Job 38:5

Job 38:5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

Ver. 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof] In that circumference and diameter that it holdeth?

If thou knowest] Or, For thou knowest; quandoquidem scitus es, a tart irony. Geometricians take upon them to know the various dimensions of the earth; and Archimedes boasted, that if he had but where to set his foot from off the earth he could shake the whole body of it. As also, that he could number all the sands that were in the whole world, habitable and inhabitable. But these were vain boasts.

Or who hath stretched the line upon it?] A metaphor from masons and other master builders, who work by line and by rule. Vitruvius in his 7th book saith thus, Longitudines ad regulam et lineam, altitudines ad perpendiculum, anguli ad normam respondentes exigantur.

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.

measures--of its proportions. Image from an architect's plans of a building.

line--of measurement (Isa 28:17). The earth is formed on an all-wise plan.

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 5. Who hath laid the measures thereof] Who hath adjusted its polar and equatorial distances from the centre?

Who hath stretched the line] Who hath formed its zones and its great circles, and adjusted the whole of its magnitude and gravity to the orbit in which it was to move, as well as its distance from that great centre about which it was to revolve? These questions show the difficulty of the subject; and that there was an unfathomable depth of counsel and design in the formation of the earth.

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

5. if thou knowest] Rather, that thou shouldest know. Job knew well who laid (rather, fixed) the measures of the earth, but the point of the question is, Was he present to see who fixed them and how they were fixed, so as to be able to speak with knowledge?

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.

Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?.... Did God or a creature? The Lord, no doubt. He laid them out in his divine mind, and laid them forth by his divine power; who does all things by weight and measure. He fixed the dimensions of the earth, how long, how thick, and how broad it should be; he settled the borders and boundaries of it. This Job might know that the Lord did; but he laid them, and what they are that are laid, he knew not. Mathematicians pretend to give us the circumference and diameter of the earth; but in their accounts are not agreed, but widely differ; which shows they are at no certainty about them (e); and Job and the men of his age might be still less knowing: though the words may be rendered, "for thou knowest" (f); surely such a knowing man as thou art must needs know this and so are a severe sarcasm upon him;

or who hath stretched the line upon it? The measuring line being formed according to rule, with exact symmetry and proportion. This may be the same with the circle of the earth, and the compass set upon the face of the deep or terraqueous globe, Pro 8:27. And with the same exactness and just proportion are the ways and works of Providence, which Job ought to have acquiesced in as being well and wisely done.

(e) The mathematicians in Aristotle's time reckoned the breadth of the earth a little less than forty myriads of furlongs, and the length of it seventy myriads. Aristot. de Mundo, c. 3. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 108, 109. According to the moderns, the circumference of the earth is 25,031.5 of our statute miles, and its diameter 7967 such miles. See Chamber's Dictionary on the word "Earth". (f) "quadoquidem", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "quia", Michaelis; "nam", Schultens; so Broughton.

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

Who hath laid the measures thereof - That is, as an architect applies his measures when he rears a house.

If thou knowest - Or rather, “for thou knowest.” The expression is wholly ironical, and is designed to rebuke Job’s pretensions of being able to explain the divine administration.

Or who hath stretched the line upon it - As a carpenter uses a line to mark out his work; see the notes at Isa 28:17. The earth is represented as a building, the plan of which was laid out beforehand, and which was then made according to the sketch of the architect. It is not, therefore, the work of chance or fate. It is laid out and constructed according to a wise plan, and in a method evincing infinite skill.

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

Upon it. He speaks of the world as of a vast house, (Calmet) or palace, (Menochius) in which the Architect has shewn his art. (Haydock)

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).

Who hath prescribed how long and broad and deep it should be?

Or who hath stretched the line, to wit, the measuring line, to regulate all its dimensions, so as might be most convenient both for beauty and use?

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

5. If thou knowest — Rather, That thou shouldst know. This sounds the key-note to the whole series of questions — the folly of man’s assuming to comprehend the work of God. The puniness of the human mind will be set forth, just as a molehill finds its true dimensions beneath the shadow of a mountain. Each question conveys an oblique allusion to Job for his folly in arraigning an incomprehensible God. Job_9:35; Job_13:18; Job_13:22; Job_23:3-7; Job_31:35-37. Stretched the line — Like a wise master-builder, with measuring-line he lays out the world. “Behold,” says Samuel Wesley, “the architecture of God! The terms are those of the geometer or builder. The bases, the hinges, the lines, the perpendicular, the corner-stone, the measures.”

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

Who determined the measures thereof? Everything in creation is orderly, measured, predetermined, governed by law and will The actual weight of the planets is fixed by Divine wisdom, with a view to the stability and enduringness of the solar system. (comp. Isa_40:12) If thou knowest; literally, for thou knowest an anticipation of the lofty irony which comes out so remarkably in ver. 21. Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Human builders determine the dimensions of their constructions by means of a measuring-line. (Eze_40:3-49, etc.) The writer carries out his metaphor of a building by supposing a measuring-rod to have been used at the creation of the earth also. Some find a trace of the idea in Gen_1:9, where they translate Wwq, "Let the waters be marked out with a line."

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

Measures - Who hath prescribed how long and broad and deep it should be. Line - the measuring line to regulate all its dimensions.

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

its measures Heb. מְמַדֶיהָ [like] מִדוֹתֶיהָ.

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.