Job 37:15

Job 37:15 Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?

Ver. 15. Dost thou know when God disposed them] viz. Those wondrous works of God in the air especially; those varieties of meteors, the generation and motions whereof the greatest philosophers cannot perfectly find out by their natural causes, neither do they well agree among themselves concerning those causes. For Anaximander holdeth one thing, Metrodorus another, Anaxagoras a third, Aristotle a fourth; let those that have a mind to it read their janglings and disputes in Plutarch, De placitis philosophorum. Now if no man (though never so wise) can understand the wondrous works of God in these common things of nature, how can he comprehend his hidden works, hoc est, crucem? saith Brentius.

And caused the light of his cloud to shine?] Or, That he may cause the light of his cloud to shine. Hereby he meaneth lightnings, issuing out of the moist and cold cloud, say some; the rainbow, say others, that wonderful work of God (feigned therefore by the heathens to be the daughter of Thaumantias, or of wonderment), which is full of wonders, witness the beautiful shape thereof and various colours, with their several significations, as some conceive (Plato); the several prognostics; viz. of rain in the morning, of fair weather in the evening, as Scaliger concludeth; the form of it, a bow, which yet never shooteth any man unless it be with astonishment and love, &c. God puts his bow in his hand (saith Ambrose on Gen 9:13), not his arrow, but his bow, and the string of the bow is to us ward. The Jews conceit that the name Jehovah is written on the rainbow, and therefore they no sooner see it, but they hide their eyes, confess their sins, that deserve a second deluge, celebrate God’s great goodness to mankind, &c. Some by the light of God’s cloud here understand the sunshine through the clouds, causing it to clear up. Now who can certainly foretell rain or fair weather? Some learned men have spent much time and pains in astronomy to get skill in prognosticating, but could do little good of it; when they foretell a fair day it commonly raineth, and the contrary. The countryman’s prognostics, the shepherd’s calendar, hold better, for the most part, than the predictions of these artisans.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That is, the lightning to break forth in the clouds?

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

when--rather, "how."

disposed them--lays His charge on these "wonders" (Job 37:14) to arise.

light--lightning.

shine--flash. How is it that light arises from the dark thundercloud?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. Dost thou know when God disposed them] Dost thou know the laws by which they are governed; and the causes which produce such and such phenomena?

And caused the light of his cloud to shine?] Almost every critic of note understands this of the rainbow, which God gave as a sign that the earth should no more be destroyed by water. See Ge 9:13, and the note there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(15) Light of His cloud—i.e., lightning, as before. “Dost thou know all the secrets of God’s thunderbolts, at whom and how He will use them?” Some understand this otherwise: “Dost thou know when God setteth the sun over them (the clouds), and causeth the light (i.e., the sun) to shine upon His cloud?” i.e., “Dost thou know how God useth the sun to disperse the clouds?”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. when God disposed them] Rather, how God layeth his command upon them, and causeth, &c.?

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dost thou know when God disposed them?.... The clouds, that part of the wondrous works of God he was speaking of; when he decreed concerning them that they should be, when he put into them and stored them with rain, hail, snow, &c. disposed of them here and there in the heavens, and gave them orders to fall on this and the other spot of ground; wast thou present at all this, and knew what God was doing secretly in the clouds, and before heard what would break out of them, or fall from them? and if thou art ignorant of these things, canst thou imagine that thou shouldest be made acquainted with the secret springs of God's providential dealings with the children of men?

and caused the light of his cloud to shine; either the lightning to break through the cloud, or rather the light of the sun to shine upon his cloud, prepared to receive the light reflected on it, and form the rainbow; which, as it is called his bow, the cloud in which it is may be called his cloud; which is one of the wondrous works of God, and is called by the Heathens the daughter of wonder (u); formed in a semicircle, with various colours, and as a token that God will drown the earth no more; an emblem of the covenant of peace, and of Jesus Christ, said to be clothed with a cloud, and with a rainbow about his head, Rev 10:1.

