Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
Parallel translations
- WEB Can you send out lightnings, that they may go? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are?’
- BSB Can you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘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 directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
- Job 36:32With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
- Isa 65:1I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
- Num 11:1And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.
- Exod 9:29And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD’s.
- Num 16:35And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
- Lev 10:2And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
- Exod 9:23–25And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
- 2 Kgs 1:14Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight.
- 1 Sam 22:12And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord.
- Rev 11:5–6And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
- Isa 6:8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
- 2 Kgs 1:10And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
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.