Job 38:10

brake up for it my decreed place Rather, and brake for it my bound, i. e. set it my appointed boundary. The expression "brake" may refer to the deep and abrupt precipices which mark the coast line in many places.

The figures in these verses are very splendid. First, the ocean is represented as an infant giant, breaking forth from the womb. (It is not necessary perhaps to ask whether the interior of the earth be thought of as the "womb" of the ocean, or whether "womb" merely belongs to the figure of the ocean's birth.) Then the infant ocean was swathed in clouds and thick clouds were its swaddling bands. Finally the new-born monster must be tamed by almighty power, and an impassable bound set to its proud fury.