Job 38:38

 Job 38:38

When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?

a. ASV:  When the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together? [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: In the hardening of dust into hardness, And clods cleave together?  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: When [heat has caused] the dust to run into a mass and the clods to cleave fast together? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Job, Jewish Publication Society of America Text: When the dust runneth into a mass, And the clods cleave fast together.  [Soncino Books of the Bible, Job, 1946; Jewish Publication Society of America Text; Commentary, Rabbi Dr. Victor E. Reichert]

e. ESV: When the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together? [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. “When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?”

a. [When the] dust [Strong: 6083 ʻâphâr, aw-fawr'; from H6080; dust (as powdered or gray); hence, clay, earth, mud:—ashes, dust, earth, ground, morter, powder, rubbish.]

b. groweth [Strong: 3332 yâtsaq, yaw-tsak'; a primitive root; properly, to pour out (transitive or intransitive); by implication, to melt or cast as metal; by extension, to place firmly, to stiffen or grow hard:—cast, cleave fast, be (as) firm, grow, be hard, lay out, molten, overflow, pour (out), run out, set down, stedfast.]

c. [into] hardness [Strong: 4165 mûwtsâq, moo-tsawk'; from H5694; properly, fusion, i.e. literally, a casting (of metal); figuratively, a mass (of clay):—casting, hardness.]

d. [and the] clods [Strong: 7263 regeb, reh'-gheb; from an unused root meaning to pile together; a lump of clay:—clod.]

e. cleave fast together [Strong: 1692 dâbaq, daw-bak'; a primitive root; properly, to impinge, i.e. cling or adhere; figuratively, to catch by pursuit:—abide fast, cleave (fast together), follow close (hard after), be joined (together), keep (fast), overtake, pursue hard, stick, take.]

1). When the rain falls to earth, the dust unites into mud and the cracks in the earth disappear.