He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.
Parallel translations
- WEB He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
- KJV He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
- BSB He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
- NKJV He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.
- NASB “He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gathers the waters in thick clouds that do not burst. It matters because it shows His wise control over the forces of nature.
Overview
Job marvels that God binds vast quantities of water in clouds, yet the clouds do not tear under the weight. The ordinary wonder of rain reveals God's sustaining wisdom. Such providence over creation assures believers that the God who orders the skies also tenderly governs their lives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Job 37:11–16Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.
- Prov 30:4Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
- Jer 10:13when he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
- Isa 5:6I will lay it a wasteland. It won’t be pruned nor hoed, but it will grow briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain on it.”
- Job 38:37Who can count the clouds by wisdom? Or who can pour out the bottles of the sky,
- Ps 135:7who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth; who makes lightnings with the rain; who brings the wind out of his treasuries;
- Job 38:9when I made clouds its garment, and wrapped it in thick darkness,
- Ps 18:10–11He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
- Job 36:29Yes, can any understand the spreading of the clouds, and the thunderings of his pavilion?
- Gen 1:6–7God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 26:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.