Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
30. Though God is enveloped in the dark cloud, He is there encircled with His light, which, though the masses of waters cover Him, manifests itself to men’s eyes in the lightning that shoots from the cloud and illumines it.
the bottom of the sea ] lit. the roots of the sea, a singular figure, which must mean the deeps or recesses of the sea. The reference is no doubt to the masses of water in the thunder clouds which enshroud the Almighty, but the precise idea of the poet is uncertain. Either he must call the heavenly waters the “sea” (cf. Psa 29:3), and mean by its “roots” its densest recesses; or if he refer to the sea on earth, his idea must be that it has been, as it were, drawn up from its bottom in cloud and vapour to form the pavilion of the Lord. This second idea has a certain extravagance which makes it less probable.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it – That is, upon his tabernacle or dwelling-place – the clouds. The allusion is to lightning, which flashes in a moment over the whole heavens. The image is exceedingly beautiful and graphic. The idea of spreading out the light in an instant over the whole of the darkened heavens, is that which Elihu had in his mind, and which impressed him so forcibly. On the difficulty in regard to the translation of the Septuagint here, see Schleusner on the word hedo.
And covereth the bottom of the sea – Margin, roots. The word roots is used to denote the bottom, as being the lowest part of a thing – as the roots of a tree. The meaning is that he covers the lowest part of the sea with floods of waters; and the object of Elihu is to give an exalted conception of the greatness of God, from the fact that his agency is seen in the higlest and the lowest objects. He spreads out the clouds, thunders in his tabernacle, diffuses a brilliant light over the heavens, and at the same time is occupied in covering the bottom of the sea with the floods. He is Lord over all, and his agency is seen every where. The highest and the lowest objects are under his control, and his agency is seen above and below. On the one hand, he covers the thick and dense clouds with light; and on the other, he envelopes the depth of the ocean in impenetrable darkness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 30. He spreadeth his light upon it] Or, as Mr. Good translates, “He throweth forth from it his flash.” These two verses may both have an allusion to the sudden rarefaction of that part of the atmosphere whence the thunder proceeds, by the agency of the electric fluid; the rushing in of the air on each side to restore the equilibrium, which the passage of the fire had before destroyed. The noise produced by this sudden rushing in of the air, as well as that occasioned by the ignition of the hydrogen gas, which is one of the constituents of water, is the thunder of his tabernacle, viz., the atmosphere, where God appears, in such cases, to be manifesting his presence and his power.
Elihu says that God spreadeth his light upon it. This is spoken in reference to the flashes and coruscations of lightning in the time of thunder storms, when, even in a dark night, a sudden flash illuminates for a moment the surface of the earth under that place.
And covereth the bottom of the sea.] He doth whatsoever it pleaseth him in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, in the sea, and in all deep places. Yea, the depths of the sea are as much under his control and influence as the atmosphere, and its whole collection of vapours, meteors, and galvanic and electric fluids.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
His light, i.e. the lightning; of which the whole context speaks, which is fitly called Gods light, as it is called Gods lightning, Psa 144:6, because God only can light it.
Upon it, i.e. upon the cloud, which is in a manner the candlestick in which God sets up this light.
Covereth the bottom of the sea; the lightning spreads far and wide over all the parts of the sea, and pierceth deep, reaching even to the bottom of it, and spreading itself upon it, and so covering it like a gay and glorious garment, suddenly cast over and covering the body of a man or woman; or as God is said to cover himself with light as with a garment, Psa 104:2.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
30. lightlightning.
itHis tabernacle (Job36:29). The light, in an instant spread over the vast mass ofdark clouds, forms a striking picture.
spreadis repeated fromJob 36:29 to form anantithesis. “He spreads not only clouds, but light.“
covereth the bottomroots.
