- What does Job 38:1 suggest about the literary structure of the Book of Job? Why doesn’t the Lord reply to Job’s friends as well?
- What is different about the name of God in Job 38:1 and why is the difference significant?
- Where else does God manifest Himself in something resembling a tempest? Compare Exodus 19.
- Explain the phrase “darkens counsel” in Job 38:2.
- Girding the loins is a frequent Biblical metaphor. What does it mean (Job 38:3)?
- The entire chapter from Job 38:4 on is a paean to God as Creator. Is that the main point?
- To what does the writer (speaking for God) liken the creation of the universe (Job 38:5-6)?
- Who are the “divine beings” (Job 38:7)?
- How would you characterize the questions in God’s response to Job?
- What is the underlying principle in the description of the sea and sunrise (Job 38:8-12)?
- What is the meaning if “shakes the wicked out of it” in Job 38:13? Does it fit the context?
- What happens to “clay under a seal” (Job 38:14)? Explain this metaphorical image.
- What does the “upraised arm” symbolize (Job 38:15)?
- What is the purpose of the gibe in Job 38:16-21?
- What is the connection between hail, snow, and battle (Job 38:22-23)?
- Explain the metaphors of procreation in Job 38:28-29.
- What is described in Job 38:30?
- What is revealed about the writer’s knowledge of astronomy in Job 38:31-32? “Mazzaroth” may be a variant of what more familiar Hebrew word related to astronomy and astrology?
- The footnote on Job 38:36 offers an alternate meaning for the Hebrew “sekhvi”. Compare Birkot Hashahar (preliminary service). Where does it appear in the liturgy and how is it usually rendered in English? Others render “tuhot” (in the first half of the verse) “ibis.” How does this relate to the second half of the verse?
- What is described in Job 38:37-38?
- What is the point of the references to animals at the end of this chapter and continuing into the next chapter?
