Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
9. The rendering of this verse in the A.V. is free and in some measure conjectural.
the south ] lit. the chamber. In ch. Job 9:9 reference was made to the “chambers of the south,” and it has been assumed that the same is the meaning here. There is no reason, however, why the southern heavens should be called “chamber” more than any other quarter of the sky; and the passage appears to refer to the season of winter, while the south wind brings heat, Job 37:17. The term “chamber” is most probably used in the sense of “treasury” (ch. Job 38:22), as Psa 135:7, “He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.” The meaning probably is, out of its (or, his) chamber cometh the whirlwind.
the north ] The word is of uncertain meaning. It may signify, the scattering (winds), that is, possibly the north winds that scatter the clouds and bring frost.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
9 10. Frost and ice.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Out of the south – Margin, chamber. Jerome, ab interioribus – from the interior, or inner places. Septuagint, ek taueion – from their chambers issue sorrows – othunas. The Hebrew word used here ( cheder) denotes properly an apartment, or chamber, especially an inner apartment, or a chamber in the interior of a house or tent: Gen 43:30; Jdg 16:9, Jdg 16:12. Hence, it means a bed-chamber, 2Sa 4:7, or a female apartment or harem, Son 1:4; Son 3:4. In Job 9:9, it is connected with the south – the chambers of the south (see the notes at that place), and means some remote, hidden regions in that quarter. There can be little doubt that the word south is here also to be understood, as it stands in contrast with a word which properly denotes the north. Still there may have been reference to a supposed opinion that whirlwinds had their origin in deep, hollow caves, and that they were owing to the winds which were supposed to be pent up there, and which raged tumultuously until they broke open the doors of their prison, and then poured forth with violence over the earth; compare the description of the storm in Virgil, as quoted above in Job 37:5. There are frequent allusions in the Scriptures to the fact that whirlwinds come from the South; see the notes at Isa 21:1; compare Zec 9:14. Savary says of the south wind, which blows in Egypt from February to May, that it fills the atmosphere with a fine dust, rendering breathing difficult, and that it is filled with an injurious vapor. Sometimes it appears in the form of a furious whirlwind, which advances with great rapidity, and which is highly dangerous to those who traverse the desert. It drives before it clouds of burning sand; the horizon appears covered with a thick veil, and the sun appears red as blood. Occasionally whole caravans are buried by it in the sand. It is possible that there may be reference to such a whirlwind in the passage before us; compare Burder, in Rosenmullers Alte u. neue Morgenland. No. 765.
The whirlwind – See Job 1:19, note; Job 30:22, note.
And cold out of the north – Margin, scattering winds. The Hebrew word used here ( mezariym) means literally, the scattering, and is hence used for the north winds, says Gesenius which scatter the clouds, and bring severe cold. Umbreit thinks the word is used to denote the north, because we seem to see the north winds strewed on the clouds. Probably the reference is to the north wind as scattering the snow or hail on the ground. Heated winds come from the south; but those which scatter the snow, and are the source of cold, come from the north. In all places north of the equator it is true that the winds from the northern quarter are the source of cold. The idea of Elihu is, that all these things are under the control of God, and that these various arrangements for heat and cold are striking proofs of his greatness.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind] See Clarke on Job 9:9. What is rendered south here, is there rendered chambers. Mr. Good translates here, the utmost zone. The Chaldee: – “From the supreme chamber the commotion shall come; and from the cataracts of Arcturus the cold.” What the whirlwind, suphah, is, we know not. It might have been a wind peculiar to that district; and it is very possible that it was a scorching wind, something like the simoom.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Out of the south, Heb. out of the inner chamber; as the southern part of the world is called, because in a great part it was and is hid and unknown to those who live in the northern hemisphere, in which Jobs habitation lay. Or, out of the chambers of the south, as it is more largely expressed, Job 9:9; for this is opposed to the north in the following clause.
The whirlwind; violent and stormy winds which in those parts most frequently came-out of the south, whence they are called whirlwinds of the south, Zec 9:14. So also Isa 21:1.