of the seanamely, withthe light. In the storm the depths of ocean are laid bare; and thelight “covers” them, at the same moment that it “spreads”across the dark sky. So in Psa 18:14;Psa 18:15, the discovering of”the channels of waters” follows the “lightnings.”UMBREIT translates: “Hespreadeth His light upon Himself, and covereth Himself withthe roots of the sea” (Ps104:2). God’s garment is woven of celestial light and of thewatery depths, raised to the sky to form His cloudy canopy. Thephrase, “cover Himself with the roots of the sea,” isharsh; but the image is grand.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it,…. Upon his tabernacle; that is, upon the clouds, which are his tabernacle; either the light of the sun, whereby the clouds are dispersed and blotted out; an emblem of the blotting out of sin, or the forgiveness of it,
Isa 44:22, which is like a clear shining after rain, 2Sa 23:4, or on a thin cloud, whereby the rainbow is formed, an emblem of peace and reconciliation by Christ; or lightning, which bursting out of the dark cloud is spread over it, when it seems to be all in flames. Cocceius renders it, “he spreads the light about himself”; God spreads it about himself, clothing himself with light as with a garment, and dwelling in light inaccessible to men: or he “spreads [it] upon him”, upon man; causing his sun to shine on the just and unjust; or on it, the earth; so it was spread when first commanded to shine out of darkness, with which the earth in its primeval state was covered; and so it is spread every morning upon the earth; as soon as day breaks, the morning is spread upon the mountains, and in a short time it overspreads the whole hemisphere; an emblem this of the spread of the light of grace over the dark hearts of men, in conversion, which are like the earth in its chaotic state, or as in the night season covered with darkness; out of which they are called and brought by the grace of God, having the true light sprung and placed in their souls; which at first is but glimmering, and at best imperfect in the present state, yet is spreading and increasing, Pr 4:18; and of the spread of the great and glorious light of the Gospel in the world, in the times of the apostles, and as it will be in the latter day glory;
and covereth the bottom of the sea, or “the roots of the sea” n; though one would think they should be rather covered with water and with darkness, as they are; see Job 38:8. This is to be understood either of the light of the sun, and the rays of it, which are so piercing and penetrating as to reach to the bottom of the sea, and cover it and exhale waters out of it; or of lightning, which is equally as piercing and penetrating, or more, and strikes to the very roots of the sea, and covers them, or rather discovers them, so that the channels of waters are seen, and the foundations of the world are discovered, Ps 18:14; the Targum of this verse is,
“he spreads upon it rain, and covers the rocks or foundations of the sea;”
and the rain is called light according to Ramban, because by the descent of it the day is enlightened, and the darkness of the clouds removed; and by this means the bottom of the sea is covered, so that it passes its bounds and covers the rocks, that is, the borders of it, as others explain it o.
n “radices maris”, Pagninus, Montanus, &c. o In Bar Tzemach in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
30 Behold, He spreadeth His light over Himself,
And the roots of the sea He covereth.
31 For thereby He judgeth peoples,
He giveth food in abundance.
32 Both hands He covereth over with light,
And directeth it as one who hitteth the mark.
33 His noise announceth Him,
The cattle even that He is approaching.
A few expositors (Hirz., Hahn, Schlottm.) understand the celestial ocean, or the sea of the upper waters, by , Job 36:30; but it is more than questionable (vid., on Job 9:8) whether is used anywhere in this sense. Others as (Umbr., Ew.) the masses of water drawn up to the sky out of the depths of the sea, on which a Persian passage cited by Stick. (who, however, regards the Waw of as Waw adaequationis) from Schebisteri may be compared: “an exhalation rises up out of the sea, and comes down at God’s command upon the deserts.” In both cases would be equivalent to , obtegit se , which in and of itself is possible. But he who has once witnessed a storm in the neighbourhood of the sea, will decide in favour of one of the three following explanations: (1.) He covereth the uprooted ground of the sea (comp. Psa 18:15.) with the subsiding waves (Blumenf.); but then Job 36:30 would require to be understood of the light of the brightening sky following the darkness of the storm, which is improbable in respect of Job 36:32. (2.) While the sky is brilliantly lighted up by the lightning, the abysses of the ocean are veiled in a so much deeper darkness; the observation is correct, but not less so another, that the lightning by a thunder-storm, especially when occurring at night, descends into the depths of the sea like snares that are cast down ( , Psa 11:6), and the water is momentarily changed as it were into a sea of flame; accordingly it may be explained, (3.) Behold, He spreadeth over Himself His light (viz., the light which incessantly illumines the world), and the roots of the sea, i.e., the sea down to its depths, He covers with it, since He makes it light through and through (Stuhlm. Wolfs.). Thus, as it appears, Jerome also interprets: Et (si voluerit) fulgurare lumine suo desuper, cardines quoque maris operiet .
