With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
Parallel translations
- WEB He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
- BSB He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.
- NKJV He covers His hands with lightning, And commands it to strike.
- NASB “He covers His hands with the lightning, And commands it to strike the target.
- NLT He fills his hands with lightning bolts and hurls each at its target.
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 covers His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its target. He directs even the lightning with precision.
Overview
Elihu pictures God wielding lightning like a weapon, aiming it exactly where He wills. This vivid image conveys God's complete mastery over the most awesome natural forces. Nothing in creation is random or beyond His direction, assuring believers that the God who commands the lightning also orders every detail of their lives for good (Rom. 8:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 148:8Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:
- Ps 135:7He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
- Ps 147:8–9Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
- Job 37:15Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?
- Ps 18:11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
- Job 26:9He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
- Job 37:12And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
- Acts 27:20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
- Exod 10:21–23And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 36:32 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.