to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in p… · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
ends
בְּכַנְפ֣וֹתbe.khan.Fot
H3671
an edge or extremity · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
earth
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
wicked
רְשָׁעִ֣יםre.sha.'Im
H7563
morally wrong · noun, common masculine plural absolute
out
וְיִנָּעֲר֖וּve.yi.na.'a.Ru
H5287
to tumble about · conjunction + verb, niphal, 3rd person masculine plural
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 37:3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Psalms 104:35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
Exodus 14:27 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled agai…
Job 24:13-17 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
Psalms 19:4-6 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psalms 104:21-22 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
Psalms 139:9-12 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Job 38:12-24
The Lord here proceeds to ask Job many puzzling questions, to convince him of his ignorance, and so to shame him for his folly in prescribing to God. If we will but try ourselves with such interrogatories as these, we shall soon be brought to own that what we know is nothing in comparison with what we know not. Job is here challenged to give an account of six things: -
I. Of the springs of the morning, the day-spring from on high, Job 38:12-15. As there is no visible being of which we may be more firmly assured that it is, so there is none which we are more puzzled in describing, nor more doubtful in determining what it is, than the light. We welcome the morning, and are glad of the day-spr…
take hold of the ends, &c.--spread itself over the earth to its utmost bounds in a moment.
wicked--who hate the light, and do their evil works in the dark (Job 24:13).
shaken out of it--The corners (Hebrew, "wings" or "skirts") of it, as of a garment, are taken hold of by the dayspring, so as to shake off the wicked.
Adam Clarke on Job 38:13
That the wicked might be shaken out of it? - The meaning appears to be this: as soon as the light begins to dawn upon the earth, thieves, assassins, murderers, and adulterers, who all hate and shun the light, fly like ferocious beasts to their several dens and hiding places; for such do not dare to come to the light, lest their works be manifest, which are not wrought in God. To this verse the fifteenth appears to belong, as it connects immediately with it, which connection the introduction of the fourteenth verse disturbs. "And from the wicked," such as are mentioned above "their light is withholden;" they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil; and as they prowl afte…
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,.... As when the morning light springs forth, it quickly does, reaching in a short time the extreme part of the hemisphere; which, and what goes before, may be applied to the light of the Gospel, and the direction of that under divine Providence in the several parts of the world, and unto the ends of it; see Psalm 19:4;
that the wicked might be shaken out of it? the earth, by means of the light; which may be understood either of wicked men who have been all night upon works of darkness, and be take themselves on the approach of light to private lurking places, like beasts of prey, so that the earth seems to be, as it were, clear of them; or o…
The Church Fathers
"To seize the wings of the earth. Elsewhere it is written, "If I take my wings to lift myself," it is the supernatural virtues of the righteous who elevate them above the seductions of this world. "And shake the wicked. If he first rose, knowing in advance the way to go, it was to establish faith in his resurrection. Then it was announced everywhere by the wings of the Church, that is to say by its ministers, as fast as the bird in its flight. Finally he has charged them to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, when he comes to shake, to drive out the impious of his Church, where they find themselves confounded with the faithful until the day of judgment.
Hast Thou held and shaken the ends of the earth, and hast Thou shaken the wicked out of it? [ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION] The Lord 'held the ends of the earth,' because He came in the end of the world to the synagogue which was now forsaken and subject to foreign kings: and He shook the wicked out of it, because He cast out even from the glory of the carnal sacrifice, those who denied the spiritual preaching of the faith. Or He certainly held the ends of the earth, because He chose out of Judaea a few abject and humble men. He held the ends of the earth, because He forsook the doctors of the law, and chose fishermen. And while He holds the ends of the earth, He shakes the wicked out of it, because while He strengthens weak believers, He condemns the sturdy unbelievers therein. But the word 'shaking,' He also rightly added: because by His coming He stirred up even the hearts of the reprobates with immeasurable fear. For they in truth were shaken who were saying, We prevail nothing, behold, the whole world is gone after Him. But a thing which is shaken is wearied out by being drawn hither and thither. Judaea therefore had been shaken, which was saying of Christ by some, That He is a good Man, and was resisting Him by others, saying, Nay; but He deceiveth the people. It was saying by some, If this Man were not of God, He could do nothing. And at last it exclaims by others, If this Man were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up unto thee. The reprobate were shaken indeed but not prostrated, when at one time they beheld the miracles with wonder, and at another despised and derided the disgraces of His weakness. Had not they been shaken, who were saying, How long dost Thou hold our soul in suspense? If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Or He certainly shook and held the ends of the earth, because when He terrified the feeble hearts of the humble with pious fear, He did not abandon them to strict judgment. For the multitude of the believers in God stood more firmly, from the same reason that it was alarmed when humbled in itself. For that God holds firm the person whom He shakes, He teaches by the Prophet, saying, On whom shall My Spirit rest, but on the humble and quiet, and Him who trembleth at My words? That He holds the person whom He shakes, is intimated by the testimony of Solomon, who says, Happy is the man who feareth alway, but he that is…
Dictionary and topics
Continents · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Man · INSIGNIFI — INSIGNIFI
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).
12 Hast thou in thy life commanded a morning,
Caused the dawn to know its place,
13 That it may take hold of the ends of the earth,
So that the evil-doers are shaken under it?
14 That it changeth like the clay of a signet-ring,
And everything fashioneth itself as a garment.
15 Their light is removed from the evil-doers,
And the out-stretched arm is broken.
The dawn of the morning, spreading out from one point, takes hold of the carpet of the earth as it were by the edges, and shakes off from it the evil-doers, who had laid themselves to rest upon it the night before. נער, combining in itself the significations to thrust and to shake, has the latter here, as in the Arab. nâ‛ûra, a water-whe…
locked it behind barred gates: The sea is depicted as a dangerous creature kept under control.
Rashi on Job 38:13
To grasp the corners of the earth Moreover, in all your days, did you command [anyone] to grasp the corners of the earth like a man who grasps the corners of a garment and shakes it? So am I destined to grasp it [the earth] by its corners and shake the wicked [out of it]. Likewise, Scripture states (Isa. 31:3): “and the Lord shall turn His hand, and the helper shall stumble,” like a person who, holding something in his hand, drops it by inclining his hand.
