He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.
- KJV Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
- BSB He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them.
- NKJV Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds.
- NASB “He also loads the clouds with moisture; He disperses the cloud of His lightning.
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
Elihu marvels that God loads the storm clouds with moisture and spreads his lightning at will. It reminds us that even weather is under God's deliberate command.
Overview
Continuing his closing speech, Elihu points to the clouds as evidence of God's power and care. The same God who governs the rain and lightning is the God Job must reckon with. This sets up the LORD's own answer from the whirlwind in chapter 38, where God will press these same themes far deeper.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 36:27–30For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,
- Isa 18:4For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- Job 36:32He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
- Matt 17:5While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.”
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 37:11 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.