Job 38:31 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Job 38:31

Comments

‘Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?’, a group of seven stars, and called a cluster in the NKJ. It is one of the nearest clusters to the earth and visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Taurus. Barnes explains that the word ‘cluster’ may come from the Hebrew for ‘bond’ or ‘band’, or from another word meaning ‘pleasures’ or ‘delights’, related to the word for Eden. If the latter, then it would refer to the supposed influences of this constellation, ‘particularly the pleasure enjoyed in the spring time … when they first make their appearance’. If the word comes from ‘bond’ or ‘band’ then it would refer to their holding together as a cluster, and Job is being asked, did he form them in this well recognised cluster, which countless human eyes have gazed upon and have looked up to as one of the fixtures of this universe.Orion, or the Hunter, is a constellation on the celestial equator. Its name refers to Orion a hunter in Greek mythology. It is depicted as a hunter with two dogs facing Taurus the bull. The imagination draws a girdle around the waste of the hunter, which is referred to as his ‘belt’ or ‘bands’ (KJV). Can you, Job, hold the stars together so that they maintain their positions in the sky, as many, many generations have witnessed? Can you do anything to change or affect this landmark of the heavens?‘Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season?’ Mazzaroth is a name for the twelve signs of the zodiac and their thirty-six constellations. As the year passes, some constellations become visible, and others disappear below the horizon. This is due to the changing segment of the sky that appears in the background to the night sky as the earth moves around the sun during the year and looks away from the sun at night on different portions of the heavens. Can Job cause such a thing to happen? Even if he could have explained it, how could he have had any influence over the night sky, which was such a basic feature of human life? Far from being able to do this, the question shames Job in that he should have dared to claim such great things for himself. The grandeur of the heavens and their abiding configuration which goes on unchanged while man struggles with life and death and makes war and peace below. We are so small and insignificant, and this survey of the heavens puts us in our place before the Almighty God who is still further outside of our reach and beyond our understanding. The point of these profound observations is not just to show Job how feeble he is, but to reprove him for assuming powers that he does not have. If he cannot do these things, how can he presume to correct the God who made all this and show him a better way to treat his servant?Can Job explain the ordinances of the heavens, or the laws of motion that govern them so that he can predict their position in the future and distinguish stars from planets, explaining their orbits and gravitational attraction? ‘Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?’ – perhaps a reference to the influence of the moon and sun on the tides.The Lord names the great constellations of the heavens, those marvellous signs in the heavens which believers and unbelievers in common look up at. The unbeliever considers them out of reach and far beyond his capacity to move from their place, but the believer has influence even over these, for the Lord of hosts is his Lord and he bends his ears to listen to the softest prayer and is able to do anything that needs to be done for the good of his people. If it were needful he would even change the course of the stars to help them, and in token of this willingness, he has in the past done exactly this (Judges 5:20) and again it will be so (Isaiah 13:10).

Application

The same Almighty God who moves the stars and holds in place the whole of the heavens is the one who governs all the details of Job’s life. We consider ourselves honoured when we know somebody great, when someone who has status and authority talks privately with us, or shares intimate concerns with us. We say, ‘The same one who makes decisions on behalf of our nation is my special friend; I have that person’s ear and have some influence over the thinking of that person.’ But here is something immeasurably greater. The believer has for his God, his Saviour, his Lord and even his Friend, one who makes decisions about the movement of the stars, the shape of the universe and countless other things that are far beyond our ability to accomplish. The little boy may say, ‘My father is the king’, but the believer can say, ‘The ever-living God of heaven is my Saviour and my Friend, and he will never leave me nor forsake me. He does great things that I cannot understand, but he also draws close to my soul in love and shares with me the wonders of his grace.’ The king’s son says, ‘My father makes the laws in the land’, but the believer says, ‘My heavenly Father is God over all, and he makes all things work together for good for me and for all my fellow believers.’

Questions

The Hebrew ‘ah-yish’ is evidently the name of a constellation. According to Barnes, one possible origin of the Hebrew word comes from an Arabic word meaning ‘a bier’. This refers to the Great Bear – the Arabs, he says, give it this name because of the four stars in the constellation which resemble an open bier. Jerome translated the word Arcturum and the KJV follows this – Arcturus. But others point out that Arcturus is the brightest star in the Boötes constellation (Latin, ploughman) supposed to resemble a cow-herder driving a cow (Taurus – a cow, not a bull). The Boötes constellation is also known by the name of its brightest star, Arcturus, which means ‘bear watcher’ since it is the constellation above the Great Bear and Little Bear and seem to guard them. Whichever constellation is referred to, these constellations and the outlines they form in the heavens are so stable and so familiar that they can be given names that indicate the outline shape of creatures well known to man on earth. For a man to claim to have any control of these great landmarks of the sky would be utter vanity and folly, but Job has presumed to correct God who holds all these things in his hand and concerns himself with matters far beyond human capacity to grasp.

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Job 38:31 Commentary and Bible Study