Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
Parallel translations
- WEB Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
- KJV Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
- NKJV Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?
- NASB “Can you send flashes of lightning, so that they may go And say to you, ‘Here we are’?
- NLT Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct?
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
Can Job dispatch lightning bolts so they report back to him for orders? Only God directs the lightning.
Overview
The LORD pictures lightning as a servant awaiting commands, asking if it answers to Job. No human can send or steer it. The vivid image again magnifies God's effortless rule over forces that humans can only fear and wonder at.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Job 37:3He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
- Job 36:32He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.
- Isa 65:1“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
- Num 11:1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- Exod 9:29Moses said to him, “When I have left the city, I will spread out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
- Num 16:35And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed the 250 men who were offering the incense.
- Lev 10:2So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.
- Exod 9:23–25So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- 2 Kgs 1:14Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.”
- 1 Sam 22:12“Listen now, son of Ahitub,” said Saul. “Here I am, my lord,” he replied.
- Rev 11:5–6If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.
- Isa 6:8Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?” And I said: “Here am I. Send me!”
- 2 Kgs 1:10Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 38:35 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.