to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 1st person common singular
Hitherto
עַד'ad-
H5704
as far (or long · preposition
come
תָ֭בוֹאTa.Vo'
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
further
תֹסִ֑יףto.Sif
H3254
to add or augment (often adverbial · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
proud
בִּגְא֥וֹןbig.'on
H1347
arrogance or majesty · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
waves
גַּלֶּֽיךָga.Lei.kha
H1530
something rolled · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stayed
יָ֝שִׁ֗יתya.Shit
H7896
to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
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 89:9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Proverbs 8:29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
Psalms 65:6-7 Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power:
Mark 4:39-41 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Luke 8:32-33 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And h…
Job 2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Psalms 93:3-4 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
Isaiah 27:8 In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 38:4-11
For the humbling of Job, God here shows him his ignorance even concerning the earth and the sea. Though so near, though so bulky, yet he could give no account of their origination, much less of heaven above or hell beneath, which are at such a distance, or of the several parts of matter which are so minute, and then, least of all, of the divine counsels.
I. Concerning the founding of the earth. "If he have such a mighty insight, as he pretends to have, into the counsels of God, let him give some account of the earth he goes upon, which is given to the children of men."
1. Let him tell where he was when this lower world was made, and whether he was advising of assisting in that wonderful work…
Hitherto shalt thou come - Thus far shall thy flux and reflux extend. The tides are marvellously limited and regulated, not only by the lunar and solar attractions, but by the quantum of time also which is required to remove any part of the earth's surface from under the immediate attractive influence of the sun and moon. And this regulation takes place by means of the rotation of the earth round its own axis, which causes one thousand and forty-two miles of its equator to pass from under any given point in the heavens in one hour; and about five hundred and eighty miles in the latitude of London: so that the attracted fluid parts are every moment passing from under the direct attractive inf…
And said, hitherto shalt thou come, but no further,.... The waters of the sea shall spread themselves to such and such shores, and wash them, but go no further; its rolling tides shall go up so far in rivers that go out of it, and then return, keeping exactly to time and place; this is said by Jehovah, the Word of God, and through his almighty power is tended to;
and here shall thy proud waves be stayed; so high and no higher shall they lift up themselves; so far and no farther shall they roll on, than to the boundaries fixed for them; and though they may toss up themselves as proud men toss up their heads, for which, reason pride is ascribed to them, yet they shall not prevail, Jeremiah 5:…
The Church Fathers
And I set a bar and doors, and said, Hitherto shall thou come, and thou shalt not proceed further, and here shall thou break thy swelling waves. ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION What is designated by 'doors,' but holy preachers, and what by the 'bar,' except the Lord Incarnate? For He has in truth opposed these doors as a firmer barrier against the force of the swelling sea, the more He has strengthened them by barring them Himself. For because these doors of Holy Church are strengthened by this bar being placed against them, they could be battered indeed by the waves, but they could not be broken through: so that though the wave of persecution might dash on them from without, yet it could not penetrate to the centre of their heart. And because holy Preachers open themselves by their preaching to their followers, but close themselves by their authority against those who oppose them, they are, not improperly, called 'doors,' that is, open to the conversation [al. 'conversion'] of the humble, and closed to the terrors of the proud. They are, not improperly, called 'doors:' because they both open an entrance for the faithful, and again oppose themselves to the entrance of the unbelieving. Let us consider what a door of the Church was Peter, who admitted Cornelius, when enquiring into the faith, and rejected Simon when seeking miraculous powers for a price; saying to the one, I have found in truth that God is no respecter of persons, [Acts 10, 34] he graciously opened the secrets of the kingdom. Declaring to the other, Thy money perish with thee, [Acts 8, 20] he closes the entrance of the heavenly court by a sentence of strict condemnation. What are all the Apostles but doors of Holy Church, when they hear by the voice of their Redeemer, Receive the Holy Ghost; whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained? [John 20, 22. 23.] As if it were plainly said to them; By you, those to whom ye open yourselves shall come in to Me; and those to whom ye close yourselves, shall be rejected. Whilst then the sea rages, the Lord opposes His bar and doors; because whilst the storm of persecution spreads itself out in the world from bitter and faithless hearts, God exalts the glory of His Only Begotten, and the reverence of His preachers; and while He makes known the mysteries of the Divine strength, He breaks in the ungodly…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Continents · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sea, The · God: Set bounds to, by a perpetual decree — God: Set bounds to, by a perpetual decree
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).
8 And who shut up the sea with doors,
When it broke through, issued from the womb,
9 When I put clouds round it as a garment,
And thick mist as its swaddling clothes,
10 And I broke for it my bound,
And set bars and doors,
11 And said: Hitherto come, and no further,
And here be thy proud waves stayed!?
The state of תהו ובהו was the first half, and the state of תהום the second half of the primeval condition of the forming earth. The question does not, however, refer to the תהום, in which the waters of the sky and the waters of the earth were as yet not separated, but, passing over this intermediate condition of the forming earth, to the sea, the waters of which God shut up as by means of a do…
locked it behind barred gates: The sea is depicted as a dangerous creature kept under control.
Rashi on Job 38:10
and broke I made breaks in it [the sea] all around to keep it back within them, and they are its boundary, which it shall not pass, as in (Joshua 7:5), “and they pursued them until the quarries (השברים)” which are the ditches around the city.
