¶“Now people do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now men don’t see the light which is bright in the skies, but the wind passes, and clears them.
- KJV And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them.
- BSB Now no one can gaze at the sun when it is bright in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.
- NKJV Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, When the wind has passed and cleared them.
- NLT We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.
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
Just as people cannot stare at the blazing sun once the wind clears the sky, so they cannot gaze on God's full brightness. His glory overwhelms human sight.
Overview
Elihu uses the dazzling sun in a cleared sky as a picture of unbearable brilliance. If created light blinds us, how much more the uncreated glory of God. The image reinforces the theme that God dwells in a majesty no mortal can directly behold (cf. 1 Timothy 6:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
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 37:21 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.