Job 37

This chapter is the final portion of Elihu's speech, which begins in Job 32. It continues the discussion of rain and storm begun at the end of Job 36. In the very next chapter, Job 38, God speaks directly to Job out of the whirlwind.

Outline

• Verses 1–5: Elihu describes thunder as the voice of God and says that his heart trembles at the sound. He declares that God sends His lightning to the ends of the earth and does great things that people cannot comprehend.
• Verses 6–13: God commands the snow and the rain, both the light showers and the heavy downpours, to fall. At such times human hands are stilled and the beasts take shelter in their dens. The whirlwind, the cold, the ice, and the clouds also obey His command. The clouds come for correction, for His land, or for mercy.
• Verses 14–20: Elihu tells Job to stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. He asks whether Job understands the workings of the lightning, the clouds, and the south wind, and whether he can spread out the sky, which is strong as a molten looking glass. Human beings, he says, are so darkened that they cannot even order their speech before God.
• Verses 21–24: When the wind passes, the sky clears, and golden splendor comes out of the north. Elihu closes his speech by declaring that the Almighty cannot be searched out, that He does not pervert justice, and that people should therefore fear Him.

Key Verses

• Job 37:14: "Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God" (KJV). Here Elihu's speech culminates in an exhortation to look to God through the natural world.
• Job 37:23: "Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out" (KJV). Speaking of God's power and justice together, this verse summarizes the entire speech.

People and Places

• Elihu: The son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram (Job 32:2). He is a young man who steps forward to speak after Job and Job's three friends have finished.
• Job: The one whom Elihu addresses by name in verse 14.

Points for Reflection

• Interpreters differ in their assessment of Elihu. Because the "Dost thou know" questions in verses 15–18 resemble God's questions in chapter 38, some read him as a figure who prepares the way for God's speech. Others regard him as simply another speaker who condemns Job. In chapter 42 God rebukes only the three friends and does not mention Elihu, and this silence is likewise interpreted differently by each side.
• The phrase in verse 7, "He sealeth up the hand of every man," is commonly explained as the halting of outdoor human labor because of winter snow and rain. The description of the sky in verse 18 is understood as a poetic expression of the ancient conception of the heavens. The "golden splendor" of verse 22 is rendered differently from one translation to another (the KJV reads "fair weather").
• The fear of God in verse 24 connects with Job 28:28. The "unsearchable" nature of God in verse 23 is also sometimes read alongside the confession in Romans 11:33–36.