For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapor thereof:
27, 28. The wonder of the rain-drops.
27. For he maketh small the rain-drops;
They distil the rain of his vapour;
28. Which the clouds pour down,
And drop upon the multitude of mankind.
27. he maketh small ] lit. he draweth away, the reference being probably to the formation of the rain, which God draweth away in drops from the great mass of waters above. Others render, he draweth up, supposing the reference to be to the ascent of the rain in the form of vapour, as it then comes down in rain-drops. But this is rather scientific and complete; neither does the word mean to draw up.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For he maketh small the drops of water – Elihu now appeals, as he proposed to do, to the works of God, and begins with what appeared so remarkable and inexplicable, the wisdom of God in the rain and the dew, the tempest and the vapor. That which excited his wonder was, the fact in regard to the suspension of water in the clouds, and the distilling of it on the earth in the form of rain and dew. This very illustration had been used by Eliphaz for a similar purpose (Notes, Job 5:9-10), and whether we regard it as it appears to people without the light which science has thrown upon it, or look at the manner in which God suspends water in the clouds and sends it down in the form of rain and dew, with all the light which has been furnished by science, the fact is one that evinces in an eminent degree the wisdom of God. The word which is rendered maketh small ( gara), means properly to scrape off, to detract, to diminish, to take away from. In the Piel, the form used here, it means, according to Gesenius, to take to ones self, to attract; and the sense here, according to this, is, that God attracts, or draws upward the drops of water. So it is rendered by Herder, Noyes, Umbreit, and Rosenmuller. The idea is, that he draws up the drops of the water to the clouds, and then pours them down in rain. If the meaning in our common version be retained, the idea would be, that it was proof of great wisdom in God that the water descended in small drops, instead of coming down in a deluge; compare the notes at Job 26:8.
They pour down rain – That is, the clouds pour down the rain.
According to the vapour thereof – – le‘edo. The idea seems to be, that the water thus drawn up is poured down again in the form of a vapory rain, and which does not descend in torrents. The subject of admiration in the mind of Elihu was, that water should evaporate and ascend to the clouds, and be held there, and then descend again in the form of a gentle rain or fine mist. The reason for admiration is not lessened by becoming more fully acquainted with the laws by which it is done than Elihu can be supposed to have been.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 27. He maketh small the drops of water] This appears simply to refer to evaporation, and perhaps it would be better to translate yegara, “he exhales;” detaches the smallest particles of the aqueous mass from the surface in order to form clouds, as reservoirs for the purpose of furnishing rain for the watering of the earth. God is seen in little things, as well as great things; and the inconceivably little, as well as the stupendously great, are equally the work of Omnipotence.
They pour down rain] These exceedingly minute drops or vapour become collected in clouds; and then, when agitated by winds, &c. many particles being united, they become too heavy to be sustained by the air in which they before were suspended, and so fall down in rain, which is either a mist, a drizzle, a shower, a storm, or a waterspout, according to the influence of different winds, or the presence and quantum of the electric fluid. And all this is proportioned, le-edo, “to its vapour,” to the quantity of the fluid evaporated and condensed into clouds.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Having affirmed that Gods works are incomprehensibly great and glorious, he now enters upon the proof of it; and he proveth it from the most common and visible works of nature and providence, which if thoroughly considered, are full of wonder, and past the reach of the greatest philosophers, who indeed speak of them only by guess, and by their innumerable disputations about them discover their ignorance in them. And hence he leaves it to Job to consider how incomparably more deep and unconceivable the secret counsels and judgments of God must needs be, and therefore how foolish and presumptuous a thing it was for him to judge and censure them.
He maketh small the drops of water, i.e. he orders matters so wisely and graciously, that the waters which are in the clouds do not fall down at once in spouts, or rivers, or seas; which would be both unprofitable and pernicious to the earth, and to mankind; but by degrees, and in drops; which is best for mens safety and comfort, and for the refreshment of the earth. And this he observes as a wonderful work of God, without whose providence herein those waters might constantly or commonly fall in spouts, as sometimes part of them hath done.
They; either the waters, last mentioned; or the clouds, as it is expressed in the next verse; or the active verb is used impersonally, which is frequent in the Hebrew language, they pour down rain, for the rain is poured down.
Pour down; or, melt or dissolve; which word is borrowed from metallists, who dissolve metals with fire, and then pour them forth by degrees and in parcels; as the clouds are dissolved, and then poured forth in drops, as was now expressed.
According to the vapour thereof, i.e. according to the proportion of vapours which the heat of the sun hath drawn up from the earth or sea into the clouds. Or,
into the vapour thereof. So it notes that great work of God, by which the rain is first made of vapours, and afterwards resolved into vapours, or into the matter of succeeding vapours, by a constant rotation and reciprocation.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
27, 28. The marvellous formationof rain (so Job 5:9; Job 5:10).
maketh smallRather,”He draweth (up) to Him, He attracts (fromthe earth below) the drops of water; they (the drops of water) pourdown rain, (which is) His vapor.” “Vapor”is in apposition with “rain,” marking the way in which rainis formed; namely, from the vapor drawn up by God into the air andthen condensed into drops, which fall (Ps147:8). The suspension of such a mass of water, and its descentnot in a deluge, but in drops of vapory rain, are the marvel.The selection of this particular illustration of God’s greatnessforms a fit prelude to the storm in which God appears (Job40:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For he maketh small the drops of rain,…. Elihu proceeds to give instances and proofs of the greatness of God, and begins with rain, as Eliphaz does, Job 5:9; a common phenomenon, what is very frequent, and well known in all ages and countries, and by all men, more or less; and yet there are some things relative to it which are beyond the comprehension of men, and show the greatness and incomprehensibleness of God: and the design of this, and all other instances of this kind, is to convince Job of his folly in searching out the causes and reasons of God’s works of providence, when the common works of nature lie out of the reach of men; and to reconcile him to them, and bring him patiently to submit to the will of God, whose ways are past finding out; and some render the words, “he restrains the drops of rain” g; he withholds it from the earth, which causes a drought, and so brings on a famine; others, “he subtracts”, or draws out, or draws up, the drops of water h, which he exhales by the heat of the sun out of the earth and out of the sea; see Ps 135:7 Am 5:8; and which are drawn up in small particles, but form large bodies of waters in the clouds; and which are let down again upon the earth in small drops, in an easy and gentle manner, and so soak into the earth and make it fruitful; which is what is meant by our version here: this is a wonderful instance of God’s power, wisdom, and goodness, and is beyond our comprehension; for no mortal man can tell how the Almighty parts and divides those large quantities of water in the clouds, that sometimes hang over our heads, into millions and ten thousand times ten thousand millions of drops, even innumerable; and causes these waters in such a manner to descend on the earth; lets them not fall at once, or in waterspouts, which would wash away the inhabitants of cities and towns, the cattle of the field, and the produce of the earth, as at the general deluge;
they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: the water, drawn up and formed into large bodies in the heavens, pours down rain in a gentle and plentiful manner, according to the quantity of vapours exhaled out of the earth and sea; if a small quantity is drawn up, a small quantity is let down; and if a large quantity is attracted, a large quantity, or a plentiful shower, is given: some think that a small rain is meant in the preceding clause, and a great rain in this; for there is the small rain and the great rain of his strength,
Job 37:6. The word translated “pour” has the signification of liquefying, melting, and dissolving, and of purging and purifying; and which is applicable to clouds which melt and dissolve gradually as they descend in drops upon the earth; and the water which they let down is of all the most clear and pure, as Galen and Hippocrates i, those eminent physicians, have observed; and a late celebrated one tells us k, that rain water is so truly distilled by nature, that the chemist, with all his distilling art, cannot produce purer water; for, though it is exhaled out of the dirty earth, out of miry places, bogs, and ditches, yet, being bound up in the clouds as in a garment, and passing through the atmosphere, it comes down to us pure as if it had been percolated or strained through a linen cloth; and though the water as drawn up out of the sea is salt, yet carried up into the air, and there, as in an alembic, distilled, it descends to us sweet and fresh, and has not the least brackishness in it.
