Job 36:32 · Bible study
Job 36:32 Commentary: God's Hand on the Lightning or the Sun?
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Job 36:32, Does 'light' mean the sun or lightning? Explore the imagery of God covering His hands with light and commanding it to strike its mark.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God takes the lightning (or sunlight) into His own hands and commands it to strike a specific target, showing absolute sovereignty over nature.
- Key words: 'or (H0216), light, could be sun or lightning; kissah (H3680), to cover, conceal; kaph (H3709), palm, hollow of the hand; bemaphgia (H6293), against an assailant, to strike.
- Main debate: Whether the 'light' is the sun (with clouds obscuring it) or lightning (with God directing it like a weapon).
- Theological theme: Divine sovereignty over creation, the same power that blesses can also judge.
- Best use: Support for God's meticulous control in suffering; calls for humble trust rather than complaint.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He fills His hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark.
WEB World English Bible 2000
He covers his hands with the lightning, and commands it to strike the mark.
KJV King James Version 1769
With clouds he covereth the light; and commandeth it not to shine by the cloud that cometh betwixt.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
He covereth his hands with the lightning, And giveth it a charge that it strike the mark.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
By two palms He hath covered the light, And layeth a charge over it in meeting,
Darby Darby Bible 1890
[His] hands he covereth with lightning, and commandeth it where it is to strike.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
In his hands he hideth the light, and commandeth it to come again.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Con las nubes encubre la luz, y mándale no brillar, interponiendo aquéllas.
Ele cobre as mãos com o relâmpago, e dá ordens para que atinja o alvo.
Il prend la lumière dans sa main,
Er deckt den Blitz wie mit Händen und heißt ihn doch wieder kommen.
Met handen bedekt Hij het licht, en doet aan hetzelve verbod door dengene, die tussen doorkomt.
S’empie di fulmini le mani, e li lancia contro gli avversari.
Obłokami nakrywa światłość, i rozkazuje jej ukrywać się za obłok następujący.)
Он сокрывает в дланях Своих молнию и повелевает ей, кого разить.
他以 電光 遮 手，命 閃電 擊中敵人（或譯：中了靶子）。
He takes the light in his hands, sending it against the mark.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Job 36:32
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree on the main point: the verse portrays God's absolute control over the powerful forces of nature. Barnes notes that Schultens catalogued no fewer than twenty-eight interpretations of this verse, yet every reading affirms that the lightning (or sunlight) responds instantly to God's command. The Hebrew verb kissah ('covers') suggests a deliberate, almost playful action, like a man cupping a flame in his hands. God takes the light in His grasp and directs it exactly where He wills. Keil and Delitzsch see in this an image of God directing the lightning like an archer who hits his target. The last word, bemaphgia, comes from a root meaning 'to meet' or 'fall upon,' and in context suggests both encounter and enmity, God gives the lightning a charge against an adversary (JFB). The surrounding verses (Job 36:27, 37:13) describe God's use of storms for judgment and mercy, so the lightning likely serves both purposes. What is not in dispute: the Creator holds the elements in His hand and aims them with perfect precision.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Sun/cloud interpretation: KJV, Wesley, Gill, Matthew Henry — read 'light' as the sun obscured by clouds, often with moral application about sin hiding God's face.
- Lightning interpretation: ASV, BSB, WEB, JFB, Barnes — read 'light' as lightning, held in God's hands and commanded against an adversary.
- Eclipse interpretation: Adam Clarke mentions the possibility of solar or lunar eclipses, where God uses intervening bodies to cover light.
What is clear: God exercises total authority over the light — whether sun or lightning — and directs it to accomplish His purposes, whether judgment or mercy.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Identity of 'light' (or) | Both views see God in control of a powerful natural phenomenon. | Some read it as the sun being covered by clouds; others as lightning held and directed by God. The surrounding storm context (Job 36:27, 37:13) strongly favors lightning, but the Hebrew word can sustain either. |
| Meaning of 'strike the mark' (bemaphgia) | God commands the light to go to a specific place or against a specific target. | Whether that target is an adversary (an enemy of God or the wicked) or simply a designated impact point (like an archer's target). JFB and others support the adversarial sense; Keil & Delitzsch read it as 'one who hitteth the mark.' |
| Theological purpose of the verse in Elihu's speech | Elihu uses weather to demonstrate God's majesty and Job's need to submit. | Protestant commentators tend to stress the warning for Job; Catholic and some Reformed readings emphasize the opportunity for trust and understanding rather than just rebuke. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Elihu speaks near the end of the book of Job, after Job's three friends have failed to comfort him. Unlike the friends, Elihu insists that suffering can be disciplinary and revelatory, not merely punitive. In Job 36, 37, he builds his argument by pointing to God's power in the weather. Storms were terrifying and mysterious in the ancient Near East: they brought life-giving rain but also death by lightning, flood, and hail. People saw the storm as the chariot of the divine warrior. Psalms 18:11 describes God making darkness his hiding place; Psalm 135:7 traces the lightning to God's treasuries. The imagery of God holding lightning in His hands appears in other ancient literature too, Horace compares Jupiter's right hand to a thunderbolt. For Elihu, the storm proves God's sovereignty and wisdom so clearly that Job should quiet his complaints.
The Hebrew word kaph (palm of the hand) appears often in Job. A hand can represent power or possession. God covers the light 'upon his palms', a picture of holding something volatile yet controlled. The command to strike the mark (bemaphgia, 'against the assailant') suggests a military image: the lightning is a weapon God looses against His enemies. But the same storm also produces rain that waters crops and shows mercy (Job 36:31). So the verse captures the double edge of divine power: destruction and blessing spring from the same hand.
