to bring rain on a barren land, on a desert where no man lives,
Parallel translations
- WEB To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; on the wilderness, in which there is no man;
- KJV To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
- NKJV To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;
- NASB To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a person in it,
- NLT Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
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 sends rain even on uninhabited deserts where no person lives. His care extends beyond human benefit to all his creation.
Overview
The LORD points out that he waters lands no human will ever use. This reveals a generosity in God's providence that is not measured only by human advantage. It enlarges Job's view of a God whose purposes and care reach far beyond himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 14:22Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
- Ps 107:35He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs.
- Heb 6:7–8For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
- Isa 35:1–2The wilderness and the land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.
- Ps 104:10–14He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains.
- Isa 43:19–20Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
- Ps 147:8–9who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.
- Job 36:27For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,
- Isa 41:18–19I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs.
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 38:26 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.