New Living Translation
Job 38:26
26Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
Job 38:26 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
- New International Version (NIV)to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert,
- English Standard Version (ESV)to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man,
- New King James Version (NKJV)To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;
Context of Job 38:26
24Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? 25“Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? 27Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? 28“Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew?
Read all of Job 38Job 38:26 word by word
לְ֭הַמְטִיר עַל־אֶ֣רֶץ לֹא־אִ֑ישׁ מִ֝דְבָּ֗ר לֹא־אָדָ֥ם בּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 38:26
- Job 38:11I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’
- Psalms 104:10You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains.
- Psalms 107:35But he also turns deserts into pools of water, the dry land into springs of water.
- Psalms 147:8He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.
- Isaiah 35:1Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses.
- Isaiah 41:18I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground.
- Isaiah 43:19For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
- Jeremiah 14:22Can any of the worthless foreign gods send us rain? Does it fall from the sky by itself? No, you are the one, O Lord our God! Only you can do such things. So we will wait for you to help us.
- Hebrews 6:7When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.
Commentaries on Job 38:26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26To cause it to rain on the earth - It is well known that rain falls copiously in thunder-storms. The flash is first seen, the clap is next heard, and last the rain descends. The lightning travels all lengths in no perceivable succession of time. Sound is propagated at the rate of 1142 feet in a second. Rain travels still more slowly, and will be seen sooner or later according to the weight of the drops, and the distance of the cloud from the place of the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is - This is designed to heighten the conception of the power of God. It could not be pretended that this was done by man, for the rain was caused to fall in the desolate regions where no one dwelt. In the lonely desert, in the wastes remote from the dwellings of people, the rain is sent down, evidently by the providential care of God, and far beyond the reach of the agency of man. There is very great beauty…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. 24-27The east wind blows from the desert, drying up crops and seas (Genesis 41:6, 23, 27; Jeremiah 4:11; Jonah 4:8; Exodus 14:21; Isaiah 11:15). It is not like the heavy rain that causes floods. Helpful rain quenches a barren land (Psalms 104:10–11; 107:35; Isaiah 35:7; 58:11). This contrasts with both hot winds and flooding rains (Job 38:24, 25).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 38:26
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
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