Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 38:23
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
23. Compare such passages as Jos 10:11; Psa 68:14; Isa 30:30; Eze 13:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Which I have reserved – As if they were carefully treasured up to be brought forth as they shall be needed. The idea is, that they were entirely under the direction of God.
The time of trouble – Herder the time of need. The meaning probably is, that he had kept them in reserve for the time when he wished to bring calamity on his enemies, or that he made use of them to punish his foes; compare the notes at Job 36:31-33.
Against the day of battle and war – Hailstones were employed by God sometimes to overwhelm his foes, and were sent against them in time of battle; see Jos 10:11; Exo 9:22-26; Psa 18:12-13; compare the notes at Isa 29:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Job 38:23
Against the day of battle and war.
War from heaven
In some parts of Scripture Jehovah is represented descending in clouds and tempests, and fixing for Himself in the air a tent or pavilion, where the elementary forces attend and receive commissions and arms for the service in which each meteor, or element, is to be employed (Psa 18:1-50).
I. The treasures in the armoury of Jehovah.
1. Treasures of snow and hail. That vapour, ascending from the earth, and floating over our heads in the air, descends in small white flakes, is a sensible truth; but how the particles of vapour condense and adhere, how they assume the shape, and colour, and quality of snow, are questions too high for us, and must be resolved into the will and power of God. Hail, as a body of condensed vapour, is well known. Dreadful is the execution which it has done among the enemies of the Lord (Exo 9:25; Jos 10:11).
2. The air is the storehouse where snow and hail are collected and laid up. This magnificent fabric, the dimensions of which are unknown, is a glorious effect of the wisdom and power of the great Builder. Storey is founded upon storey, and sphere raised over sphere. At Gods command every exhalation appears, and without resisting His will, assumes the shape and fills the place which He hath appointed.
3. The treasures of snow and hail are under the care and direction of the Lord of heaven and earth. Over these His power is unlimited, and in and by these He doth whatsoever pleaseth Him.
4. These treasures are inaccessible to man. Are there secrets in the air which we cannot discover, and operations in that storehouse of vapour which we are not able to explain; then why do men of penetration stumble at mysteries in religion, or reject truths which God has revealed, because these are not comprehensible by reason? Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?
II. The time of trouble and the day of battle and war. There may indeed be trouble when there is not war, but a day of war is always a time of trouble.
1. Rebellion is the cause of these operations. The existence of rebellion against the Lord, the God of the whole earth, cannot be denied. Enemies and rebels are the real characters of multitudes in this generation.
2. These operations are penal operations, or punishments of rebellion against the laws of His kingdom.
3. These operations of Divine wrath and power are just and holy proceedings against the rebellious.
III. The reservation of the snow and the hail in the treasures of the Lord. In the expression there is a greatness becoming the majesty of the Speaker, and the state and grandeur of the Sovereign. The following particulars will help us to understand the sublime expression which the Lord of all uses concerning His operations.
1. The vapour, which fills the treasures of the snow and the hail, is raised, collected, condensed, and stored by the power of God.
2. The treasures, which are filled and stored by the power of God, are poised and balanced by His wisdom. These wondrous works are executed according to a determined and preconceived plan.
3. The snow and the hail are detained in the treasures until the time of trouble, and the day of battle and war. Inferences–
(1) In war from heaven the inhabitants of the earth are the aggressors.
(2) Provoking the Lord of hosts to battle is the folly of wickedness.
(3) Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.
(4) Humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of the Lord, and taking hold of the covenant of peace, is present duty and true wisdom. (A. Shanks.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Reserved against the time of trouble] leeth tsar, “to the season of strictness,” i.e., the season when the earth is constringed or bound by the frost.
Against the day of battle and war?] Hailstones being often employed as instruments of God’s displeasure against his enemies, and the enemies of his people. There is probably an allusion here to the plague of hail sent on the Egyptians. See Ex 9:23, and the notes there, for more particulars concerning hailstones, remarkable showers of them, c. There may be also a reference to Jos 10:10-11, where a destructive shower of what are called hailstones fell upon the Canaanitish kings who fought against Israel. See the note there also.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Which, i.e. which snow, and especially hail.
