Job 38:28

28 "Has ¹the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

Job 38:28 Meaning and Commentary

Job 38:28

Hath the rain a father?
&c.] None but God; hence the Heathens themselves call God (getiov) ^F25, and (ombriov) ^F26; see ( Jeremiah 14:22 ) ; he that is our Father in heaven is the Father of rain, and him only; whatever secondary causes there be, God only is the efficient cause, parent, and producer of it: so the Gospel is not of men but of God, is a gift of his, comes down from heaven, tarries not for men, and is a great blessing, as rain is;

or who hath begotten the drops of the dew?
which are innumerable; he that is the parent of the rain is of the dew also, and he only ^F1; to which sometimes not only the word of God, and his free favour and good will, but the people of God themselves are compared for their number, influence, and use; see ( Psalms 110:3 ) ( Micah 5:7 ) ; and their new birth is similar to the generation of dew, it being not of the will of man, but of God, according to his abundant mercy, free favour, and good will, is from above, from heaven, and is effected silently, secretly, suddenly, at an unawares; ( John 1:13 ) ( John 3:3 John 3:5 John 3:8 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F25 Aristot. de Mundo, c. 7.
F26 Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. p. 60.
F1 Though a certain poet (Alcman Lyricus apud Macrob. Saturnal. l. 7. c. 16.) says that dew is the offspring of the air and of the moon; but these can only at most be reckoned but secondary causes. The Arabs speak of an angel over dew. Abulpharag, Hist. Dynast. p. 75.

Job 38:28 In-Context

26 to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man,

27 to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground sprout with grass?

28 "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?

29 From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the frost of heaven?

30 The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 147:8; Jeremiah 14:22