Job 38:5 kjv
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:5 nkjv
Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:5 niv
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
Job 38:5 esv
Who determined its measurements ? surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:5 nlt
Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
Job 38 5 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Job 38:4 | “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding.” | Context: God challenges Job on creation. |
| Job 38:7 | "when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" | Context: Joy over God's creation. |
| Isa 40:12 | "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span...?" | God's absolute measuring power. |
| Psa 104:24 | "O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." | God's wisdom in creation. |
| Prov 3:19 | "The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens." | God's wisdom in establishing creation. |
| Jer 10:12 | "It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens." | God's power, wisdom, and understanding in creation. |
| Rom 11:33 | "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" | God's unsearchable wisdom. |
| 1 Cor 1:25 | "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than men's strength." | God's wisdom surpasses man's. |
| Isa 55:8-9 | "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD... 'as the heavens are higher than the earth...'" | God's thoughts/ways are infinitely higher. |
| Psa 33:6-7 | "By the word of the LORD the heavens were made... He gathered the waters of the sea as a heap." | Creation by God's word. |
| Gen 1:1 | "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." | God as sole Creator. |
| John 1:3 | "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." | Creation through the Word (Christ). |
| Col 1:16 | "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth... all things were created through him and for him." | Christ's role in all creation. |
| Heb 1:2 | "...by whom he also created the world." | God created the world through His Son. |
| Job 40:2 | "Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it." | God's challenge to Job. |
| Job 42:2 | "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." | Job's later confession of God's power. |
| Psa 147:5 | "Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure." | God's infinite understanding. |
| Neh 9:6 | "You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host... the earth..." | God alone as Creator. |
| Rev 4:11 | "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things..." | God's worthiness as Creator. |
| Zec 1:16 | "Therefore thus says the LORD, I have returned to Jerusalem with compassion; my house shall be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem." | God's purposeful design for a city. |
| Jer 31:39 | "The measuring line shall extend farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and then turn toward Goah." | Divine re-measurement and building. |
| Psa 19:1 | "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." | Creation testifies of God. |
| Rom 1:20 | "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made..." | God's attributes revealed through creation. |
| Psa 24:1 | "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." | God's sovereignty over all creation. |
| Isa 40:28 | "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth." | God's eternal role as Creator. |
Job 38 verses
Job 38 5 Meaning
Job 38:5 forms part of God's initial discourse to Job, emerging from the whirlwind. It is a rhetorical question that challenges Job's understanding of the universe's creation, specifically its foundational design. God asks Job who possessed the wisdom and authority to establish the earth's dimensions and carefully plan its structure using precise measuring tools. This implicitly contrasts God's meticulous, sovereign design with Job's limited human comprehension, humbling Job and asserting divine omniscience and omnipotence as the sole architect of creation.
Job 38 5 Context
Job 38:5 is a direct utterance from God, who finally breaks His silence to address Job "out of the whirlwind" (Job 38:1). For chapters, Job has pleaded for an audience with God to present his case, challenging divine justice and wisdom in light of his suffering. God's response, beginning in Job 38, is not an explanation or defense of His ways but a series of rhetorical questions designed to humble Job and assert His absolute sovereignty and creative power. This verse specifically relates to the earth's creation, where God, through a masterfully constructed catechism, demonstrates Job's fundamental ignorance of the cosmos's very foundations.
In the ancient Near East, various creation myths portrayed the world emerging from chaotic battles or the remains of slain deities (e.g., Marduk vs. Tiamat in Babylonian myth). By asking "Who determined its measurements?" and "who stretched the measuring line?", God implicitly refutes such chaotic or polytheistic accounts. He presents Himself as the singular, orderly Architect who created the world not by struggle but by precise, intelligent design and sovereign decree. This challenges Job, and indeed humanity, to acknowledge the unapproachable, unparalleled wisdom and power of the one true God, contrasting human frailty and ignorance with divine omnipotence and omnicompetence in creation.
