret will, the will of his providence, is out of our reach, and what God has reserved to himself. It belongs to the Lord our God. To know the particulars of what God will do h…
God has adjusted the weight of the winds, so seemingly imponderable, lest, if too weighty, or too light, injury should be caused. He measureth out the waters, fixing their bounds, with wisdom as His counsellor (Pro 8:27-31; Isa 40:12).
John Gill on Job 28:25
To make the weight for the wind,.... He indeed makes the wind itself, holds it in his fists, and brings it forth out of his treasures, and lets it go, or restrains it, at his pleasure; he gives it an inclination to this or that or the other point of the heavens, and a force to blow with, greater or lesser, as he pleases, either for the good and benefit of men, or for the punishment of them; he raises the stormy wind, which fulfils his word and his will; and he makes it subside and become a calm when he thinks fit; he can make it heavier or lighter, add to or take from its weight, so that it becomes more or less pressing on bodies it meets with; he can make a rough wind, and stay that in the…
25 When He appointed to the wind its weight,
And weighed the water according to a measure,
26 When He appointed to the rain its law,
And the course to the lightning of the thunder:
27 Then He saw it and declared it,
Took it as a pattern and tested it also,
28 And said to man: Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom,
And to depart from evil is understanding.
It is impracticable to attach the inf. לעשׂות to Job 28:24 as the purpose, because it is contrary to the meaning; but it is impossible, according to the syntax, to refer it to Job 28:27 as the purpose placed in advance, or to take it in the sense of perfecturus, because in both instances it ought to have been יתכּן instead of תּכּן, or at…
The Church Fathers
"The movement of the winds and the measurement of the waters (2). He designates the entire creation in one of its aspects. Is it not written that everything has been done with number, weight and measure (3)? To these traits we recognize the Creator.
Who made the weight for the winds. And he weigheth the waters by measure. For in the Holy Scripture, by the rapidity and subtlety of the winds souls are used to be denoted, as it is spoken by the Psalmist of God; Who walketh above the things of the winds; i.e. 'Who passes above the virtues of souls.' Accordingly 'He made the weight for the winds,' in that whilst Wisdom from above fills souls, it renders them weighty with imparted maturity, not with that weightiness, of which it is said, Ye children of men, how long with a heavy heart. For it is one thing to be weighty in respect of counsel, and another in respect of sin; it is one thing to be weighty, by constancy, another to be weighty by offence. For this latter weightiness has weight of burthen, the other weight of merit. Thus, therefore, souls receive weight, that they should not henceforth with light motion glance off from their aim at God, but be made to settle into Him with immoveable weightiness of constancy. Still was that people lightly moved to and fro, of which it is said by the Prophet, And he went on frowardly in the way of his own heart. I have seen his ways: and I let him go. But weighty counsel in heart banishes all inconstancy of wandering. And because there are souls, that with light motion are now after one set of objects, now after another, Almighty God, because these very light waverings of men's minds He does not estimate lightly, by abandoning passes judgment on the wandering of the heart. But when through grace He regards the wandering mind, He fixes it into stedfastness of counsel. And so it is rightly said now, And made weight for the winds; because the light motions of the mind, when He deigns to regard with mercifulness, He directly fashions that mind to maturedness of constancy. Or otherwise to 'make weight for the winds,' is to qualify with intermixed infirmity the glory resulting from virtuous achievements, which is vouchsafed to the Elect here. Whence it is also subjoined; And he weigheth the waters by measure. 'Waters' in Holy Scripture are wont sometimes to denote the Holy Spirit, sometimes sacred knowledge, sometimes wrong knowledge, sometimes calamity, sometimes drifting peoples, sometimes the minds of those following the faith. Thus by water we have the Inpouring of the Holy Spirit represented, as when it is said in the Gospel, He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture…
Dictionary and topics
Brass — Which is an alloy of copper and zinc, was not known till the thirteenth century. What is designated by this word in Scripture is properly copper (Deut. 8:9). It was used for fetters (Judg. 16:21; 2…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Measures · Illustrative: (Weighing the waters in a measure,) of God’s infinite wisdom — Illustrative: (Weighing the waters in a measure,) of God’s infinite wisdom
Readings, Select · NATURE’ S TESTIMONY — NATURE’ S TESTIMONY
Weights · Illustrative: Of the restraints put on the elements — Illustrative: Of the restraints put on the elements
Wind, The · God: Restrains — God: Restrains
Wisdom · .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — .UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
When God looks throughout the whole earth (28:23), he sees his own wisdom expressed in his creation. God later showcased his wisdom for Job when he took him on a cosmic tour (chs 38–41).
Rashi on Job 28:25
To make with it a weight for the wind, for each land according to its strength, and so the water according to its measure, according to what each land required to water it. There is an arid land which requires much rain, and there is a land that does not require so much.
