Job 37:3
 Job 37:3 
New International Version (©2011)
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.

New Living Translation (©2007)
It rolls across the heavens, and his lightning flashes in every direction.

English Standard Version (©2001)
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Under the whole heaven He lets it loose, And His lightning to the ends of the earth.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
He lets it loose beneath the entire sky; His lightning to the ends of the earth.

International Standard Version (©2012)
He releases his lightning throughout the sky, to the ends of the earth.

NET Bible (©2006)
Under the whole heaven he lets it go, even his lightning to the far corners of the earth.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
He flashes his lightning everywhere under heaven. His light flashes to the ends of the earth.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
He directs it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

American King James Version
He directs it under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.

American Standard Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, And his lightening unto the ends of the earth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the ends of the earth.

Darby Bible Translation
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

English Revised Version
He sendeth it forth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.

World English Bible
He sends it forth under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.

Young's Literal Translation
Under the whole heavens He directeth it, And its light is over the skirts of the earth.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

37:1-13 The changes of the weather are the subject of a great deal of our thoughts and common talk; but how seldom do we think and speak of these things, as Elihu, with a regard to God, the director of them! We must notice the glory of God, not only in the thunder and lightning, but in the more common and less awful changes of the weather; as the snow and rain. Nature directs all creatures to shelter themselves from a storm; and shall man only be unprovided with a refuge? Oh that men would listen to the voice of God, who in many ways warns them to flee from the wrath to come; and invites them to accept his salvation, and to be happy. The ill opinion which men entertain of the Divine direction, peculiarly appears in their murmurs about the weather, though the whole result of the year proves the folly of their complaints. Believers should avoid this; no days are bad as God makes them, though we make many bad by our sins.


Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - He directeth it under the whole heaven. The reverberations of the thunderclap roll along the entire cloud-canopy, from one end of the heavens to the other, beginning often faint in the distance, then growing loud over our heads, finally sinking into low muttered rumblings on the far horizon. And his lightning unto the ends of the earth. Similarly, the lightning, though originating in a flash at some definite spot, sets the whole sky aglow, shining from side to side of the heavens, and, as it were, to the very "ends of the earth." Both have a character of universality which is marvellous, and which makes them fitting emblems of him of whom they are the messengers and ministers (see Matthew 24:27).


Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He directeth it under the whole heaven,.... His voice of thunder, which rolls from one end of the heaven to the other: he charges the clouds with it, and directs both it and them where they shall go and discharge; what tree, house, or man, it shall strike; and where the rain shall fall when the clouds burst: yet Pliny (x) atheistically calls thunder and lightning chance matters. Thus the ministers of the word, who are compared to clouds, Isaiah 5:6, are charged with it by the Lord: they are directed by him what they shall say, where they shall go and declare it, and he directs where it shall fall with power and weight; yea, he directs it into the very hearts of men, where it pierces and penetrates, and is a discerner and discoverer of their thoughts and intents;

and his lightning unto the ends of the earth: it cometh out of the east, and shineth to the west, Matthew 24:27; and swiftly move to the further parts of the earth: and such a direction, motion, and extent, has the Gospel had; the glorious light of it, comparable to lightning, it first broke forth in the east, where Christ, his forerunner and his disciples, first preached it, and Christian churches were formed; and from thence it spread into the western parts of the world, and before the destruction of Jerusalem it was preached unto all nations; it had a free course, ran, and was glorified; the sound of the voice of it went into all the earth, and the words and doctrines of the apostles unto the ends of the world.

(x) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 43.


Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. directeth it—however zigzag the lightning's course; or, rather, it applies to the pealing roll of the thunder. God's all-embracing power.

ends—literally, "wings," "skirts," the habitable earth being often compared to an extended garment (Job 38:13; Isa 11:12).


Job 37:3 Parallel Commentaries

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Elihu Proclaims God's Majesty
1At this also my heart trembles, and is moved out of his place. 2Hear attentively the noise of his voice, and the sound that goes out of his mouth. 3He directs it under the whole heaven, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.

Job 28:24 for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
Job 28:26 when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm,
Job 37:4 After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.
Job 37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.
Job 37:12 At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.
Job 38:13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
Job 38:35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?