Job 38:38

groweth, &c.--rather, pour itself into a mass by the rain, like molten metal; then translate Job 38:38, "Who is it that empties," &c., "when," &c.? The English Version, however, is tenable: "Is caked into a mass" by heat, like molten metal, before the rain falls; "Who is it that can empty the rain vessels, and bring down rain at such a time?" (Job 38:38).

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

Job 38:38 When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

Ver. 38. When the dust groweth into hardness, &c.] When the ground hath had its fill, so that the light dust is turned into lumps of earth, and that which was tossed with every wind is clodded and glued together by water into a heavy substance, Hic enim simplex est et nativus huius loci sensus, saith Merlin. Danaeus in discoursing about stones, how they are made of earth, saith that this text is a compendium of all the large discourses of the natural philosophers concerning that subject.

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.

For when God doth not open these bottles, the earth cometh to this inconvenience.

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

Verse 38. When the dust groweth into hardness] That is, Who knows how the dust - the elementary particles of matter, were concreted; and how the clods-the several parts of the earth, continue to cohere? What is the principle of cohesion among the different particles of matter, in all metals and minerals? Even water, in a solid form, constitutes a part of several gems, called thence water of crystallization. Who can solve this question? How is it that 90 parts of alumine, 7 of silex, and 1.2 of oxide of iron, constitute the oriental ruby? and that 90 parts of silex and 19 of water, form the precious opal? And how can 46 parts of silex, 14 of alumine, 28 of carbonate of lime, 6.5 of sulphate of lime, 3 of oxide of iron, and 2 of water, enter into the constitution, and form the substance, of the lapis lazuli? How do these solids and fluids of such differing natures grow into hardness, and form this curious mineral?

Take another example from that beautiful precious stone, the emerald. Its analysis shows it to be composed of glucine 13, silex 64.5, alumine 16, lime 1.6, and oxide of chrome 3.25. Now how can these dusts, utterly worthless in themselves, grow into hardness, combine, and form one of the most beautiful, and, next to the diamond, the most precious, of all the gems? The almighty and infinitely wise God has done this in a way only known to and comprehensible by himself.

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

When the dust groweth into hardness - Margin, “is poured, or, is turned into mire.” The words used here relate often to metals, and to the act of pouring them out when fused, for the purpose of casting. The proper idea here is, “when the dust flows into a molten mass;” that is, when wet with rain it flows together and becomes hard. The sense is, that the rain operates on the clay as heat does on metals, and that when it is dissolved it flows together and thus becomes a solid mass. The object is to compare the effect of rain with the usual effect in casting metals.

And the clods cleave fast together - That is, they are run together by the rain. They form one mass of the same consistency, and then are baked hard by the sun.

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

Together. When was the water separated from the earth? (Haydock) --- Where wast thou when I gave consistency to the rocks? (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).

This verse containeth a description either,

1. Of a great drought, when the earth grows hard, and close, and compact; or

2. Of the condition of the earth presently after the fall of the rain, when the earth, which in time of drought was much of it dissolved into dust, is now by the rain cemented or united together. In either of these cases it is the work of God alone to keep the clouds from pouring down more rain upon the earth.

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

38. When the dust… hardness — When dust is poured into a molten mass. The rain consolidates the dust.

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

When the dust groweth into hardness. Aphar (rp) here, as often, means "earth," or "soil," rather than "dust." When by the heat of the sun"s rays the ground grows into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together, baked into a compact mass, then is the time when rain is most needed, and when the Almighty in his mercy commonly sends it. The consideration of inanimate nature here ends, with the result that its mysteries altogether transcend the human intellect, and render speculation on the still deeper mysteries of the moral world wholly vain and futile.

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

Mire - By reason of much rain.

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

When the dust was poured On the day that I poured the dust.

into a mass for the foundation of the world, into its midst.

and the clods cleaved together around it on all sides, until its length and width were filled.

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.