Job 36 27

Job 36:27 kjv

For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof:

Job 36:27 nkjv

For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist,

Job 36:27 niv

"He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams;

Job 36:27 esv

For he draws up the drops of water; they distill his mist in rain,

Job 36:27 nlt

He draws up the water vapor
and then distills it into rain.

Job 36 verses

Job 36 27 Meaning

Job 36:27 highlights God's intricate and precise control over the natural world, specifically the water cycle. Elihu declares that God meticulously draws up the minute particles of water as vapor, which then coalesce and return as rain. This process, essential for life and observable, demonstrates God's incomprehensible wisdom, power, and sovereignty, emphasizing His majestic works far beyond human understanding.

Job 36 27 Context

Job 36:27 is part of Elihu's discourse to Job and his friends, specifically from chapters 36 to 37. Elihu, the youngest of Job's companions, endeavors to justify God's actions and His perfect wisdom. Unlike the older friends who strictly argue for a direct correlation between suffering and sin, Elihu aims to lift Job's gaze from his own suffering to the magnificent, awe-inspiring power and majesty of God as displayed in creation. He highlights that God is beyond human comprehension, pure, and mighty, often working in ways that humble humanity. In this specific section (36:24-37:13), Elihu meticulously details various natural phenomena—clouds, thunder, lightning, rain, snow, and the changing seasons—as irrefutable proof of God's immense power, perfect knowledge, and wise governance of the world. He contrasts God's intricate control with humanity's limited understanding, urging Job to perceive God's sovereignty even amidst his inexplicable suffering. This verse stands as an example of God's minute attention to detail in grand processes, challenging human intellectual pride and polemically affirming Yahweh as the sole divine master of meteorological forces, distinct from the polytheistic storm deities common in the ancient Near East.

Job 36 27 Word analysis

• For he maketh small: Hebrew: יַגְרַע (yagrá‘). Root: גָּרַע (gará‘) meaning "to diminish, lessen, draw off, cut off, withhold." Significance: This implies an act of precise reduction or extraction. It points to God meticulously drawing off, or distilling, water into tiny, perhaps invisible, units. This highlights divine precision and active control, not random occurrence. It suggests a process of miniaturization and refinement, leading to the collection of individual water molecules or tiny droplets.
• the drops of water: Hebrew: נִטְפֵי־מָ֑יִם (niṭ·pê·mā·yim) literally "drops of waters." Significance: Niṭ·pê (from neteph) specifically denotes liquid falling in drops or exuding. Combined with mayim (waters), it emphasizes the minute, individualized form in which water ascends into the atmosphere. This term suggests the delicate, almost imperceptible nature of the initial stages of the water cycle as God extracts moisture.
• they pour down rain: Hebrew: יִזְּקוּ מָטָ֑ר (yizzə·qū mā·ṭār) meaning "they pour out rain." Significance: Yizzə·qū (from nāzaq) means "to flow, pour out, cast metal," indicating a purposeful and forceful descent. This contrasts with the subtle "making small" in the first part of the verse. It refers to the precipitation stage where water returns visibly and often powerfully to the earth. The implied subject "they" could refer to the clouds, or perhaps more profoundly, the processes initiated and controlled by God.
• according to the vapour thereof: Hebrew: לְאֵדֹֽו (lĕ’êḏōw) "according to his vapor." Ed (אֵד) refers to mist, vapor, or steam, often associated with water rising from the ground or a source. Significance: This phrase provides the physical link, indicating that the amount and process of rain are directly connected to the amount of water drawn up as vapor. It foreshadows a foundational understanding of the hydrological cycle. This is a profound statement for its ancient context, suggesting an awareness of evaporation and condensation, long before scientific articulation. It underscores the precision and order in God's natural systems.

• "he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain": This grouping showcases God's sovereign involvement in the complete water cycle, from its microscopic, unseen origins (making small, or drawing up, minute drops/molecules) to its macroscopic, visible return as life-giving or land-shaping rain. It highlights an exquisite balance and continuity designed and maintained by divine power.
• "maketh small the drops...according to the vapour thereof": This combination reveals an ancient insight into the evaporation process—how water ascends into the atmosphere as tiny, even atomic, components. It shows God's control not just over the final product (rain) but over the preliminary stages of evaporation and cloud formation, linking cause (vapor) and effect (rain) through His agency.

Job 36 27 Bonus section

This verse offers an early biblical glimpse into what we now recognize as the hydrological cycle, indicating a divinely inspired understanding of natural processes that preceded scientific formulation by millennia. Elihu's emphasis on "maketh small the drops" and "according to the vapour thereof" reveals a remarkably astute observation of evaporation and condensation as fundamental parts of the weather system, all attributed directly to God's deliberate actions. This implies God's ordering of natural law, showing that His sovereignty operates within and through consistent, discernible patterns. The passage underscores God's absolute mastery over forces like drought and deluge, which were often worshipped as independent deities in ancient cultures. By asserting God's meticulous control over every phase, from the smallest drop to the downpour, Elihu argues for a God who is both immanently involved in His creation and transcendentally above human questioning.

Job 36 27 Commentary

Job 36:27 provides a breathtaking theological perspective on God's omnipresence and meticulous power in creation. Elihu describes the water cycle, a process indispensable for life, not as a blind force of nature but as an orchestrated display of divine wisdom and authority. God "makes small" the water—a precise action indicating His active drawing up of individual water molecules or minute particles into the atmosphere as vapor. This highlights His careful control at the foundational, almost atomic level. Then, consistent with the volume of that lifted vapor, He orchestrates the clouds to "pour down rain." This showcases a complete cycle under His governance. The passage teaches that God is not just a distant creator but an ever-present Sustainer who governs the intricate, unseen mechanics of the cosmos. His design is precise and purposeful, not arbitrary, and is executed with power beyond human scrutiny, demonstrating His inherent glory and challenging the limitations of human understanding and complaints. It calls us to look to nature as a testament to the character of a great and wise God who perfectly sustains His creation.