¶“Who has split open a channel for the flood, And a way for the thunderbolt,
Parallel translations
- WEB Who has cut a channel for the flood water, or the path for the thunderstorm;
- KJV Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
- BSB Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
- NKJV “Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt,
- NLT “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?
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
Who carved channels for the downpour and a path for the thunderstorm? God directs even the routes of rain and storm.
Overview
The LORD asks who designs the courses by which floods and storms travel. The imagery suggests deliberate engineering of the weather. It affirms that what looks like wild chaos is in fact ordered by the Creator's wise decree.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 28:26When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder;
- Ps 29:3–10Yahweh’s voice is on the waters. The God of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters.
- Job 37:3–6He sends it out under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.
- Job 36:27–28For he draws up the drops of water, which distill in rain from his vapor,
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 38:25 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.