Job26
New International Version
1Then Job replied:
2“How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble!
3What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!
4Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?
5“The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered.
7He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
8He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.
10He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.
11The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke.
12By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.
13By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.
14And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Job 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Job reproves Bildad. (1–4). Job acknowledges the power of God. (5–14).
vv1-4
Job derided Bildad's answer; his words were a mixture of peevishness and self-preference. Bildad ought to have laid before Job the consolations, rather than the terrors of the Almighty. Christ knows how to speak what is proper for the weary, Isa 50:4; and his ministers should not grieve those whom God would not have made sad. We are often disappointed in our expectations from our friends who should comfort us; but the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, never mistakes, nor fails of his end.
vv5-14
Many striking instances are here given of the wisdom and power of God, in the creation and preservation of the world. If we look about us, to the earth and waters here below, we see his almighty power. If we consider hell beneath, though out of our sight, yet we may conceive the discoveries of God's power there. If we look up to heaven above, we see displays of God's almighty power. By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, the breath of his mouth, Ps 33:6, he has not only made the heavens, but beautified them. By redemption, all the other wonderful works of the Lord are eclipsed; and we may draw near, and taste his grace, learn to love him, and walk with delight in his ways. The ground of the controversy between Job and the other disputants was, that they unjustly thought from his afflictions that he must have been guilty of heinous crimes. They appear not to have duly considered the evil and just desert of original sin; nor did they take into account the gracious designs of God in purifying his people. Job also darkened counsel by words without knowledge. But his views were more distinct. He does not appear to have alleged his personal righteousness as the ground of his hope towards God. Yet what he admitted in a general view of his case, he in effect denied, while he complained of his sufferings as unmerited and severe; that very complaint proving the necessity for their being sent, in order to his being further humbled in the sight of God.
Key Words
אִיּוֹב: Ijob, the patriarch famous for his patience
עָנָה: properly, to eye or (generally) to heed, i.e. pay attention; by implication, to respond; by extension to begin to speak; specifically to sing, shout, testify, announce
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
מָה: properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses
עָזַר: to surround, i.e. protect or aid
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
כֹּחַ: vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard
יָשַׁע: properly, to be open, wide or free, i.e. (by implication) to be safe; causatively, to free or succor
זְרוֹעַ: the arm (as stretched out), or (of animals) the foreleg; figuratively, force
עֹז: strength in various applications (force, security, majesty, praise)
Cross References
Job 26Direct parallel: Sheol (hell) and Abaddon (destruction) lie completely open and naked before Yahweh's eyes.
Supported by JFB
Parallels God's power over the cosmic/spiritual enemy, explicitly identifying the 'crooked serpent'.
Attributes the creation and decoration of the heavens to the breath (Spirit) of God's mouth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Connects the stirrings of 'Sheol' beneath and the 'Rephaim' (dead giants/spirits) trembling at His presence.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Asserts God's omnipresence even in Sheol (hell), which cannot cover or hide from Him.
Supported by JFB
Echoes the marvel of God binding up the waters in His clouds/garments without bursting.
Supported by JFB
Describes God drawing a circular boundary upon the face of the deep/waters.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the subjugation of 'Rahab' (translated as 'the proud' or 'its pride' in the sea).
Supported by JFB
Illustrates the heavy irony Job uses to rebuke Bildad's useless, unhelpful counsel.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Echoes Job's ongoing complaint that his friends are 'miserable comforters' offering no actual help.
Echoes God stretching out the heavens like a curtain or canopy over empty space.
Supported by JFB
Elaborates on God setting prescriptive doors and bars to establish boundaries for the ocean.
A New Testament parallel to Job's praise of the unsearchable depth of God's ways.
Explores God's supreme authority over the deep recesses, springs, and paths of the sea.