Bible Strands
Job 38:1
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks directly to Job out of a whirlwind immediately after Job’s final demands for a hearing. This moment initiates God’s direct response to Job’s preceding speeches.
The words — The Hebrew וַיַּעַן (va.ya'an) literally renders "and he answered," while הַסְּעָרָה (ha.se'arah) means "the tempest." These terms anchor the divine speech in a sudden, overwhelming physical manifestation.
The thread — God’s storm appearance parallels the theophany at Sinai in Exodus 19:16 and the wind passage in 1 Kings 19:11. The exact phrase "answered Job out of the whirlwind" reappears in Job 40:6.
Why it lands — The text requires Job to stop demanding explanations and instead acknowledge God’s absolute authority. It asks the reader to abandon self-justification and submit to divine sovereignty.
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
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Cross-references
- Job 40:6 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:
- Exodus 19:16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled.
- 1 Kings 19:11 Then the LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Behold, the LORD is about to pass by.” And a great and mighty wind tore into the mountains and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
- 2 Kings 2:11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind.
- Job 37:1 “At this my heart also pounds and leaps from its place.
- Deuteronomy 4:11 You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire to the heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
- 2 Kings 2:1 Shortly before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal,
- Job 37:9 The tempest comes from its chamber, and the cold from the driving north winds.
- Ezekiel 1:4 I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber,
- Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.