g “aufert stillas pluviae et prohibebit”, Pagninus; so Vatablus, Tigurine version, Targum, Ben Gersom. h “Attrahit”, Codurcus “subtrahit”, i.e. “a mare”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schultens. i Apud Pinedam in loc. k Boerhaav. Elem. Chem. p. 600. apud Schultens in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(27) The drops of water.The origin and first beginnings of the tempest are described. He maketh small, or draweth up by exhalation. They pour down rain, or they distil in rain from His vapour, or belonging to the vapour thereof. The rain is first absorbed, and then distilled and poured down.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
27. Maketh small Rather, draweth up; exhaleth ( Dr. Clarke) through the process of evaporation.
According to the vapour thereof Through his vapour-cloud, (Furst,) or from its vapour, (Gesenius,) which Dr. T. Lewis renders in place of mist, in allusion to Gen 2:6. Science still uses the same term “vapour-cloud” to designate the mysterious birthplace of the rain. The ancients looked upon rain not only as coming from their deity, ( Aratus,) but as the special gift of God. ( Herodotus, Job 2:13.) The Talmud (in Taanith, ch. i) records an ancient saying of the Jews, that there be three keys which God hath reserved in his own hand, and hath not delivered to any minister or substitute, namely, the keys of life, and of rain, and of the resurrection of the dead. See notes on Job 5:10-11; Job 26:8.
Man abundantly Or the multitude of men, so widespread is the fall of rain.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 36:27. For he maketh small, &c. Who causeth the exhalations of the waters to mount on high, which form the rain in his clouds, (Job 36:28.) when the heavens pour down.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 36:27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
Ver. 27. For he maketh small the drops of water ] Here Elihu beginneth to instance the greatness of God in his works, and particularly in the meteors; many of which Aristotle confesseth he understood not. And this I dare say, saith a learned interpreter here, that there is not extant any poem, either of the Greeks or Latins, which may be compared with this stately eloquence of Elihu in describing those natural effects which are caused in the air; and for the same cause are of the philosophers called meteors, or airy impressions; as namely, clouds, rain, hail, snow, thunder, lightning, and such like; whereof he here discourseth very gravely and learnedly; and first of rain, which he describeth, 1. By the form or manner of producing it, Job 36:27-28 Job 36:2 . By the largeness of the clouds, and their noise, Job 36:29 Job 36:3 . By the sudden succession of fair weather and foul, Job 36:30 . And lastly, by the different use thereof in the three last verses of this chapter: God maketh small the drops of water; that is, he raineth by dividing the drops in the cloud, causing them to come down guttatim, piece-meal; and not by whole spouts, or pail fulls. Others read it, Subtrahit Deus, God draweth up drops of water, viz. out of the sea, the rivers, and other moist places, whence those vapours do ascend, of which are generated those drops of rain: Psa 147:8 , “He covereth the heaven with clouds, he prepareth rain for the earth,” &c.
They pour down rain according to the vapours thereof
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he: Job 5:9, Job 38:25-28, Job 38:34, Gen 2:5, Gen 2:6, Psa 65:9-13, Isa 5:6, Jer 14:22
the vapour: Job 36:33, Psa 148:8
Reciprocal: Gen 7:4 – For Job 37:4 – he will Job 37:6 – likewise to the small Job 37:11 – he wearieth Psa 147:8 – covereth Pro 3:20 – the clouds Jer 5:24 – that giveth Jer 10:13 – He causeth Zec 10:1 – bright clouds
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 36:27-28. For he maketh small, &c. Having affirmed that Gods works are incomprehensibly great and glorious, he now proves it from the most common works of nature and providence. And hence he leaves it to Job to consider how much more deep and inconceivable the secret counsels of God must be. The drops of water He orders matters so wisely, that the waters which are in the clouds do not fall down at once in spouts, which would be pernicious to the earth and to mankind, but by degrees and in drops. According to the vapour thereof According to the proportion of vapours which the heat of the sun hath drawn up from the earth or sea. So it denotes that great work of God by which the rain is first made of vapours, and afterward resolved into vapours, or into the matter of succeeding vapours, by a constant rotation. Which the clouds distil abundantly In such plenty as the necessities of the earth require; which also is a wonderful work of God.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 36:27-33. God draws up the water-drops and lets them fall in rain. Who can understand the distribution of the clouds, the thunders which fill the cloud where He dwells? (cf. Psa 18:11). He is surrounded with light (Job 36:30). By the thunderstorm He judges the peoples and supplies humanity with food (by the fertilising rain). He fills His hands with the lightning and sends it home to its mark.
