Job 38:16

“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? etc.] The subterraneous passages through which the waters flow into the sea and supply it; or the springs and fountains that rise up at the bottom of it f1303; and some tell us of springs of sweet water that rise there, even though the water at the bottom of the sea is saltier than on the surface f1304: some render it “the drops of the sea” f1305; hast thou considered them and counted them? art thou able to do it? no: others the “perplexities” of it f1306, so the Targum, the word being used in this sense, (<021403>Exodus 14:3); the thickets of it; some speak of woods and forests in it, (see Gill on “<021019>Exodus 10:19”); others “rocks” and…”

“springs--fountains beneath the sea (Psa 95:4-5). search--Rather, "the inmost recesses"; literally, "that which is only found by searching," the deep caverns of ocean.”

“Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? - The word here rendered “springs” (נבך nêbek), occurs nowhere else in the Scriptures. It is rendered by the Vulgate “profunda,” the deep parts; and by the Septuagint πηγὴν pēgēn - “fountains.” The reference seems to be to the deep fountains at the bottom of the sea, which were supposed to supply it with water. A large portion of the water of the ocean is indeed conveyed to it by rivers and streams that run on the surface of the earth. But it is known, also, that there are fountains at the bottom of the ocean, and in some places the amount of water that flows from them is so great, that its action is perceptible at the surface. One such…”

“Springs - Heb. the tears; the several springs out of which the waters of the sea flow as tears do from the eyes. Walked - Hast thou found out the utmost depth of the sea, which in divers places could never be reached by the wisest mariner? And how then canst thou fathom the depths of my counsels? Job 38:17”

“the springs: Psa 77:19; Pro 8:24; Jer 51:36 walked: Job 26:5, Job 26:6 Job 38:17”

“16 Hast thou reached the fountains of the sea, And hast thou gone into the foundation of the deep? 17 Were the gates of death unveiled to thee, And didst thou see the gates of the realm of shades? 18 Hast thou comprehended the breadth of the earth? Speak, in so far as thou knowest all this! 19 Which is the way to where the light dwelleth, And darkness, where is its place, 20 That thou mightest bring it to its bound, And that thou mightest know the paths of its house? 21 Thou knowest it, for then wast thou born, And the number of thy days is great! - The root נב has the primary notion of obtruding itself upon the senses (vid., Genesis, S. 635), whence נבך in Arabic of a rising country that…”