38:31 sweet influences of Pleiades. The word translated “sweet influences” (Hebrew maadannah) is used only once in the Bible. Its basic meaning seems to be “cluster.” It is known now that the stars in the constellation Pleiades, anciently known as the “seven sisters” (although the telescope reveals many more stars in this group), are bound together gravitationally. The stars in the bright constellation Orion, on the other hand, are not so bound. Only God can either bind or release the stars, as He is the one who created them and placed them in the heavens.

38:32 Mazzaroth. “Mazzaroth” refers to the signs of the Zodiac. As already noted, God formed the constellations, as well as the stars, as “signs” (note Genesis 1:14; Job 9:8-9; Job 26:13; Job 38:31-33; Amos 5:8). Although the present corrupt astrological use of the signs of the Zodiac is forbidden by God (e.g., Isaiah 47:12-14), the original message of Mazzaroth, “brought forth by God” season after season, centered on the promised victorious coming of the Redeemer.