Limitless Word
To satisfy the desolate waste, And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass?
Job 38:27 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB to satisfy the waste and desolate ground, to cause the tender grass to grow?
  • KJV To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
  • BSB to satisfy the parched wasteland and make it sprout with tender grass?
  • NASB To satisfy the waste and desolate land, And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?
  • NLT Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up?

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 waters the wasteland to make the tender grass sprout in desolate places. He brings life even where no one is watching.

Overview

The LORD describes satisfying barren ground so that grass grows in the wilderness. His provision causes life in places of no apparent worth to people. This testifies to God's lavish goodness and undercuts the assumption that his care is limited to human concerns.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 2

  • Ps 107:35He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
  • Ps 104:14He causes the grass to grow for the livestock, and plants for man to cultivate, that he may produce food out of the earth:

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 38:27YouTube · 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 38:27 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.