Whether for punishment or for His land, He accomplishes this in His loving devotion.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whether it is for correction, or for his land, or for loving kindness, that he causes it to come.
- KJV He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
- NKJV He causes it to come, Whether for correction, Or for His land, Or for mercy.
- NASB “Whether for correction, or for His earth, Or for goodness, He causes it to happen.
- NLT He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.
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 sends weather for one of three purposes: to correct, to nourish his land, or to show covenant love. The same rain can be judgment or mercy.
Overview
Elihu names the moral and gracious purposes behind God's sovereignty over nature. Storms may discipline, sustain the land, or express loving kindness, but always serve God's wise ends. This guards against Job's despair by insisting that God's dealings, even painful ones, are purposeful rather than arbitrary.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Kgs 18:45Meanwhile, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a heavy rain began to fall. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel.
- Job 38:26–27to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
- 1 Sam 12:18–19So Samuel called to the LORD, and on that day the LORD sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
- Job 36:31For by these He judges the nations and provides food in abundance.
- Exod 9:18–25Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down the worst hail that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded until now.
- 2 Sam 21:10And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth and spread it out for herself on a rock. From the beginning of the harvest until the rain from heaven poured down on the bodies, she did not allow the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.
- Ezra 10:9So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
- Job 38:37–38Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
- Job 37:6For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
- 2 Sam 21:14And they buried the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan in Zela in the land of Benjamin, in the tomb of Saul’s father Kish. After they had done everything the king had commanded, God answered their prayers for the land.
- Joel 2:23Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
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 37:13 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.