(Note: The Targ. translates , Job 36:30, Job 36:32, by , pluvia , according to the erroneous opinion of R. Jochanan: . Aben-Ezra and Kimchi explain even , Isa 18:4, according to this passage. The lxx translates Job 36:30: ( Cod. Alex. ; Cod. Sinait. (with the corrections and ), probably according to the reading for . But what connection have and rainbow?)
This, that He makes the light of the lightning His manifestation ( ), and that He covers the earth down to the roots of the sea beneath with this light, is established in Job 36:31 from the design, partly judicial, partly beneficial, which exists in connection with it. refers as neuter (like , Job 22:21) to the phenomena of the storm; (with the adverbial like , Job 26:3), what makes great = a making great, abundance (only here), is n. hiphil. after the form , perdens = perditio . In Job 36:32 God is represented under a military figure as a slinger of lightnings: He covers light over both hands, i.e., arms both completely with light (comp. and Arab. skk , totum se operire armis ), and directs it ( referring to as fem. like Jer 13:16, and sometimes in the Talmud). But what is the meaning of ? Hahn takes as n. hiphil. like : an object of attack; but what then becomes of the original Hiphil signification? It ought to be (Job 7:20), as Olsh. wishes to read it. Ew., Hirz., and others, after the example of Theod. (lxx), Syr., Jer., translate: against the adversary; ;yrasre signifies indeed the opposite in Isa 49:16: intercessor (properly, one who assails with prayers); however, it would be possible for this word, just as c. acc. (which signifies usually a hostile meeting, Exo 5:3 and freq., but sometimes also a friendly, Isa 47:3; Isa 64:4), to be an . We prefer to abide by the usage of the language as we have it, according to which signifies facere ut quid incurset s. petat , Isa 53:6; therefore is one who hits, in opposition to one who misses the mark. The Beth is the Beth essentiae (vid., on Job 23:13), used here like Exo 6:3; Psa 55:19; Isa 40:10. With both hands He seizes the substance of the lightning, fills them with it so that they are completely covered by it, and gives it the command (appoints it its goal), a sure aimer!
Job 36:33 Targ., Syr., Symm., Theod. (from which Job 36:32 is supplied in the lxx),
(Note: Vid., Bickel, De indole ac ratione versionis Alex. in interpretando l. Iobi, p. 50. Cod. Sinait. has, like Cod. Vat.: (corr. ) .)