Against the time of trouble, i.e. when I intend to bring trouble or calamity upon any country or people for their sins, or for their trial. Or, against the time of the enemy, i.e. when I intend to punish mine or my peoples enemies, and to fight against them with these weapons; of which see instances Exo 9:14; Jos 10:11. Compare 1Sa 7:10; Job 36:31; Isa 30:30.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. against the time of troublethetime when I design to chastise men (Exo 9:18;Jos 10:11; Rev 16:21;Isa 28:17; Psa 18:12;Psa 18:13; Hag 2:17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Which I have reserved against the time of trouble,…. For the punishment or affliction of men; and is explained as follows,
against the day of battle and war? as his artillery and ammunition to light his enemies with. Of hail we have instances in Scripture, as employed against the Egyptians and Canaanites, Ex 9:25; and of a reserve of it in the purposes of God, and in prophecy against the day of battle with antichrist, Re 16:21; and so Jarchi interprets it here of the war of Gog and Magog. And though there are no instances of snow being used in this way in Scripture, yet there is in history. Strabo s reports, that at Corzena and Cambysena, which join to Mount Caucasus, such snows have fallen, that whole companies of men have been swallowed up in them; and even armies have been overwhelmed with them, as the army of the Gauls t; and such quantities have been thrown down from mountains, on which they have been lodged, that towns, towers, and villages, have been laid prostrate by them u; and in the year 443, a vast snow destroyed many w. Frequently do we hear in our parts of the disasters occasioned by them. The Targum particularly makes mention of snow; and renders it, “which snow I have reserved”, &c. though absurdly applies it to punishment in hell.
s Geograph. l. 11. p. 363. t Cicero de Divinatione, l. 1. u Olaus Magu. de Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 2. c. 13. w Whiston’s Chronolog. Tables, cent. 20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(23) The time of trouble.As was the case with the Canaanites, in Jos. 10:11. (Comp. Psa. 18:13.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. The day of battle and war Man’s ordnance for war is the wide-mouthed and wide-resounding cannon; God’s, the silent snowflake, the blight, the unseen fungi floating in the air, or marshalled hosts of insects. “Providence,” said Napoleon, “is on the side of the heaviest battalions;” heaven’s answer consisted simply of snow and hail and cold; and one of the mightiest armies of modern times was laid low. Horace has a similar thought:
Too long, alas! with storms of hail and snow,
Jove has chastised the world below.
Demosthenes compares the destructive course of King Philip to a storm of hail. For Scripture illustrations see Exo 9:18; Jos 10:11; 1Sa 7:10 ; 2Sa 23:20; Psa 68:14; Isa 28:17, etc.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 38:23. Against the day of battle and war? Though the expression here is general, and means only that the Almighty reserves these powers in nature as the instruments of destruction on wicked men; yet particular cases may well be referred to as explanatory hereof. See therefore, Exo 9:23 and Jos 10:11. Respecting the treasures of snow and hail, the philosophical reader will find great satisfaction by referring to Scheuchzer on the place; who, with much care and labour, has enlarged on the principal topics of natural enquiry in this book, in a manner which must give pleasure to all who read him.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Job 38:23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
Ver. 23. Which I have reserved against the time of trouble ] Or, against the time of the enemy to punish him, as Exo 9:24 Jos 10:11 Isa 30:30 . By deep snows men are sometimes withered and destroyed; by violent hail stones and coals of fire. as Psa 18:13-15 What an overthrow was procured against the Quades by the prayers of the thundering legion, as they were afterwards called in the days of Aurelius the emperor! Ingens grando compluraque fulmina in hostes ceciderunt, Huge hail stones and many lightning bolts fell upon the enemy, saith the heathen historian (Dio in Vit. Ant. Phil.).
Against the day of battle and war?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
against the day, &c. . – e.g. as in Jos 10:10.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Job 36:31, Job 36:13, Exo 9:18, Exo 9:24, Jos 10:11, Isa 30:30, Eze 13:11-13, Mat 7:27, Rev 16:21
Reciprocal: Exo 9:23 – and hail Psa 135:7 – he bringeth Psa 147:17 – casteth Rev 11:19 – and great
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
38:23 Which I have reserved {o} against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
(o) To punish my enemies with them, Exo 9:18, Jos 10:11.