איוב, פרק ל״ח, פסוק ט״ז

After challenging Job's understanding of the earth's creation and the nature of light, God shifts His focus to the mysteries of water. The inquiry serves as a powerful rhetorical rebuke. It asks how a human being can dare to question God when human wisdom remains so severely limited [מצודת דוד]. God asks Job whether, having been absent when the sea and the earth were founded, he has at least walked through their vast length and breadth to understand them [רמב״ן].

The primary approach among commentators is that this challenge refers to the deepest parts of the ocean. However, other perspectives exist regarding these watery expanses. Some explain that the focus is on the closed, inaccessible regions of the sea [רש״י], while another view suggests it refers to the fast-moving, crashing waves [אבן עזרא].

The challenge continues by asking if Job has successfully investigated the great abysses, managing to fully comprehend what occurs in those dark depths [רמב״ן, מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The ocean floor and the deep waters upon which the earth rests are entirely hidden from human exploration. Yet, it is precisely within these unseen places that God reveals His active involvement in the world in two distinct ways. First, He sustains the world by keeping the waters gathered in their designated boundaries, preventing them from flooding the dry land. Second, He uses these mighty waters as a tool to bring justice and punish the wicked [מלבי״ם].