By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.
Frost is given by the breath of God, and the broad expanse of the waters is confined and restrained by Him. That confining is also a constraining and making firm, a narrowing and a freezing of the waters. Both the giving of frost and the changed condition of the waters are works of divine power over nature and of control over the natural world.
The verse belongs to a larger description that presents weather and other works of nature as displays of divine power and wisdom. Those workings stand beyond human understanding, showing a command and control that man cannot fathom. In that description snow and rain and clouds do what they are directed to do, serving purposes of correction, of care for the land, and of loving-kindness.
Frost is given by the breath of God, and the broad expanse of the waters is confined and restrained by Him. That confining is also a constraining and making firm, a narrowing and a freezing of the waters. Both the giving of frost and the changed condition of the waters are works of divine power over nature and of control over the natural world.
The verse belongs to a larger description that presents weather and other works of nature as displays of divine power and wisdom. Those workings stand beyond human understanding, showing a command and control that man cannot fathom. In that description snow and rain and clouds do what they are directed to do, serving purposes of correction, of care for the land, and of loving-kindness.