Behold, he spreadeth his light upon it, and covereth the bottom of the sea.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, he spreads his light around him. He covers the bottom of the sea.
- BSB See how He scatters His lightning around Him and covers the depths of the sea.
- NKJV Look, He scatters His light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea.
- NASB “Behold, He spreads His lightning about Him, And He covers the depths of the sea.
- NLT See how he spreads the lightning around him and how it lights up the depths of the sea.
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 spreads His lightning around Him and covers the depths of the sea. His power reaches from the heights to the ocean depths.
Overview
Elihu describes God flashing His light across the sky while also governing the depths of the sea. The imagery conveys that no realm, however high or deep, lies outside God's command (cf. Ps. 135:6-7). This sweeping sovereignty over all creation magnifies the One who later stilled the storm and ruled the sea in the person of Christ (Mark 4:39-41).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 104:5–9Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
- Job 38:8–11Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
- Job 38:34–35Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
- Gen 1:9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
- Exod 14:28And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them.
- Exod 14:22And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
- Job 38:25Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
- Ps 18:11–16He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
- Exod 15:4–5Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
- Luke 17:24For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
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 36:30 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.