Cold, i.e. cold and freezing winds, which generally come from that quarter.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. southliterally,”chambers”; connected with the south (Job9:9). The whirlwinds are poetically regarded as pent up by God inHis southern chambers, whence He sends them forth (so Job 38:22;Psa 135:7). As to the southernwhirlwinds (see Isa 21:1;Zec 9:14), they drive before themburning sands; chiefly from February to May.
the northliterally,”scattering”; the north wind scatters the clouds.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Out of the south cometh the whirlwind,…. Or “from the chamber” n; from the chamber of the cloud, as Ben Gersom, from the inside of it; or from the treasury of God, who bringeth the wind out of his treasures; alluding to chambers where treasures are kept; or from the heavens, shut up and veiled around with clouds like a pavilion: but because we read of the chambers of the south, Job 9:9; and the southern pole was like a secret chamber, shut up, unseen, and unknown very much to the ancients; hence we render it, and others interpret it, of the south; from whence in these countries came whirlwinds. Hence we read of the whirlwinds of the south, Isa 21:1;
and cold out of the north; cold freezing winds from thence; or “from the scatterers” o: Aben Ezra interprets them of stars, the same with the “Mazzaroth”, Job 38:32; stars scattered about the Arctic or northern pole, as some: or rather the northern winds are designed which scatter the clouds, drive away rain, Pr 25:23; and bring fair weather,
Job 37:22. Wherefore Mr. Broughton renders the word,
“fair weather winds;”
and, in a marginal note,
“the scatterers of clouds p.”
n “de penetali”, Montanus; so Junius and Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Schultens. o “a dispergentibus”, Montanus, Vatablus, Junius Tremellius, Piscator “a sparsoribus”, Schultens. p So David de Pomis, Lexic. fol. 7. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) Out of the south.Rather, out of its chamber (see Job. 9:9) cometh the whirlwind, or typhoon: and cold from the northern constellations, from the quarter of the heavens where they shine.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Out of the south Not unlike the Greek, the Oriental imagined a secret chamber, or home, for the whirlwind, from which God summoned it forth. Careering over the broad Arabian desert, which lay to the south, these storms acquired a fearful momentum. See note on Job 1:19. The north Hebrew, mezarim, Furst supposes to mean the constellations of the north; others, as in the margin, the scatterers, the name given to the winds in the Koran.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 37:9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
Ver. 9. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind ] Which is a wonderful wind indeed; the Greeks call it (as they do a like wind at sea , the mariner’s mischief), the Latins, vortex, because it turns up trees by the roots, houses by the foundation, Job 1:19 , and turbo, as breeding great trouble; for which cause also Pope Urban was called Turban. It suddenly ariseth and as suddenly ceaseth, but doth much mischief, and especially in strait and narrow places. In allusion whereunto the apostle would not have people to be wherried and whirled about with every wind of doctrine, Eph 4:14 , as unstable souls use to be. Illebius, for instance; who, as a Protestant, first turned Antinomian, and afterwards a Papist. So the old Illuminati, boasting at first of a certain angelic purity, fell suddenly to the very counterpoint of justifying beastiality (Spec. Europ.). For prevention of this pernicious lightness, “It is good” (saith the apostle) “that the heart be established with grace,” Heb 13:9 . That men be sound in the faith, well principled, bottomed and ballasted.
And cold out of the north
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
south: Heb. chamber, Job 9:9, Psa 104:3
the whirlwind: Job 38:1, Isa 21:1, Zec 9:14
north: Heb. scattering winds
Reciprocal: Psa 147:16 – scattereth Ecc 1:6 – The wind
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 37:9-10. Out of the south Hebrew, , min ha-chered: : de promptuariis, out of the store-houses, LXX.; ab interioribus, from the inner chambers, Vulgate Latin. The same with the chambers of the south, Job 9:9. Or the southern part of the world, so called, because in a great part it was unknown to those of the northern hemisphere, in which Job and his friends lived. Cometh the whirlwind Violent and stormy winds; which, in those parts, most frequently came out of the south, whence they are called whirlwinds of the south, Zec 9:14; Isa 21:1. And cold out of the north That is, cold and freezing winds, which generally come from that quarter. From one quarter of the heavens blow turbulent winds; and, from the opposite quarter, those cold blasts, which clear and purify the air again. By the breath of God frost is given, &c. By the like sharp blasts God sends the frost; and binds up the waters so fast that they cannot flow. Bishop Patrick. Or, as the latter clause, , verechab maim be-mutzak, may be rendered, He swelleth the waters by the thaw.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
37:9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the {f} north.
(f) In Hebrew it is called the scattering wind, because it drives away the clouds and purges the air.