that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
Parallel translations
- WEB that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
- KJV That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
- NKJV That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked be shaken out of it?
- NASB So that it would take hold of the ends of the earth, And the wicked would be shaken off from it?
- NLT Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
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
The dawn grips the edges of the earth and shakes out the wicked who work under cover of night. Light itself serves God's justice.
Overview
God pictures the morning light seizing the earth like a cloth and shaking off evildoers who thrive in darkness. The image links daybreak with the exposure of wickedness. It reminds Job that God's ordering of creation includes a moral dimension, anticipating the day all hidden deeds are brought to light (cf. John 3:20-21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 104:35May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!
- Job 37:3He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
- Exod 14:27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
- Ps 139:9–12If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,
- Ps 19:4–6their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
- Ps 104:21–22The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
- Job 24:13–17Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
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 38:13 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
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