(u) Apollodorus, l. 1. p. 5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Dost thou know when God disposed them? - That is, the winds, the clouds, the cold, the snow, the sky, etc. The question refers to the manner in which God arranges and governs them, rather than to the time when it was done. So the Hebrew implies, and so the connection demands. The question was not whether Job knew “when” all this was done, but whether he could explain “how” it was that God thus arranged and ordered the things referred to. Elihu asks him whether he could explain the manner in which the balancings of the clouds were preserved; in which the lightnings were directed; in which his garments were warm, and in which God had made and sustained the sky? The Septuagint renders this, “We know that God hath disposed his works that he hath made light out of darkness.”

And caused the light of his cloud to shine - That is, Canst thou explain the cause of lightning? Canst thou tell how it is that it seems to break out of a dark cloud? Where has it been concealed? And by what laws is it now brought forth? Elihu assumes that all this was done by the agency of God, and since, as he assumes to be true, it was impossible for people to explain the manner in which it was done, his object is to show that profound veneration should be shown for a God who works in this manner. Somewhat more is known now of the laws by which lightning is produced than there was in the time of Job; but the question may still be asked of man, and is as much fitted to produce awe and veneration as it was then, whether he understands the way in which God produces the bright lightning from the dark bosom of a cloud. Can he tell what is the exact agency of the Most High in it? Can he explain all the laws by which it is done?

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Light: the rain-bow, according to the best interpreters; or the lightning. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

When God disposed them, to wit, the things before mentioned, the clouds, rain, snow, thunder and lightning, and other meteors. Did God ask counsel from thee to acquaint thee with his counsels in the producing and ordering of them, when, and where, and in what manner he should dispose them? God ordereth all these things not as it pleaseth thee, but as he thinks meet; and in like manner he disposeth of all human affairs, and of thine among the rest.

Caused the light of his cloud to shine; which may be understood either,

1. Of the light of the sun breaking through the clouds, when it is most glorious and comfortable. But though this light break through the clouds, yet it is very improper to call it the light of the clouds. Or,

2. The lightning, which is properly so called, as being produced by and in a cloud. Or,

3. The rainbow, which is a lightsome and glorious work of God, and therefore not likely to be omitted in this place, and which is seated in a cloud, which also may well be called God’s cloud, because therein God puts his bow, as the rainbow is called, Gen 9:13.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Third division — AN APPLICATION TO JOB OF THE PRECEDING DISCOURSES. THE FOLLY OF CONTENDING WITH GOD, OR OF STRIVING TO GRASP THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING WHILE THE MYSTERIES OF GOD’S WORKING IN NATURE REMAIN UNEXPLAINED, Job_37:14-24.

a. He who presumes to arraign God in judgment, (compare Job_37:19 with Job_13:18; Job_23:4,) and cannot account for the simplest of his doings except to admit that they are, may with reason fear that such blindness of mind will transform itself into a fool-headedness of action which will bring down swift destruction, Job_37:14-20.

15. When — Others, how. The most satisfactory reading is that of Heiligstedt: “Knowst thou how God imposed [laws] upon them; how he did, that these wonders should arise; for instance, how the light streams forth from out the dark cloud.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Dost thou know when God disposed them; rather, disposes them gives them their orders, arranges for their course and sequence? Or dost thou know when he caused (or rather, causes) the light of his cloud (either the lightning, or perhaps the rainbow, as Schultens suggests) to shine Thou canst not pretend to any such knowledge.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Them - The things before mentioned, the clouds, rain, snow, and other meteors. Did God acquaint thee with his counsels in the producing and ordering of them? His cloud - Probably the rainbow, seated in a cloud, which may well be called God's cloud, because therein God puts his bow, Gen. ix, 13.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

how God places the law of the covenant upon them, how they are suspended by His decree.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.