Bible Strands
Job 38:25
Who cuts a channel for the flood or clears a path for the thunderbolt,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses Job from the whirlwind, interrupting Job's complaints with a series of rhetorical questions about the origins of natural forces.
The words — The Hebrew תְּעָלָ֑ה (te.'a.Lah) translates literally as "a channel," while פִלַּ֣ג (fi.Lag) means "does he divide," describing the formation of waterways.
The thread — Job 28:26 records God setting a path for the thunderbolt, Job 36:27 describes Him drawing up water to distill rain, and Psalms 29:3 places the Lord's thundering voice over many waters.
Why it lands — The text states that natural phenomena follow divine mechanics rather than human design. It requires a reader to acknowledge the boundary between created order and human authority.
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
Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
Cross-references
- Job 28:26 when He set a limit for the rain and a path for the thunderbolt,
- Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is heard over many waters.
- Job 36:27 For He draws up drops of water which distill the rain from the mist,
- Job 37:3 He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole sky and sends it to the ends of the earth.