English Standard Version
Job 38:28
28"Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?
Job 38:28 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
- New International Version (NIV)Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
Context of Job 38:28
26to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man, 27to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass? "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven? 30The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
Read all of Job 38Job 38:28 word by word
הֲיֵשׁ־לַמָּטָ֥ר אָ֑ב א֥וֹ מִי־ה֝וֹלִ֗יד אֶגְלֵי־טָֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 38:28
- Job 38:8"Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb,
- Job 5:9who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number:
- 1 Samuel 12:17Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking for yourselves a king."
- Psalms 65:9You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it.
- Jeremiah 5:24They do not say in their hearts, 'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.'
- Jeremiah 10:13When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
- Jeremiah 14:22Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are you not he, O Lord our God? We set our hope on you, for you do all these things.
- Joel 2:23"Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.
- Amos 4:7"I also withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest; I would send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city; one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
- Matthew 5:45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
- Job 29:19my roots spread out to the waters, with the dew all night on my branches,
- Genesis 27:28May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
- Deuteronomy 33:13And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the Lord be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath,
- 2 Samuel 1:21"You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
- 1 Kings 17:1Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
- Proverbs 3:20by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.
Commentaries on Job 38:28
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Hath the rain a father? - Or, Who is the father of the rain? We have seen above one part of the apparatus by which God produces it; other causes have been mentioned on Job 36:27, etc. The drops of dew? - אגלי egley, the sphericles, the small round drops or globules. Dew is a dense moist vapor, found on the earth in spring and summer mornings, in the form of a mizzling rain. Dr. Hutton defines it, "a thin, light, insensible mist or rain, descending with a…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28Hath the rain a father? - That is, it is produced by God and not by man. No one among men can claim that he causes it, or can regard it as his offspring. The idea is, that the production of rain is among the proofs of the wisdom and agency of God, and that it is caused in a way that demonstrates his own agency. It is not by any power of man; and it is not in such a way as to constitute a relation like that between a father and a son. The rain is often…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-41Verses 25-41 Hitherto God had put questions to Job to show him his ignorance; now God shows his weakness. As it is but little that he knows, he ought not to arraign the Divine counsels; it is but little he can do, therefore he ought not to oppose the ways of Providence. See the all-sufficiency of the Divine Providence; it has wherewithal to satisfy the desire of every living thing. And he that takes care of the young ravens, certainly will not be wanting…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-41God challenges Job. Job admits he cannot judge the moral world. God shows Job's ignorance of the natural world's elements related to the realm of heaven, weather, animals, and birds (38:4–21; 22–38; 39–39:30).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-3819-38. The marvels in heaven. "What is the way (to the place wherein) light dwelleth?" The origin of light and darkness. In Ge 1:3-5, 14-18, "light" is created distinct from, and previous to, light-emitting bodies, the luminaries of heaven.Read the comment
Topics related to Job 38:28
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries