to do or make · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
decree
חֹ֑קChok
H2706
an enactment · noun, common masculine singular absolute
rain
לַמָּטָ֣רla.ma.Tar
H4306
rain · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
way
וְ֝דֶ֗רֶךְve.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular absolute
lightning
לַחֲזִ֥יזla.cha.Ziz
H2385
a flash of lightning · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
thunder
קֹלֽוֹתko.Lot
H6963
a voice or sound · noun, common feminine plural 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
Job 38:25 Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
Job 37:3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Zechariah 10:1 Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one gr…
Job 36:26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.
Job 36:32 With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
Job 37:11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
Job 38:27 To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
Psalms 29:3-10 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.
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…
The decree regulating at what time and place, and in what quantity, the rain should fall.
a way--through the parted clouds (Job 38:25; Zac 10:1).
John Gill on Job 28:26
When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder. Decreed within himself that he would give it; for rain is his gift alone, and which none of the vanities of the Gentiles can give, and a wonderful blessing to the earth it is; and which God bestows on all sorts of men, both good and bad, and causes it to fall sometimes on one place and sometimes on another, sometimes in greater, sometimes in lesser showers; and according to his sovereign pleasure he gives or withholds it; the effects of which are quickly seen. Mr. Broughton renders the clause, "he made a bound for the rain, and a way for the lightning of thunder", or "the lightning and the thunder", as Ben Gersom…
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
"In creating, he counted as he saw. To create, he did not look outward, but in himself, as the true architect. "And the way to the sound of storms. Storms here designate temptations and temptations, those which are experienced by them; as one would say the cries of shipwreck, for the shouts of shipwrecked people.
When He made a decree for the rain, and a way for the sounding tempests, then did He see it and declare it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it out. By 'rain' the sayings of those that preach are used to be denoted. Whence it is said by Moses; Let my doctrine be waited for as the rain; whose words, that is to say, when they gently persuade are 'rain,' but when they thunder out terrible things touching the Judgment to come, they are 'sounding tempests.' And it deserves to be noted, that 'a decree is made for the rain,' in order that 'a way may be opened for the sounding tempests.' For a decree has been set to the preachers themselves, that by living they fulfil what by uttering they are forward to recommend. For the authoritativeness of speaking is lost, when the voice is not supported by the practice. For here it is said by the Psalmist, But unto the wicked God saith; What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth? seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest My words behind thee. For the words of God the preacher does cast behind himself, when the same that he says he thinks scorn to do. But when may another obey his sayings, whilst he himself rejects in practice what he preaches with the voice, and shews not to hear that he tells? Of this law of preaching it is written; Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoso shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 'The kingdom of heaven,' we see, He calls the present Church; concerning which it is written, And they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend. For in the Kingdom Above 'offences' that should have to be gathered out thereof do not take place. He then that breaks in practice, and teaches the like in words, in this kingdom of heaven shall be the least, in the other not even the least. Now 'He set a way to the sounding tempests,' when for His preachers He made access to the hearts of men stricken with dread of the Judgment to come. So first 'a law is set,' that afterwards 'a way may be opened,' because that voice pierceth the heart of him that heareth, which maintains by practice the thing that it has sounded with the lips. Now it was then when 'He set a law to the showers, and a way to the sounding…
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…
Lightning — Frequently referred to by the sacred writers (Nah. 1:3-6). Thunder and lightning are spoken of as tokens of God’s wrath (2 Sam. 22:15; Job 28:26; 37:4; Ps. 135:7; 144:6; Zech. 9:14). They represent…
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.…
Lightning · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Rain · God: Made a decree for — God: Made a decree for
Readings, Select · NATURE’ S TESTIMONY — NATURE’ S TESTIMONY
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 28:26
a decree A set decree according to all the lands, and a spring and rivulet to water each land by His making a way for all the clouds, so that two thunders do not emerge through one hole, lest it destroy the world.
