Job26
World English Bible · Public Domain
1Then Job answered,
2“How have you helped him who is without power! How have you saved the arm that has no strength!
3How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came out of you?
5“The departed spirits tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
7He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
9He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it.
10He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.
11The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
12He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.
13By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
14Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
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.