to put (used in a great variety of applications · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix
cloud
עָנָ֣ן'a.Nan
H6051
a cloud (as covering the sky) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
garment
לְבֻשׁ֑וֹle.vu.Sho
H3830
a garment (literally or figuratively) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
darkness
וַ֝עֲרָפֶ֗לva.'a.ra.Fel
H6205
gloom (as of a lowering sky) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
swaddlingband
חֲתֻלָּתֽוֹcha.tu.la.To
H2854
a swathing cloth (figuratively) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 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
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water…
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…
doors--floodgates; these when opened caused the flood (Gen 8:2); or else, the shores.
womb--of chaos. The bowels of the earth. Image from childbirth (Job 38:8-9; Eze 32:2; Mic 4:10). Ocean at its birth was wrapped in clouds as its swaddling bands.
Adam Clarke on Job 38:9
When I make the cloud the garment - Alluding to the cloth in which the new-born infant is first received. The cloud was the same to the newly raised vapor, as the above recipient to the new-born child.
And thick darkness a swaddlingband for it - Here is also an allusion to the first dressings of the new-born child: it is swathed in order to support the body, too tender to bear even careful handling without some medium between the hand of the nurse and the flesh of the child. "The image," says Mr. Good, "is exquisitely maintained: the new-born ocean is represented as issuing from the womb of chaos; and its dress is that of the new-born infant." There is here an allusion also to the creation,…
When I made the cloud the garment thereof,.... For this newborn babe, the sea;
and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; which was the case of the sea when it burst out of the bowels of the earth and covered it, for then darkness was upon the face of the deep, a dark, foggy, misty air, Genesis 1:2; and this was before its separation from the land, and in this order it stands in this account; though since, clouds, fogs, and mists, which rise out of the sea, are as garments to it, and cover it at times, and the surrounding atmosphere, as it presses the whole terraqueous globe, and keeps the parts of the earth together, so the waters of the sea from spilling out; and these are the garments a…
The Church Fathers
"I have wrapped it with clouds like a garment. It is not only the good ones, but also a crowd of sinners attached to the goods of this world that holds the mystery of the body of Jesus Christ. His authority prevents them from persecuting the saints. "I surrounded her with fogs; Those of ignorance which makes them love the goods of this world, and fear their misery. So they fear the good ones, that they would persecute if it were not so. For it is not only written: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will celebrate his praises; But again: "All the great ones of the earth will eat and worship (1). - I set her limits, I put gates and doors. His limits, to stop his fury; it will exert its ravages, but in a determined enclosure. "Barriers," to keep the bad guys from going further. "Gates," so that the righteous can part with them.
When I was making a cloud the garment thereof, and was covering it with darkness as with swaddling clothes. ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION The raging sea is covered with a 'cloud,' because the cruelty of persecutors is covered with the veil of their own folly. For it is unable to behold the clear light of truth, from the interposed darkness of their unbelief; and through the desert of its own blindness, it knows not what it is doing by the impulse of cruelty. For had they known, as says the Apostle, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. [1 Cor. 2, 8] This cloud is wont to cover not only the unbelievers who are placed without the Church, but also to obscure those who live in a carnal manner within it. Whence holy men, who sympathize even with others' negligence, and think that they themselves are also suffering that which they perceive others enduring, pray to God, and say, Thou hast placed a cloud before Thee, that our prayer should not pass through. [Lam. 3, 44] As if they openly said, To our mind accustomed to worldly pleasures Thou presented, by a righteous judgment, the phantoms of its cares, by which Thou confusest it, in the very earnestness of its prayer; and that which Thou art not ignorant is given up to the most degrading desires, Thou rightly repellest, when blinded, from beholding the brightness of Thy light; so that when it reaches towards Thee, it is turned away from beholding Thee, by the cloud of its own thoughts; and that that which constantly thinks on these worldly subjects, because it wishes for them, may endure them also in its prayer, when it does not wish for them. Because then the very wickedness of persecutors is so restrained by God's ordering, as not to burst forth as much as it wishes against holy men; after He said, When I was laying the cloud as the garment thereof, He fitly subjoined, And was covering it with darkness as with swaddling clothes. For the feet and arms are bound with swaddling clothes, lest they should be thrown about hither and thither with unrestricted liberty. Because, therefore, the persecutors of Holy Church, restless from their instability of heart, and devoted to this world, savour not the things of age, but of childhood; they who are fast bound by darkness and obscurity, (not by a sense of the Divine judgment,) so as to be unable to persecute as much as they wish, are said to be wrapped in…
Dictionary and topics
Birth — As soon as a child was born it was washed, and rubbed with salt (Ezek. 16:4), and then swathed with bandages (Job 38:9; Luke 2:7, 12). A Hebrew mother remained forty days in seclusion after the birth…
Children — The blessing of offspring, but especially of the male sex, is highly valued among all eastern nations, while a the absence is regarded as one of the severest punishments. (Genesis 16:2; 7:14; 1…
Clouds · Are garment of the sea — Are garment of the sea
Continents · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Darkness · Over the face of the earth — Over the face of the earth
Sea, The · The clouds the garment of — The clouds the garment of
Swaddle · .Of children — .Of children
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…
The morning stars are personified in parallel construction with the angels (1:6; 2:1).
Rashi on Job 38:9
When I made the cloud around the ocean, which encompasses the world, and clouds encompass it like raiment.
its wrapping Heb. חתלתו, its wrapping, like (Ezek. 16:4), “nor were you swaddled (והחתל לא חתלת).”
