He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
3. he directeth ] Rather, assuming another derivation of the word, he sendeth it forth, lets it loose.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He directeth it under the whole heaven – It is under the control of God, and he directs it where he pleases. It is not confined to one spot, but seems to be complaining from every part of the heavens.
And his lightning – Margin, as in Hebrew light. There can be no doubt that the lightning is intended.
Unto the ends of the earth – Margin, as in Hebrew wings. The word wings is given to the earth from the idea of its being spread out or expanded like the wings of a bird; compare Job 38:13; Eze 7:2. The earth was spoken of as an expanse or plain that had corners or boundaries (see Isa 11:12, note; Isa 24:16, note; Isa 42:5, note), and the meaning here is, that God spread the lightning at pleasure over the whole of that vast expanse.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven] He directeth it (the lightning) under the whole heaven, in the twinkling of an eye from east to west; and its light-the reflection of the flash, not the lightning, unto the ends of the earth, so that a whole hemisphere seems to see it at the same instant.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He directeth it, to wit, his voice; which he shooteth or guideth like an arrow to the mark, so disposing it that it may do that work for which he sends it.
Under the whole heaven; far and wide through all the parts of this lower world.
Unto the ends of the earth; from one end of the heaven to the opposite end or part of the earth, as from east to west, Mat 24:27.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. directeth ithowever zigzagthe lightning’s course; or, rather, it applies to the pealing roll ofthe thunder. God’s all-embracing power.
endsliterally,”wings,” “skirts,” the habitable earth beingoften compared to an extended garment (Job 38:13;Isa 11:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He directeth it under the whole heaven,…. His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny x atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isa 5:6, are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;
and his lightning unto the ends of the earth: it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, Mt 24:27; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.
x Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) He directeth it.Or, sendeth it forth: i.e., the noise and rumbling which fills all heaven.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. He directeth He letteth it (the thunder) loose; or, better yet, sendeth it forth.
Unto the ends of the earth “Wings” or “fringes” of the earth; same as in Job 38:13. The word might be rendered “boundaries,” the same word in the Arabic ( kanafa) being employed to express bounding. In Isa 11:12, and in Eze 7:2, the word is associated with the numeral four, and is evidently used for the cardinal points. Comp. Rev 7:1; Rev 20:8. In the view of Renan, the earth is here compared “to a carpet spread out; its extremities being in some sort the border of the carpet.” The Greeks in the time of Eratosthenes, so Rosenmuller states, (Bib. Geog., Job 1:3,) compared the shape of the earth to that of an outspread chlamys, or cloak. At one time Gesenius supposed that the Hebrews had, in like manner, erred in taking the earth to be of a quadrangular form. This opinion he afterward retracted by advancing the more correct view, that the Hebrews regarded the four “ends of the earth” as equivalent to the four quarters of heaven. (See his Com. on Isa 11:12.) Winer, however, (Rwb., 1:340,) thinks it to be exceedingly doubtful that the Hebrews ever formed a fixed opinion as to the shape of the earth.
His lightning unto the ends of the earth We have been assured by a celebrated Abyssinian traveller, that he has seen flashes in that country extending from horizon to horizon, and which he could not estimate as under fifty or one hundred miles in length. SIR JOHN HERSCHEL, in Encyc. Brit., 8th ed., 14:662.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 37:3. He directeth it under the whole heaven Its flash is beneath the whole heavens, and its blaze unto the ends of the earth. Schultens and Heath.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 37:3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Ver. 3. He directeth it under the whole heaven ] Heb. He maketh it to go right forward, meaning the thunder, the vehement noise or sound whereof (not altogether unlike that of cloth violently torn, or of air thrust out of bellows, or of a chestnut burst in the fire, but far louder) is brought through the air to our ears with such a mighty force, that it drowns all noises, clappings, clatterings, roarings even of many waters; making the earth to shake again, and all things tremble, non secus quam siquis currum onustum per plateam lapidibus stratum ducat (Lavat.). And this dreadful noise is by God directed to this or that place under the heavens, at his pleasure. The word rendered directeth signifieth also beholdeth; whence some interpret this text of God’s seeing all things under heaven. But the former sense is better.
And his lightning unto the ends of the earth
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
He: Psa 77:13, Psa 97:4, Mat 24:27, Rev 11:19
lightning: Heb. light
ends: Heb. wings, Job 38:13, Isa 11:12, *marg.
Reciprocal: Job 28:26 – a way Job 38:25 – General Psa 29:7 – flames Luk 17:24 – as
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 37:3-5. He directeth it Namely, his voice, his thunder; under the whole heaven It is heard far and near, for he darts it through the whole region of the air: and his lightning, &c. Preceded by terrible, and often most destructive flashes of lightning, which shoot from one end of heaven to the other. After it a voice roareth After the lightning follow awful claps of thunder, more tremendous than the roarings of a lion; and he will not stay them They grow louder and louder, till they conclude in a violent tempest of rain or hail. God thundereth marvellously With a wonderful and terrible noise, and so as to produce, by the accompanying lightning, many wonderful effects, as the breaking down of great and strong trees, or buildings, and the killing of men and beasts in an instantaneous and awful manner. Great things doeth he Even in the course of nature, and in the visible parts of the creation. Which we cannot comprehend Which all men see, but of which few or none can give the true and satisfactory reasons. And therefore it is not strange if the secret and deep counsels of divine providence be out of our reach. And it would argue great pride and arrogancy in us if we should take upon us to censure them, because we do not understand them.