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Job

About this book
Chapter 37

1 At this also my heart pounds and leaps from its place. 2 Listen carefully to the thunder of his voice, to the rumbling that proceeds from his mouth.⁠ 3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go, even his lightning to the far corners of the earth. 4 After that a voice roars; he thunders with an exalted voice, and he does not hold back his lightning bolts when his voice is heard. 5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. 6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall to earth,’ and to the torrential rains, ‘Pour down.’ 7 He causes everyone to stop working, so that all people may know his work. 8 The wild animals go to their lairs, and in their dens they remain. 9 A tempest blows out from its chamber, icy cold from the driving winds. 10 The breath of God produces ice, and the breadth of the waters freeze solid. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through the clouds.⁠ 12 The clouds go round in circles, wheeling about according to his plans, to carry out all that he commands them over the face of the whole inhabited world. 13 Whether it is for punishment, or for his land, or for mercy, he causes it to find its mark. 14 “Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works.⁠ 15 Do you know how God commands them, how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud? 16 Do you know about the balancing of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge? 17 You, whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind, 18 will you, with him, spread out the sky, solid as a mirror of molten metal?⁠ 19 Tell us what we should say to him. We cannot prepare a case because of the darkness. 20 Should he be informed that I want to speak? If a man speaks, surely he will be swallowed up! 21 But now, the sun cannot be looked at—it is bright in the skies—after a wind passed and swept the clouds away. 22 From the north he comes in golden splendor; around God is awesome majesty. 23 As for the Almighty, we cannot attain to him! He is great in power, but justice and abundant righteousness he does not oppress. 24 Therefore people fear him, for he does not regard all the wise in heart.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Job 37:11 and Matthew 5:45

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew echoes the language of Job by describing rain as an example of divine grace. Job uses the weather as an indication of divine activity, describing it as an example of grace and as an example of justice.

Passages

Job 37:11

Hebrew Bible
11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through the clouds. 12 The clouds go round in circles, wheeling about according to his plans, to carry out all that he commands them over the face of the whole inhabited world. 13 Whether it is for punishment, or for his land, or for mercy, he causes it to find its mark. 14 “Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works. 15 Do you know how God commands them, how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud?
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

Matthew 5:45

New Testament
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? 47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... each of these interesting features in Elihu’s speech has its downside: even though Elihu distinguishes among sufferers between the basically good and the basically wicked, he still operates within the traditional framework of suffering as punishment. Innocent or inexplicable suffering is outside his whole range of experience. And on the second point, while it may be uplifting to consider the universe as testimony to the wonder of the deity, it could be a retrograde step to imagine that the weather is an instrument of divine self-revelation. It will not do much harm to hear in the thunder the sound of the divine wrath (36:33), or find in enforced idleness during winter storms a heaven-sent opportunity to contemplate the divine activity (37:7), but if for a moment Elihu thinks that a lightning strike is a mark of divine judgment, or that the coming or the withholding of rain signifies the pleasure or displeasure of the deity, he is a poorer theologian than he seems. Another Hebrew sage knew that God sends rain on the just and unjust alike (Matthew 5:45), still recognizing a religious significance in rain, but not a discriminatory one. Elihu, to be fair, does not ever say explicitly that the natural phenomena separate out the righteous from the wicked, though 37:13 might at first suggest this ..."
David J. A. Clines, Word Biblical Commentary: Job 21-37 (Dallas: Word, 2006), 520–521.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Job 37:11 and Matthew 5:45

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