Job 38:20

Job 38:20 That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths [to] the house thereof?

Ver. 20. That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof] That thou shouldest take light and darkness by the hand, as it were, and lead them to the place of their abode.

And that thou shouldest know the paths, &c.] That is, which way to go to bring them out of their retiring rooms; and to reduce them into our hemisphere.

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.

Job 38:20. That thou shouldest take it — That is, bring, or lead it, namely, principally the light, and secondarily the darkness, as the consequent of it, to the bound thereof? — That is, through its whole course, from the place of its abode, whence it is supposed to come, to the end of the journey which it is to go. Didst thou direct or guide the light, or the sun, that it should at first take, and afterward constantly continue in that course which now it holds; that it should go from east to west, and rise, sometimes in one point or part of heaven, and sometimes in another; and that its day’s journey should be longer in one season of the year and shorter in another? This regular and excellent course must needs be the effect of great wisdom. And whose wisdom was it? Thine or mine? And that thou shouldest know — Namely, practically so as to direct or lead it in the manner now expressed, the paths to the house thereof? — Where thou mayest find it, and whence thou mayest fetch it.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That thou mightest appoint it highway and limits.

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

Dost thou know its place so well as to be able to guide, ("take" as in Isa 36:17) it to (but UMBREIT, "reach it in") its own boundary, that is, the limit between light and darkness (Job 26:10)?

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 20. Shouldest take it to the bound thereof?] Or, as Mr. Good, translates, "That thou shouldest lay hold of it in its boundary." That thou shouldest go to the very spot where light commences, and where darkness ends; and see the house where each dwells. Here darkness and light are personified, each as a real intelligent being, having a separate existence and local dwelling. But poetry animates everything. It is the region of fictitious existence.

I believe this verse should be translated thus: - "For thou canst take US to its boundary; for thou knowest the paths to its house." This is a strong irony, and there are several others in this Divine speech. Job had valued himself too much on his knowledge; and a chief object of this august speech is to humble his "knowing pride," and to cause him to seek true wisdom and humility where they are to be found.

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

(20) That thou shouldest take it—i.e., go with or track it.

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

20. take it to the bound thereof] The second clause, the path to its house, suggests that the bound or border of light is not the furthest limit to which it flows forth, but its own place of abode, the bound between it and darkness, from which it issues. Job is asked if he knows the way to the dwelling-place of light and darkness, so that he might take them back to the place of their abode.

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.

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof,.... Either darkness, or rather the light; take it as it were by the hand, and guide and direct its course to its utmost bound. This only the Lord can do and does: he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which goes forth at his command as a strong man to run a race; whose going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: in which his course is so steered and directed by the Lord, that he never misses his way or errs from it; but keeps his path exactly, as well as knows its rising and setting, its utmost bounds;

and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? from whence it sets out, and whither it returns; see Psa 19:4. And so the light and darkness of prosperity and adversity, as well as natural light and darkness, are of God, at his disposal, and bounded by him, and therefore his will should be submitted to; which is the doctrine the Lord would teach Job by all this.

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

That thou shouldest take it to the bounds thereof - Margin, “or, at.” The sense seems to be this: God asks Job whether he was so well acquainted with the sources of light, and the place where it dwelt, that he could take it under his guidance and reconduct it to its place of abode.

And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof? - The same idea is repeated here. Light has a home; a place of abode. It was far distant - in some region unknown to man. Did Job know the way in which it came, and the place where it dwelt so well, that he could conduct it back again to its own dwelling? Umbreit, Noyes, and Herder, suppose that this is to be understood ironically.

“For thou hast reached its boundaries!

For then knowest the path to its dwelling!”

But it has been commonly regarded as a question, and thus understood it accords better with the connection.

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

That thou shouldest take it, i.e. taking, bring or lead it, as this verb is oft used, as Exo 25:2; Psa 68:29, compared with Eph 4:11; 1Ki 3:24; 17:10; Hos 14:2. And many other such pregnant verbs there are in the Hebrew language, having the signification of two verbs included in one, And this it refers principally to the light, and secondarily to darkness, as the consequent of the other.

To the bound thereof, i.e. its whole course, from the place of its abode whence it is supposed to come, to the end of its journey which it is to go. Didst thou direct or guide the light or the sun, that he should at first take, and afterward constantly continue, in that course which now it holds; that it should go from east to west, and rise sometimes in one point or part of the heaven, and sometimes in another, and that its day’s journey should be longer in one season of the year, and shorter in another? This regular and excellent course must needs be the effect of great wisdom. And whose wisdom was it? thine or mine?

That thou shouldest know, to wit, practically, so as to direct or lead it in the manner now expressed.

The paths to the house thereof; where thou mayst find it, and whence thou mayst fetch it.

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

20. Bound thereof — The boundary between light and darkness, (Hirtzel;) or, rather, if we make it parallel with “house,” of the second clause, the primordial, or beginning place. A climax is reached by asking Job if he can escort either light or darkness back to its home.

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

That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof. Can Job "take" light and darkness, and lead them to their proper places, and make them observe their proper "bounds," as God can? (Gen_1:4) And that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof (comp. ver. 19).

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

Take it - Bring or lead it: and this it refers principally to the light, and to darkness, as the consequent of the other. Bound - Its whole course from the place of its abode whence it is supposed to come, to the end of its journey. Know - Where thou mayst find it, and whence thou mayst fetch it.

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