Job 36:30 b is unintelligible. Budde reads, and the roots of the sea He lays bare. Duhm corrects the whole verse, Behold He spreadeth His cloud about him, and He covereth the tops of the mountains. In Job 36:33 read His war-cry announceth Him, kindling His wrath against iniquity (Duhm).
Job 36:33 b, as it stands, is quite unintelligible.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
36:27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they {s} pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:
(s) That is, the rain comes from those drops of water which he keeps in the clouds.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God’s dealings with nature 36:27-37:24
Elihu focused next on God’s activities in nature. There may be references to autumn conditions in Job 36:27-33, winter in Job 37:1-13, and summer in Job 37:17-18. [Note: Zuck, Job, p. 158.]
Elihu’s third "Behold" (Job 36:26) draws attention to the infinite wisdom of God. No one can understand how or why He deals with nature as He does (Job 36:29).
The fourth "Behold" (Job 36:30) affirms a similar point. God uses rain to bring both blessings and curses on people. Lightning and thunder declare God’s presence even if people cannot fully understand when or why they come as they do.
Having introduced the idea of God’s sovereign control over all things as reflected in His control of nature (Job 36:26-33), Elihu elaborated on these thoughts in chapter 37. In Job 36:1-13 he cited more examples of God’s working in nature that we cannot comprehend fully (Job 37:5). We can learn that He does these things for different purposes. (Job 37:7). Sometimes God does them for people’s benefit or harm, but sometimes He does them simply for the sake of His world (Job 37:13).
At this point, Elihu turned again to apply these truths to Job’s situation (Job 37:14-24). He urged Job to be humble before such a great God (Job 37:14-20). No one can find Him, but we can count on Him to be just (Job 37:21-23). Job also needed to fear God (Job 37:24).
". . . fear is a normal human emotion and there is nothing wrong with it. We use the fear of sickness, injury, or death to teach children to wash their hands, stay away from power lines, and look carefully before crossing the street. Fear of financial loss motivates people to buy insurance, and fear of death encourages them to have an annual physical checkup.
"Fear of death (and the judgment that follows) is a legitimate motive for trusting Jesus Christ and being saved." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 37.]
Job 36:21 may mean that a person cannot look directly at the sun when the sky is clear of clouds. The implication is that neither can we see God in all His glory; He is partially unknowable.
Job 36:22 seems to be another allusion to Ugaritic mythology. The Canaanites thought their gods lived in the north, but Elihu said the true God comes out of the north in golden majesty (lit. gold), perhaps like the sun. Since the sun does not rise in the north, this cannot be a description of sunrise as symbolic of God’s appearing. Rather, it may contrast the appearing of the true God with Baal’s supposed appearing. [Note: Cf. Pope, pp. 286-87.]
In his four speeches, Elihu introduced a different reason for suffering: God has things to teach people that they can only learn through pain. He also described God in terms that suggest he may have had a more realistic, fuller concept of God than Job’s three friends did. All the same, neither Elihu nor the other three men had adequate insight into Job’s situation. They could not have had it unless God revealed to them what had transpired in His heavenly court (chs. 1-2). Elihu’s words are closer to the truth and set the stage for God’s fuller special revelation of Himself that follows in chapters 38-42. Generally, Elihu emphasized the positive aspects of God’s character, whereas the other three comforters emphasized the negative aspects. Elihu saw God more as a teacher, whereas the other men spoke of Him as a judge.
"Worshipers of the ancient Near Eastern gods, Satan, Job, and his three antagonists-all these believed that suffering originated from a ’tit for tat,’ ’measure for measure,’ compensation theology, which governs the correspondence between righteous behavior and prosperity, and sinful behavior and misery. However, Elihu showed that neither he nor God supported this theory. Under God’s justice, suffering comes to people for several reasons, many of which are unrelated to compensation theology." [Note: Larry J. Waters, "Elihu’s Theology and His View of Suffering," Bibliotheca Sacra 156:622 (April-June 1999):158. Cf. idem, "Elihu’s Categories of Suffering from Job 32-37," Bibliotheca Sacra 166:644 (October-December 2009):405-20. See also Hartley, pp. 485-86, for a summary of Elihu’s contribution.]