Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
Parallel translations
- WEB “Have you commanded the morning in your days, and caused the dawn to know its place;
- BSB In your days, have you commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place,
- NKJV “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, And caused the dawn to know its place,
- NASB ¶“Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And made the dawn know its place,
- NLT “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
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 asks whether Job has ever commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place. Only the Creator orders the daily rising of light.
Overview
The LORD moves from sea to sky, asking if Job governs the coming of dawn. The implied answer humbles Job, who cannot summon a single sunrise. The recurring daybreak becomes a testimony to God's faithful, unceasing rule over time and creation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 74:16The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
- Ps 148:3–5Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.
- Gen 1:5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
- Job 8:9(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)
- 2 Pet 1:19We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
- Luke 1:78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,
- Ps 136:7–8To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:
- Job 15:7Art thou the first man that was born? or wast thou made before the hills?
- Job 38:21Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
- Job 38:4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 38:12 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.