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Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
Job 38:1 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
  • BSB Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
  • NKJV Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
  • NASB Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind and said,
  • NLT Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

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

At last the LORD himself answers Job, speaking out of the whirlwind. God breaks his silence not with explanations but with his own presence.

Overview

After chapters of human debate, Yahweh personally responds to Job from a storm, the classic setting of divine appearing. Notably, God does not directly explain Job's suffering; he reveals himself. This turning point shows that the deepest answer to suffering is not a reason but the living God, ultimately revealed in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 12

  • Job 40:6Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind,
  • 1 Kgs 19:11He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
  • Job 37:1–2“Yes, at this my heart trembles, and is moved out of its place.
  • 2 Kgs 2:11As they continued on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
  • Exod 19:16–19On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and all the people who were in the camp trembled.
  • Nah 1:3Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
  • Deut 4:11–12You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
  • 2 Kgs 2:1When Yahweh was about to take Elijah up by a whirlwind into heaven, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
  • Job 37:9Out of its room comes the storm, and cold out of the north.
  • Ezek 1:4I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of the middle of it as it were glowing metal, out of the middle of the fire.
  • Job 37:14“Listen to this, Job. Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.
  • Deut 5:22–24Yahweh spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Job videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Job 38:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JobMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 38:1 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.