Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 38:26
To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is; on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man;
26, 27. Man is not, as he might think, the only object of God’s regard. God is great and His providence very wide. His goodness is over all His works. He satisfies with rain the thirsty wilderness where no man is, that the tender grass may be refreshed.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To 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 in this whole description of God as superintending the falling rain far away from the homes of people, and in those lonely wastes pouring down the waters, that the tender herb may spring up, and the flowers bloom under his hand. All this may seem to be wasted, but it is not so in the eye of God. Not a drop of rain falls in the sandy desert or on the barren rock, however useless it may seem to be, that is not seen to be of value by God, and that is not designated to accomplish some important purpose there.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. To 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 spectator. Now the flash, the clap, and the rain, take place all in the same moment, but are discernible by us in the succession already mentioned, and for the reasons given above; and more at large in Clarke’s note on “Job 36:29“, c.
But how are these things formed? The lightning is represented as coming immediately from the hand of God. The clap is the effect of the lightning, which causes a vacuum in that part of the atmosphere through which it passes the air rushing in to restore the equilibrium may cause much of the noise that is heard in the clap. An easy experiment on the airpump illustrates this: Take a glass receiver open at both ends, over one end tie a piece of sheep’s bladder wet, and let it stand till thoroughly dry. Then place the open end on the plate of the airpump, and exhaust the air slowly from under it. The bladder soon becomes concave, owing to the pressure of the atmospheric air on it, the supporting air in the receiver being partly thrown out. Carry on the exhaustion, and the air presses at the rate of fifteen pounds on every square inch; see on Job 28:28. The fibres of the bladder, being no longer capable of bearing the pressure of the atmospheric column upon the receiver, are torn to pieces, with a noise equal to the report of a musket, which is occasioned by the air rushing in to restore the equilibrium. Imagine a rapid succession of such experiments, and you have the peal of thunder, the rupture of the first bladder being the clap. But the explosion of the gases (oxygen and hydrogen) of which water is composed will also account for the noise. See below.
But how does the thunder cause rain? By the most accurate and incontestable experiments it is proved that water is a composition of two elastic airs or gases as they are called, oxygen and hydrogen. In 100 parts of water there are 88 1/4 of oxygen, and 11 3/4 of hydrogen. Pass a succession of electric sparks through water by means of a proper apparatus, and the two gases are produced in the proportions mentioned above.
To decompose water by galvanism: – Take a narrow glass tube three or four inches long; fit each end with a cork penetrated by a piece of slender iron wire, and fill the tube with water. Let the ends of the two wires within the tube be distant from each other about three quarters of an inch, and let one be made to communicate with the top, the other with the bottom of a galvanic pile in action. On making this communication, bubbles of air will be formed, and ascend to the top of the tube, the water decreasing as it is decomposed.
The oxygen and hydrogen formed by this experiment may be recomposed into the same weight of water. Take any quantity of the oxygen and hydrogen gases in the proportions already mentioned; ignite them by the electric spark, and they produce a quantity of water equal in weight to the gases employed. Thus, then, we can convert water into air, and reconvert this air into water; and the proportions hold as above. I have repeatedly seen this done, and assisted in doing it, but cannot, in this place, describe every thing in detail.
Now to the purpose of this note: the rain descending after the flash and the peal. The electric spark or matter of lightning, passing through the atmosphere, ignites and decomposes the oxygen and hydrogen, which explode, and the water which was formed of these two falls down in the form of rain. The explosion of the gases, as well as the rushing in of the circumambient air to restore the equilibrium, will account for the clap and peal: as the decomposition and ignition of them will account for the water or rain which is the attendant of a thunder storm. Thus by the lightning of thunder God causes it to rain on the earth. How marvellous and instructive are his ways!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To cause it to rain; that the clouds being broken by lightning and thunder might pour down rain.
