Bible Strands
Job 37:16
Do you understand how the clouds float, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job during a discourse on God's sovereign control over weather and nature. He poses a rhetorical question to challenge Job's limited perspective on divine operations.
The words — The Hebrew מִפְלְשֵׂי עָב (mif.le.sei 'Av) translates literally to "the balancing of the clouds," while תּמִים דְּעִים (te.Mim de.'Im) means "complete in knowledge." These terms ground the observation in precise physical and theological description.
The thread — The motif of understanding cloud mechanics and divine wisdom appears in Job 36:4, Job 36:29, and Proverbs 3:19. These passages collectively emphasize that natural phenomena reveal God's perfect knowledge and foundational wisdom.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of human limitation regarding natural systems governed by God. It requires the reader to accept that divine knowledge exceeds human capacity to comprehend or 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
Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?
Cross-references
- Job 36:4 For truly my words are free of falsehood; one perfect in knowledge is with you.
- Job 36:29 Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out, how the thunder roars from His pavilion?
- Proverbs 3:19 The LORD founded the earth by wisdom and established the heavens by understanding.
- Isaiah 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- Jeremiah 10:12 The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- Job 26:8 He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
- Psalms 104:2 He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
- Psalms 104:24 How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
- Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.