Job 38 5 Word analysis
Who: "מִי" (Mi). An interrogative pronoun, repeatedly used by God throughout Job 38 to emphasize Job's and humanity's lack of knowledge, wisdom, and ability in comparison to the Divine Creator. It implies a definitive answer: only God.
determined / laid the measures of: "שָׂם מִדְּדֶיהָ" (sam middadêhā). "שָׂם" (sam) means 'to put,' 'to place,' 'to set,' 'to lay.' It signifies intentional action, deliberate foundation, and purposeful arrangement. "מִדְּדֶיהָ" (middadêhā) means 'its measurements' or 'its dimensions,' deriving from "מדד" (madad), 'to measure.' This highlights the precision, order, and meticulous design inherent in the creation of the earth. It implies pre-planning and divine engineering, far beyond random chance.
surely you know! / since you know?: "כִּי תֵדָע" (kî têdāʿ). "כִּי" (kî) can mean 'for,' 'because,' 'that,' or in rhetorical contexts, it can express a challenging or even sarcastic tone, similar to "certainly" or "surely." "תֵדָע" (têdāʿ) means 'you know,' from "ידע" (yadaʿ), 'to know,' 'to perceive.' This phrase is a direct, ironic challenge to Job, who has sought to comprehend and question God's ways. God subtly reminds Job of his limited knowledge and perspective, sarcastically assuming Job's knowledge of cosmic origins.
Or: "אוֹ" (ʿō). Introduces an alternative or parallel rhetorical question, reinforcing the core idea from another angle.
who stretched: "מִי נָטָה" (mî nāṭāh). "מִי" (Mi) is again the interrogative 'who,' underlining divine uniqueness. "נָטָה" (nāṭāh) means 'to stretch out,' 'to extend,' 'to bend,' 'to spread.' This word is frequently used in scripture to describe God "stretching out" the heavens or spreading out the earth (e.g., Psa 104:2, Isa 40:22). Here, it implies the act of laying out a plan or design, akin to an architect preparing a blueprint.
the measuring line upon it?: "עָלֶיהָ קָו" (ʿalêhā qāw). "עָלֶיהָ" (ʿalêhā) means 'upon it' (referring to the earth). "קָו" (qāw) means 'line,' 'measuring line,' or 'cord.' It is an architect's or builder's tool for ensuring straightness, precision, and adherence to design specifications. Its mention solidifies the image of God as a Master Architect, who designed the earth with blueprints and exact dimensions, not through trial and error.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know! This phrase collectively questions Job's presumed wisdom and exposes his ignorance regarding the very foundations of the earth. It portrays the creation as a carefully pre-planned act of divine engineering, highlighting God's absolute intelligence and foresight.
Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? This parallel question further elaborates on the architectural metaphor. It speaks to the precision and orderly establishment of the earth. The measuring line implies a perfect plan and execution, with every dimension perfectly accounted for, indicating that the universe is not accidental but meticulously crafted by a divine architect.
Job 38 5 Bonus section
The anthropomorphic language used by God (e.g., "stretching the measuring line") serves to make His infinite power and acts relatable to human understanding, even while simultaneously demonstrating that humans could never perform such acts. These divine actions, while described with human-like tools, underscore the unparalleled scale and perfection of God's work. The series of questions in Job 38, beginning with this verse, is not a search for information but a method of self-revelation by God to Job, forcing him to confront his limited perspective and knowledge and to recognize the utter transcendence of God's wisdom and control over creation and, by extension, over all circumstances, including suffering.
Job 38 5 Commentary
Job 38:5 encapsulates God's foundational argument to Job: the Creator's wisdom and power are incomprehensible and unquestionable by human standards. God's rhetorical questions expose the vast gulf between Job's finite understanding and God's infinite knowledge, particularly concerning the universe's creation. By referencing specific architectural terms like "measurements" and "measuring line," God emphasizes the purposeful, orderly, and precise manner in which He brought the cosmos into being. This isn't random chaos, but a divinely engineered masterpiece, indicating the supreme rationality and power of the Creator. The underlying message is that if Job cannot even grasp the basic principles of the earth's formation, how can he possibly presume to understand or critique God's governance of justice and suffering? The aim is to humble Job, shift his perspective from self-justification to God's glory, and prepare him for ultimate repentance and spiritual restoration.