Wherein there is no man, to wit, to water those parts by art and industry, as is usual in cultivated and inhabited places; which makes this work of Divine Providence more necessary and more remarkable, in providing for the relief of the wild beasts, and plants, and other fruits of these forsaken lands, which otherwise would perish with drought.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. Since rain fails also onplaces uninhabited by man, it cannot be that man guides itscourse. Such rain, though man cannot explain the reason for it, isnot lost. God has some wise design in it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is]; [on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man. Which is uninhabited by men, being so dry and barren; where there is no man to cultivate and water it, as gardens are; and where is no man to receive any advantage by the rain that comes upon it; and yet the Lord sends it for the use of animals that dwell there; which shows his care and providence with respect even to the wild beasts of the earth. This may be an emblem of the rain of the Gospel upon the Gentile world, comparable to a wilderness; see Isa 35:1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(26) To cause it to rain on the earth.Because God is mindful of His creation, independently of the wants of man.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Where no man is God lays stress on this circumstance in order to humble man, and to show him that the earth was made neither by him nor for him. (Renan.) The subject trenches upon the unfathomable mystery of lavish expenditure, if not apparent waste, in the universe of God.
Mat 26:8. For instance, according to Lockyer, our earth intercepts only one ray out of about two thousand million rays of the sun, the rest, for the most part, falling on no planet, but seemingly poured uselessly into empty space. One of the Arabian poets of the Moallakat works on account of their superexcellence suspended in the Kaaba at Mecca beautifully says, “The cloud unloadeth its freight on the Desert of Ghabeit, like a merchant of Yemen alighting with his bales of rich apparel.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Job 38:26 To cause it to rain on the earth, [where] no man [is; on] the wilderness, wherein [there is] no man;
Ver. 26. To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is ] But wild beasts only. These also are God’s creatures, and he provideth food for them. How much more will he do so for us, though small faiths.
In the wilderness, wherein there is no man
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
man. Hebrew ‘ish. App-14.
man. Hebrew. ‘adam. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
To cause: 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; though in fact they all take place at the same time. The lightning traverses all space in no perceivable succession of time. Sound is propagated at the rate of 1,142 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. Now as water is composed of two elastic airs or gases, called oxygen and hydrogen, in the proportion of 88+ of the former and 11, 3/4 of the latter in 100 parts, the electric spark, or matter of lightning, passing through the atmosphere, ignites and decomposes those gases, which explode; and the water falls down in the form of rain. This explosion, as well as the rushing in of the circumambient air to restore the equilibrium, will account for the clap and peal; and thus by the lightning of thunder God causes it to rain on the earth.
on the wilderness: Psa 104:10-14, Psa 107:35, Psa 147:8, Psa 147:9, Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2, Isa 41:18, Isa 41:19, Isa 43:19, Isa 43:20, Jer 14:22, Heb 6:7, Heb 6:8
Reciprocal: Gen 2:5 – had not Job 5:10 – fields Job 36:31 – he giveth Job 37:13 – for his Psa 65:12 – drop Psa 135:7 – he maketh lightnings Pro 3:20 – the clouds Act 14:17 – and gave
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Job 38:26-27. To cause it to rain, &c. That the clouds, being broken by lightning and thunder, might pour down rain. On the wilderness wherein there is no man? Namely, no one to water those parts by art and industry, as is usual in cultivated and inhabited places. Which makes this work of Divine Providence more necessary, and more remarkable, as hereby provision is made for the relief of the wild beasts, and plants, and other fruits of those forsaken lands, which otherwise would perish with drought. To satisfy the desolate and waste ground By raining not sparingly, but liberally and abundantly upon it. To cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth There being many excellent and useful herbs found in desert places, for the growth of which the rain is absolutely necessary. Thus, as God had before put such questions to Job as were proper to convince him of his ignorance; so he now puts such to him as were calculated to convince him of his impotence. As it was but little that he could know, and therefore he ought not to have arraigned the divine counsels, so it was but little he could do, and therefore he ought not to oppose the divine providence.