Jer., Luther, and others destroy the idea, since they translate = , “his friend (companion).” Among moderns, only Umbr. and Schlottm. adopt this signification; Bttch. and Welte, after the example of Cocceius, Tingstad, and others, attempt it with the signification “thought = determination;” but most expositors, from Ew. to Hahn, decide in favour of the rendering as simple as it is consistent with the usage of the language and the connection: His noise ( as Exo 32:17) gives tidings concerning Him (announces Him). In Job 36:33 Theod. (lxx), Syr., and Jer. point like our text, but translate possessio , with which we can do nothing. It seems that in the three attempts of the Targ. to translate Job 36:33, the translators had and before their mind, according to which Hahn translates: the arousing of anger (announces) the comer, which assumes instead of ; and Schlottm.: fierce wrath (goes forth) over evil (according to Symm. ), which assumes the reading ( ), , adopted also by Syr., Theod. (lxx). Schultens even renders similarly: rubedinem flammantem nasi contra elatum , and Tingstad: zelum irae in iniquitatem . But it is not probable that the language was acquainted with a subst. , exciting, although in Eze 8:3 is equivalent to , so that one might more readily be tempted (vid., Hitz. in loc.) to read , ”one who excites anger against evil,” it one is not willing to decide with Berg, and recently Bleek, in favour of ( ) , excandescens (zelans) ira = contra iniquitatem . But does the text as it stands really not give an appropriate idea? Aben-Ezra and Duran have understood it of the foreboding of an approaching thunder-storm which is manifested by cattle, . Accordingly Ew. translates: His thunder announces Him, the cattle even, that He is approaching; and peculiarly new (understanding not of a foreboding but of a thankful lowing) is Ebrard’s rendering; also the cattle at fresh sprouting grass. But such a change of the position of is without precedent. Hirz. and Ges.: His rumble (rumble of thunder) announces Him to the herds, Him, and indeed as Him who rises up (approaches). But this new interpunction destroys the division of the verse and the syntax. Better Rosenm. like Duran: pecus non tantum pluviam proximam, sed et antequam nubes in sublime adscenderint adscensuras prae sagit, according to Virgil, Georg. i. 374f.:
illum (imbrem) surgentem vallibus imis
Aeriae fugere grues
But refers to God, and therefore also, viz., Him who leads forth the storm-clouds (Jer 10:13; Jer 51:16; Psa 135:7), and Himself rising up in them; or, what frequently signifies, coming on as to battle. It is to be interpreted: His thunder-clap announces Him (who is about to reveal Himself as a merciful judge), the cattle even (announce) Him at His first rising up, since at the approach of a storm they herd together affrighted and seek shelter. The speakers are Arabian, and the scene is laid in the country: Elihu also refers to the animal world in Job 35:11; this feature of the picture, therefore, cannot be surprising.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(30) His light appears to mean here the lightning which flashes forth from the cloud.
And covereth the bottom of the sea.Literally, it hath covered the roots of the sea: i.e., it, the lightning, or He, God, hath covered those clouds which are composed of the roots of the sea, that is, the drops of water which are exhaled from the sea.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. Light upon it More properly, light around himself.
Covereth the bottom of the sea Covereth (himself) with the roots of the sea. Others read as in the text of Authorized Version. Job had spoken also of the roots of the mountains, (Job 28:9,) and even of the roots of the human foot, (Job 13:27.) The sublime thought of the text weaves together celestial light and ocean depth to form fit garment for the Almighty. An old Orphic hymn has a like expression:
Thou who holdest the roots of the sea,
Thy dark-gleaming throne.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 36:30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Ver. 30. Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it ] That is, his fair weather, clearing up the cloudy sky, as some expound it; or, as others, his lightning shot forth every way, Psa 18:13 ; Psa 18:15 ; Psa 144:6 . Or the sunbeams spread upon the sea, and drawing up vapours; unde mare hoc loco nubium radix dicitur, saith Brentius, whence the sea is here called the root of the clouds; or the surface of the sea is called the root of it, in regard to the wandering waves which are cut in asunder, after the manner of roots; so saith Vatablus. Those that by light here understand lightnings, say, that God maketh them dart so abundantly through the waters of the sea, that they do, as it were, cover all the bottom of it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bottom = roots or offspring, i.e. clouds.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he: Job 38:25, Job 38:34, Job 38:35, Luk 17:24
and: Job 38:8-11, Gen 1:9, Exo 14:22, Exo 14:28, Exo 15:4, Exo 15:5, Psa 18:11-16, Psa 104:5-9
bottom: Heb. roots
Reciprocal: Gen 1:3 – Let Job 37:11 – he scattereth Job 37:15 – the light
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
36:30 Behold, he spreadeth his light upon {u} it, and covereth the {x} bottom of the sea.
(u) Upon the cloud.
(x) That men cannot come to the knowledge of the springs of it.