Job 38:13

that it might spread to the ends of the earth and shake the wicked out of it?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — God speaks to Job from the whirlwind, continuing His rhetorical interrogation about cosmic order immediately after asking if Job commanded the dawn (Job 38:12) and before describing the earth’s formation (Job 38:14).

The words — לֶאֱחֹז ('e.choz) means to take hold, and בְּכַנְפוֹת (khan.Fot) translates literally to on the corners or edges.

The thread — The phrasing parallels Job 37:3, where lightning reaches the ends of the earth, and anticipates Psalms 104:35, which petitions for the wicked to vanish from the earth.

Why it lands — The text states that divine action extends to the earth's boundaries to dislodge the wicked, requiring the reader to acknowledge God's absolute control over geography and judgment without demanding personal exemption.

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

לֶ֭אֱחֹזLe./'e.chozto/ take hold בְּכַנְפ֣וֹתbe./khan.Foton/ [the] corners of הָאָ֑רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ earth וְיִנָּעֲר֖וּve./yi.na.'a.Ruso/ they may be shaken רְשָׁעִ֣יםre.sha.'Imwicked [people]מִמֶּֽנָּה׃mi.Me./nahfrom/ it

King James Version

That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?

Cross-references

Job 37:3 He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.
Psalms 104:35 May sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah!
Exodus 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
Job 24:13 Then there are those who rebel against the light, not knowing its ways or staying on its paths.
Psalms 19:4 their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun.
Psalms 104:21 The young lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
Psalms 139:9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea,