Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Job 37:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Job 37:13 closes the thought unit with the words “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.” Elihu lists correction, care for the land, and mercy as alternative purposes for the storm.
Snow, rain, and wind halt human labor
This verse is one part of that explanation in Job 37:6–37:13. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Job 37:6–37:13
Read Job 37:13 with 37:6–37:13. Read alone, “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy” could lose its speaker, the question or claim it develops, and the unit's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Elihu describes snow, rain, halted labor, sheltered beasts, winds, frost, and clouds moving for correction, land, or mercy.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Elihu continues from Job 37:1–37:5: Elihu describes his heart moving, calls listeners to hear thunder, and portrays lightning and thunder as God's incomprehensible voice. Job 37:6–37:13 now develops the next distinct movement: Elihu describes snow, rain, halted labor, sheltered beasts, winds, frost, and clouds moving for correction, land, or mercy. Within that relationship, Job 37:13 closes the thought unit through “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.”
Read Job 37:6–13 together
Why these verses belong together: Job 37:6–37:13 follows the pinned KJV paragraphing and holds together one sustained speech movement: “Snow, Rain, Wind, and Clouds Serve Varied Purposes.” The next unit begins with a new stanza, question sequence, scene, speaker response, or rhetorical turn.
Verse 6. 6 For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.
Verse 7. 7 He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work.
Verse 8. 8 Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places.
Verse 9. 9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.
Verse 10. 10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Verse 11. 11 Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
Verse 12. 12 And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.
Verse 13. 13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
Follow the Context
- Identify Elihu's stated claim in Job 37:6–37:13.
- Elihu describes snow, rain, halted labor, sheltered beasts, winds, frost, and clouds moving for correction, land, or mercy.
- Keep this interpretive control visible: The verse names alternative purposes rather than a method for identifying which applies; disasters must not be assigned confidently to punishment.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Job 37:13 does not permit “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy” to be detached from its named speaker and complete thought unit. Job 37:13 does not let observers identify a disaster as punishment from outcomes alone.
What Remains True
Elihu himself lists correction, care for land, and mercy as alternatives for the storm's coming. Job 37:13 keeps that conclusion accountable to the line “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Refuse confident moral explanations for weather disasters and focus on truthful relief and protection. Keep the selected wording “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy” and Job 37:6–37:13's complete movement visible while acting.
Teach It Back
Explain why Job 37:13 closes the thought unit. Paraphrase “He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy,” identify Elihu, use 37:6–37:13, state one material uncertainty when present, and reject one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Job 37:6–37:13 — Snow, Rain, Wind, and Clouds Serve Varied PurposesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Job 37:6–37:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Job
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Job.xml, OSIS 37:6–37:13
Open the fixed Hebrew Job file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Job
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006; current official PDF
Supports: Verse-level controls for Job's difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, textual issues, speech boundaries, and alternatives in Job 37:6–37:13.
Exact location: Official NET Job PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Job 37:6–37:13
Open the official NET Job PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Job course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Daniel J. Simundson and Kathryn Schifferdecker
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current online edition inspected 2026
Supports: Book-level and passage-level literary, historical, theological, and pastoral synthesis with speaker distinctions and visible uncertainty.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Job course, Introductory Issues and Outline: Elihu speeches; applied to Job 37:6–37:13
Open the Enter the Bible Job course ↗modern scholarly pastoral commentary collection
Job preaching series and creation commentaries
Kathryn M. Schifferdecker
Working Preacher, Luther Seminary, 2012-2016
Supports: Lament, undeserved suffering, creation's wild freedom, nonhuman value, chaos imagery, encounter, and ending, used as one responsible pastoral-scholarly reading.
Exact location: Schifferdecker, Working Preacher Job series, commentary headed for Job 38:1-41:34; applied to Job 37:6–37:13
Open Schifferdecker on Job 38-42 ↗