Bible Strands
Job 37:6
For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Following a description of God’s thunder, the text presents God addressing the snow and rain during a storm sequence. The speaker identifies Yahweh as the one issuing directives to atmospheric elements.
The words — The verb יֹאמַר (yo'mar) literally means "he says," governing the prepositional phrase לַשֶּׁלַג (la/sheleg, "to the snow"). This grammatical structure positions the snow as the recipient of God’s speech rather than the direct object of His command.
The thread — This motif of divine authority over precipitation recurs in Job 36:27, where God draws up water to form rain, and Job 38:22, which questions human access to the storehouses of snow. Psalms 147:16 similarly depicts God spreading snow and scattering frost.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that natural phenomena operate under explicit divine instruction rather than autonomous processes. It requires the reader to acknowledge human limitation before the sovereign control displayed in the storm.
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
For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
Cross-references
- Job 36:27 For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,
- Job 38:22 Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
- Psalms 147:16 He spreads the snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes;
- Ezekiel 13:13 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: In My wrath I will release a windstorm, and in My anger torrents of rain and hail will fall with destructive fury.
- Genesis 7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth.
- Ezra 10:9 So within the three days, all the men of Judah and Benjamin assembled in Jerusalem, and on the twentieth day of the ninth month, all the people sat in the square at the house of God, trembling regarding this matter and because of the heavy rain.
- Ezra 10:13 But there are many people here, and it is the rainy season. We are not able to stay out in the open. Nor is this the work of one or two days, for we have transgressed greatly in this matter.
- Psalms 148:8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, powerful wind fulfilling His word,
- Proverbs 28:3 A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.
- Ezekiel 13:11 tell those whitewashing the wall that it will fall. Rain will come in torrents, I will send hailstones plunging down, and a windstorm will burst forth.