that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?
God keeps questioning Job, and this question treats light and darkness as if each had a home of its own. Could Job lead them back there? The point is not science but authority. A man who cannot lead the daylight home cannot judge how God treats a sufferer.
Light and darkness pictured as having a home
The verse pictures two places, each with a road leading to it. One commentator renders the lines this way:
William KellyWhat is the way the light dwells, and darkness, where is its place, that you might bring it to its boundary, and that you might know the path to its house? You know! for you were then born, and the number of your days is great.
That is this writer's own translation of verses 19–21; the ESV speaks of taking it "to its territory" and discerning "the paths to its home."
A question that would never have occurred to a man
God is not asking Job for information.
Leslie M. GrantCould Job take the light or the darkness back to its original place of dwelling? (v.20). The very question would not have arisen in men's minds, but God raises it simply to show how greatly man's knowledge is limited. The irony of verse 21 is striking. Was Job born when light first appeared? Had he lived so many years? Of course God means these words only to put Job in his place.
Still unanswered today
Job was not the last person stuck for an answer.
Samuel RidoutWhat is the "home," or origin of light, or of darkness? Men have been asking about "the origin of evil." What do they know apart from divine revelation? In recent years modern science has seen more clearly that the sun is not the origin of light. Light exists apart from the sun and apart from any other visible source. Jehovah addresses these questions not only to Job, whose knowledge was limited to his own time, but to people today.
Another writer moves from the puzzle of light in nature to the One behind it.
Arend RemmersIn Job 38 God asked Job two questions, "Where is the way to where light dwells?" (v. 19) and "By what way is the light parted?" (v. 24). Where does light come from and what is its nature? These are natural things, things we see in nature, and they are almost impossible to explain. How much more is this true of Him who is the source of all light?
Why God asks instead of explaining
God's questions here cover every field of knowledge. They have one aim.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWhat questions these are. They cover every field of what man calls "natural sciences" — geology, meteorology, geography, oceanography, astronomy, and so on. Job had not a single answer to these questions. If he had spoken, his words would have been folly… But what is the Lord's aim in asking them? To show that God is greater than man, and to humble man. It is to bring Job to the true knowledge of himself that he needs, and to free him from the pride of his heart.
From the smallest things to the deepest ways
Here is the logic of the whole speech. God shows Job only the edge of His power, and Job already has no answer.
William KellyJehovah only touches the edges of His power, the outer region of His glory. Yet what had man to say? What could Job answer? Not a word… And did the man who could not explain God's smallest works dare to judge the deepest part of His ways and plans? For is anything so deep as His purposes, His affections, and His ways with the saints He loves? And all this while they are weak and face a mighty, cunning enemy.
Mercy hidden inside the challenge
These questions are not only crushing. One writer finds a hint of hope in them.
Samuel RidoutShall Job accuse One who is Light, who sees all things as they are? Shall he doubt One who knows the secrets of his heart, and the reason for this discipline? Do not these questions give a hint that God will cause Job's night to end, and at the appointed time cause His dawn to visit the poor sufferer?
Summary
- Question — Can Job lead light and darkness home to their own borders? The question is there to show how little a man knows.
- Ignorance — Where light comes from was beyond Job. Writers say it is still beyond us, so the question reaches readers today.
- Irony — God adds that Job must know, since he was born back then. The line puts Job in his place.
- Purpose — God asks all this to humble man, to give Job a true knowledge of himself, and to free him from pride.
- Argument — God stays with His smallest works. A man who cannot explain those cannot judge His deepest dealings with those He loves.