Bible Strands
Job 37:12
They swirl about, whirling at His direction, accomplishing all that He commands over the face of all the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job during a storm discourse, explaining the mechanics of clouds and lightning as direct extensions of divine will.
The words — מְסִבּ֨וֹת (me.si.Bot) denotes movement round about, and מִתְהַפֵּ֣ךְ (mit.ha.Pekh) describes a turning every way, both modifying the subject's response to בְּ/תַחְבּוּלֹתָ֣י/ו (be./tach.bu.la.to/v), meaning by the guidance of his.
The thread — The motif of elemental forces executing divine commands runs through Psalms 148:8 and Joel 2:23, while the broader theme of God's wise craftsmanship over creation aligns with Psalms 104:24.
Why it lands — The text states that natural phenomena operate strictly under God's direct instruction, requiring the reader to acknowledge human limitation against sovereign control.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
Cross-references
- Psalms 148:8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,
- Psalms 104:24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Joel 2:23 Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
- James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- Psalms 65:9 You attend to the earth and water it; with abundance You enrich it. The streams of God are full of water, for You prepare our grain by providing for the earth.
- Jeremiah 14:22 Can 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.
- Amos 4:7 “I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.
- Revelation 11:6 These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.