The Meaning of Job 38:16 Explained

Job 38:16

KJV: Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

YLT: Hast thou come in to springs of the sea? And in searching the deep Hast thou walked up and down?

Darby: Hast thou entered as far as the springs of the sea? and hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

ASV: Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? Or hast thou walked in the recesses of the deep?

Discover Job 38:16

CONTEXT: What is the Context of Job 38:16?

MEANING: What does Job 38:16 Mean?

WORDS: What do the individual words in Job 38:16 mean?

RELATIONS: What do the major concepts mean in Job 38:16?

What is the context of Job 38:16?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?

What does Job 38:16 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 38:1-18 - Divine Power And Human Ignorance

When the storm had ceased and the thunder was hushed, a voice spoke out of the golden splendor of the sky. See Job 37:21-22. Job had challenged God to answer him and now he is taken at his word. We recall Horeb's ancient cave, where, after wind and earthquake, there came a sound of gentle stillness. "Arise," said the Eternal to Job, "and gird thyself," Job 38:3. In after years, under similar circumstances, the Spirit entered Ezekiel to strengthen him. Surely some such strengthening was forthwith given the patriarch!

A sublime series of questions is now addressed to him, not by a God of judgment and wrath, but by a Father arguing and pleading with His child and pointing out two things: first, the inability of mortal man to understand the ways of God; and second, the minuteness and tenderness of God's providence. Job had thought of Him as remote, but He is near and is ordering all things wisely and lovingly. Can He forget His child? [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 38

¹ God challenges Job to answer
⁴ God, by his mighty works, convinces Job of ignorance
³¹ and weakness

What do the individual words in Job 38:16 mean?

Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or in search of the depths have you walked

הֲ֭בָאתָ עַד־ נִבְכֵי־ ؟ יָ֑ם וּבְחֵ֥קֶר תְּ֝ה֗וֹם ؟ הִתְהַלָּֽכְתָּ

הֲ֭בָאתָ	Have you entered
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular Root: בֹּוא Sense: to go in, enter, come, go, come in.
עַד־	into
Parse: Preposition Root: עַד Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
נִבְכֵי־	the springs
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct Root: נֵבֶךְ Sense: spring, springs.
؟ יָ֑ם	of the sea
Parse: Noun, masculine singular Root: יָם Sense: sea.
וּבְחֵ֥קֶר	Or in search
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct Root: חֵקֶר Sense: a search, investigation, searching, enquiry, thing to be searched out.
תְּ֝ה֗וֹם	of the depths
Parse: Noun, common singular Root: תְּהֹום Sense: deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea.
؟ הִתְהַלָּֽכְתָּ	have you walked
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Perfect, second person masculine singular Root: הָלַךְ Sense: to go, walk, come.

What are the major concepts related to Job 38:16?

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Similar Scriptures for Job 38:16

		Psalms 77:19 [4]
		Proverbs 8:24 [3]
		Job 26:5-6 [2]
		Jeremiah 51:36 [2]