Bible Strands
Job 37:3
He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elihu addresses Job, describing God's sovereign control over atmospheric phenomena to demonstrate divine majesty and impending judgment. He situates the observation within a broader discourse on thunder, lightning, and God's uncontainable power.
The words — The Hebrew כַּנְפֹת (kanpot) literally means "corners" or "extremities," paired with תַּחַת (tachat) meaning "under," which frames the lightning's trajectory from beneath the heavens to the farthest reaches of the earth.
The thread — Job 38:13 repeats the "ends of the earth" phrase to illustrate God's reach shaking the wicked, while Matthew 24:27 depicts a lightning flash moving from east to west to describe the sudden visibility of the Son of Man's return.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God's power operates across all space without restraint, requiring the reader to submit to a Creator whose actions exceed human comprehension 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
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.
Cross-references
- Job 38:13 that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?
- Matthew 24:27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
- Isaiah 11:12 He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
- Psalms 97:4 His lightning illuminates the world; the earth sees and trembles.
- Psalms 77:13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is so great as our God?
- Revelation 11:19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.