Job 38:30

Job 38:30 The waters are hid as [with] a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Ver. 30. The waters are hid as with a stone] This is a further description of ice, which is hard as a stone and clear as crystal; so great is the force of frost; how much more, then, of God to do whatsoever he pleaseth.

And the face of the deep is frozen] Some deep rivers are ice to the bottom, so that loaden carts are driven over, fires made upon them, meat dressed, &c., as was here upon the Thames in the great frost, some forty-five years since, Quae aquae magno et diuturno frigore congelescunt, velut per 10 vel 20 annos continuos appellantur crystallus, velut in Alpibus. Yea, some seas are frozen over (Juvenal speaks of the icy ocean, et glacialem Oceanum) in the northern part of the world, the ice thereof, when once thawed, floateth in the waters like huge mountains, as in Greenland.

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.

The ice covereth it, as though it were paved with stone.

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

The unfrozen waters are hid under the frozen, as with a covering of stone.

frozen--literally, "is taken"; the particles take hold of one another so as to cohere.

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 30. The waters are hid as with a stone] Here is a reference to freezing in the winter, as we may learn from some of the constellations mentioned below, which arise above our horizon, in the winter months.

The word יתחבאו yithchabbau is understood by the versions in general as implying hardening or congelation; and we know in some intense frosts the ice becomes as hard as a stone; and even the face of the deep-the very seas themselves, not only in the polar circles, but even in northern countries, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and parts of Germany, are really frozen, and locked up from all the purposes of navigation for several months in winter.

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

(30) The waters are hid.—Or, The waters hide themselves and become like stone. Water loses its familiar quality, and is turned into stone.

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

30. as with a stone] lit. the waters hide themselves like a stone, that is, becoming like stone.

is frozen] lit. cleaveth together. The phenomenon of ice, rare in the East, naturally appeared wonderful.

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.

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?.... Which are thought to be the same with "the chambers of the south", Job 9:9; the southern pole (m) with its stars, signified by chambers, because hidden from our sight in this part of the globe; and here by Mazzaroth, from, "nazar", to separate, because separated and at a distance from us; some think (n) the twelve signs of the Zodiac are meant, each of which are brought forth in their season, not by men, but by the Lord; see Isa 40:26;

or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? a constellation of many stars called its sons, of which see Job 9:9. Schmidt conjectures that Jupiter and his satellites are meant; but rather what we call the greater and lesser Bear, in the tail of which is the north pole star, the guide of mariners, said (o) to be found out by Thales, by which the Phoenicians sailed, but is not to be guided by men; this, constellation is fancied to be in the form of a wain or wagon, and is called Charles's wain; could this be admitted, there might be thought to be an allusion to it (p), and the sense be, canst thou guide and lead this constellation, as a wagon or team of horses can be guided and led? stars have their courses, Jdg 5:20; but are not steered, guided, and directed by men, but by the Lord himself.

(m) David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 77. 3. (n) Vatablus, Codurcus, Schultens; so Suidas in voce (o) Callimachus apud Laert. Vit. Thalet. p. 16. (p) Vid. Hinckelman. Praefat. ad Alkoran. p. 29, 30.

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

The waters are hid as with a stone - The solid ice is laid as a stone upon them, wholly concealing them from view.

And the face of the deep is frozen - Margin, “taken.” The idea is, they seem to take hold of one another (יתלכדוּ yitlâkadû); they hold together, or cohere. The formation of ice is thus appealed to as a proof of the wisdom of God, and as a thing which Job could not explain. No man could produce this effect; nor could Job explain how it was done.

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

As with a stone, i.e. with ice as hard as a stone.

The face of the deep, i.e. the great sea, which is oft called the deep, as Gen 7:11; Psa 107:24; Isa 51:10; 63:13; 2Co 11:25, which in some parts is frozen, which is a wonderful work of God.

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

30. The waters are hid as with a stone — The waters harden like stone. Thus Furst, etc. The root idea of חבא is that of “hiding,” “concealing:” here used in the Hithpael it signifies “they hide themselves.” in other words, “congeal;” to which Umbreit gives the idea of “hiding under a stone.” The comparison to a stone is introduced rather to show the result of freezing, which is a hardness like that of stone, כאבן. The son of Sirach speaks of the cold north wind clothing the water as with a breastplate. Sir_43:20.

Is frozen — Cleaves together. See note on Job_37:10. The same word, יתלכדו, is used in Job_41:17 of the joining together of the scales of the leviathan. The face of the deep closes in together after the manner of the human face, (thus Hitzig,) whose lineaments constitute the countenance. Tyndall, in his treatise on “The Structure and Properties of Ice,” describes the transmission, in various directions, of sunbeams, condensed by a lens, through slabs of ice. “The path of every beam was observed to be instantly studded with lustrous spots, which increased in magnitude and number as the action continued. On examining the spots more closely they were found to be flattened spheroids, and around each of them the ice was so liquified as to form a beautiful flower-shaped figure possessing six petals. From this number there was no deviation. At first the edges of the liquid leaves were unindented; but a continuance of the action usually caused the edges to become serrated like those of ferns.” In his work on “Forms of Water,” (pp. 35-38.) the same author says, “In all cases the flowers are formed parallel to the surface of freezing. They are formed when the sun shines upon the ice of every lake; sometimes in myriads, and so small as to require a magnifying glass to see them.… Here we have a reversal of the process of crystallization… In this exquisite way every bit of the ice over which our skaters glide in winter is put together.”

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

The waters are hid as with a stone; rather, the waters are hardened" like unto stone. When the frost comes, the waters are congealed and rendered as hard as stone. (So Dillmann and Canon Cook.) And the face of the deep is frozen. By "the deep" ( is certainly not meant here either the open ocean, which, in the latitudes known to the dwellers in South Western Asia, never freezes, or the Mediterranean. Some of the lakes which abound in the regions inhabited by Job and his friends are probably meant. These may occasionally have been thinly coated with ice in the times when the Book of Job was written. (see the comment on Job_6:16)

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

Like a stone...hides because of the ice that congeals in drops upon their faces.

and the face of the deep is caught and held together by it.

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.