Textual Notes
The supplied commentaries and lexical data note no significant textual variants for Job 36:32. The main difficulty is not the manuscript tradition but the interpretation of the Hebrew phrasing, especially the last word bemaphgia and the meaning of 'or. Some early translators (Vulgate, LXX) rendered differently, but no variant reading is proposed as superior.
Reception History
Early and medieval interpreters typically read the verse through the Vulgate, 'In his hands he hideth the light', understanding it as God obscuring the sun behind clouds, often as a figure for God's hiddenness in suffering. Gregory the Great used it to teach that God's ways are concealed but purposeful. Reformation-era commentators like Calvin and Luther saw the lightning as a clear sign of God's active government of the world. Wesley and Gill treated it allegorically: the cloud as sin that intercepts the light of God's favor. Modern scholarship, aided by comparative ancient Near Eastern texts, has shifted toward the lightning interpretation, emphasizing the image of God as a divine warrior directing his weapons. This reading has become standard in many study Bibles and commentaries.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- God holds what terrifies us. The lightning, unstoppable, deadly, rests in His palms. Nothing is too wild for His control.
- God aims with purpose. The command 'to strike the mark' means every bolt has a target. God's power is not random.
- God's hand also brings rain. The same storm that judges also refreshes. Sovereignty includes both warning and welcome.
Five-point outline
- Creator's intimacy, God covers the light 'with both hands,' not at arm's length.
- Creator's authority, the lightning obeys a spoken command.
- Creator's precision, the bolt strikes the assigned mark, not a random place.
- Creator's double purpose, rain for mercy, lightning for judgment (v.31).
- Creator's mystery, we cannot predict or control the storm; Elihu calls Job to trust the One who can.
Illustration hooks
- An archer who strings his bow, aims, and releases, the arrow does not swerve. God's aim is never off.
- A parent cupping a candle flame to protect it from the wind, the thing that could burn is held safely.
- A crossing guard stopping traffic with a raised hand, one small gesture commands tons of moving metal.
Questions your congregation is asking
- If God controls everything, why do storms hit innocent people?
- Does God send disaster as punishment, or is it just random?
- How can I trust God's aim when my life feels like chaos?
Leading a Discussion
Elihu uses a thunderstorm to show Job that God's power is both vast and precise. This passage asks us: do we believe God holds the lightning, and can we trust His aim when life strikes hard?
Discussion questions
- Read Job 36:32 aloud. What picture of God comes to your mind when you imagine Him covering His hands with light?
- The Hebrew word 'or can mean 'sun' or 'lightning.' How does each translation change the feel of the verse? Which do you think fits the context better?
- Job 36:31 says God uses the same storms both to judge and to give food. How do you reconcile God's mercy and His judgment in one act?
- Elihu's point is that Job should humble himself before God's mystery. When have you struggled to trust God's control in a confusing situation?
- What does it mean for your daily life that God commands the lightning 'to strike the mark', that His power is aimed and not random?
- How does this view of God's sovereign care affect the way you pray about storms, disasters, or personal crises?
- In what area of your life do you most need to remember that God holds 'the lightning' in His hands right now?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 10:21 | Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” |
| Exodus 10:23 | They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. |
| Job 26:9 | He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it. |
| Job 37:12 | It is turned around by his guidance, that they may do whatever he commands them on the surface of the habitable world, |
| Job 37:15 | Do you know how God controls them, and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine? |
| Psalms 18:11 | He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. |
| Psalms 135:7 | He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with the rain. He brings the wind out of his treasuries. |
| Psalms 147:8 | who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke sees this verse as referring to an eclipse when the moon blocks the sun’s light. He believes God covers the sun with his hand and then removes it allowing light to return.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes argues the Hebrew describes God seizing and directing the lightning like a weapon held in his hands, not covering light with clouds. He rejects traditional translations, insisting the image is God commanding the lightning itself, even in the moment it strikes, to execute his will.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that the light mentioned in this verse is lightning held in God’s hands. It shines to reveal him to all creatures including those that move upward.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Notes observe that God is the one who both covers the light with clouds and commands the clouds to move against it. The point is God’s absolute authority over creation: He hides the sun and directs the weather as He wills.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill sees sin as clouds that block God’s light from his people. He also explains that this image can refer to natural events like eclipses caused by other objects coming between the sun and earth.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
Jamieson Fausset Brown notes that God’s light has two opposite effects. It sends destructive lightning against those who attack Him. It also gives gentle light to bring good to His faithful friends.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue that the thunderstorm is God's self-revelation: He spreads light over Himself and fills the sea to its depths, using the storm for judgment and provision. The thunder itself announces Him, and even cattle, by their frightened herding at the storm's approach, declare that He is coming.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that Elihu's final discourse describes a storm already visible and audible during his speech, not just a general nature lesson. He believes the poet intended this actual thunderstorm to prepare Job for God's imminent appearance, supplying Elihu with the immediate material for his vivid descriptions of divine power and wisdom.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that God’s visible works in nature are so clear they can be seen by anyone from afar. He believes these obvious creations show God’s greatness and wisdom, which should lead people to accept his care for them.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley interprets the cloud not as a natural weather event but as a veil God deliberately places between the sun and the earth. The light is the sun itself, and the thick, black clouds covering the whole sky are God's chosen way of hiding it.