John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"Knowest thou the ordinances of the heavens? Canst thou establish the dominion thereof in the earth?" — Job 38:33 (ASV)
Do you know the ordinances of heaven ?
&c.] Settled by the decree, purpose, and will of God, and are firm and stable; see (Psalms 148:6) (Jeremiah 31:35Jeremiah 31:36) ; the laws and statutes respecting their situation, motion, operation, influence, and use, which are constantly observed; these are so far from being made by men, and at their direction, that they are not known by them, at least not fully and perfectly;
can you set the dominion thereof in the earth ?
or over it; of the heavens over the earth; not such an one as judicial astrologers ascribe unto them, as to influence the bodies of men, especially the tempers and dispositions of their minds; to affect their wills and moral actions, the events and occurrences of their lives, and the fate of nations and kingdoms; their dominion is not moral and civil, but physical or natural, as to make the revolutions of night and day, and of the several seasons of the year; and to affect and influence the fruits of the earth see (Genesis 1:16) (Deuteronomy 33:13Deuteronomy 33:14) (Hosea 2:21–23) ; but this dominion is solely under God, and at his direction, and is not of men's fixing.