That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
Parallel translations
- WEB that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and shake the wicked out of it?
- BSB that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked 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 104:35Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
- Job 37:3He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
- Exod 14:27And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
- Ps 139:9–12If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
- Ps 19:4–6Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
- Ps 104:21–22The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
- Job 24:13–17They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.
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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