2 How hast thou helped H5826 him that is without power? H3581 how savest H3467 thou the arm H2220 that hath no H3808 strength? H5797
Behold, thou hast instructed H3256 many, H7227 and thou hast strengthened H2388 the weak H7504 hands. H3027 Thy words H4405 have upholden H6965 him that was falling, H3782 and thou hast strengthened H553 the feeble H3766 knees. H1290
I also could speak H1696 as ye do: if H3863 your soul H5315 were H3426 in my soul's H5315 stead, I could heap up H2266 words H4405 against you, and shake H5128 mine head H7218 at H1119 you. But I would strengthen H553 you with H1119 my mouth, H6310 and the moving H5205 of my lips H8193 should asswage H2820 your grief.
Strengthen H2388 ye the weak H7504 hands, H3027 and confirm H553 the feeble H3782 knees. H1290 Say H559 to them that are of a fearful H4116 heart, H3820 Be strong, H2388 fear H3372 not: behold, your God H430 will come H935 with vengeance, H5359 even God H430 with a recompence; H1576 he will come H935 and save H3467 you.
The isles H339 saw H7200 it, and feared; H3372 the ends H7098 of the earth H776 were afraid, H2729 drew near, H7126 and came. H857 They helped H5826 every one H376 his neighbour; H7453 and every one said H559 to his brother, H251 Be of good courage. H2388 So the carpenter H2796 encouraged H2388 the goldsmith, H6884 and he that smootheth H2505 with the hammer H6360 him that smote H1986 the anvil, H6471 saying, H559 It is ready H2896 for the sodering: H1694 and he fastened H2388 it with nails, H4548 that it should not be moved. H4131
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Job 26
Commentary on Job 26 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 26
THIRD SERIES.
Job 26:1-14. Job's Reply.
2, 3. without power … no strength … no wisdom—The negatives are used instead of the positives, powerlessness, &c., designedly (so Isa 31:8; De 32:21). Granting I am, as you say (Job 18:17; 15:2), powerlessness itself, &c. "How hast thou helped such a one?"
savest—supportest.
3. plentifully … the thing as it is—rather, "abundantly—wisdom." Bildad had made great pretensions to abundant wisdom. How has he shown it?
4. For whose instruction were thy words meant? If for me I know the subject (God's omnipotence) better than my instructor; Job 26:5-14 is a sample of Job's knowledge of it.
whose spirit—not that of God (Job 32:8); nay, rather, the borrowed sentiment of Eliphaz (Job 4:17-19; 15:14-16).
5-14. As before in the ninth and twelfth chapters, Job had shown himself not inferior to the friends' inability to describe God's greatness, so now he describes it as manifested in hell (the world of the dead), Job 26:5, 6; on earth, Job 26:7; in the sky, Job 26:8-11; the sea, Job 26:12; the heavens, Job 26:13.
Dead things are formed—Rather, "The souls of the dead (Rephaim) tremble." Not only does God's power exist, as Bildad says (Job 25:2), "in high places" (heaven), but reaches to the region of the dead. Rephaim here, and in Pr 21:16 and Isa 14:9, is from a Hebrew root, meaning "to be weak," hence "deceased"; in Ge 14:5 it is applied to the Canaanite giants; perhaps in derision, to express their weakness, in spite of their gigantic size, as compared with Jehovah [Umbreit]; or, as the imagination of the living magnifies apparitions, the term originally was applied to ghosts, and then to giants in general [Magee].
from under—Umbreit joins this with the previous word "tremble from beneath" (so Isa 14:9). But the Masoretic text joins it to "under the waters." Thus the place of the dead will be represented as "under the waters" (Ps 18:4, 5); and the waters as under the earth (Ps 24:2). Magee well translates thus: "The souls of the dead tremble; (the places) under the waters, and their inhabitants." Thus the Masoretic connection is retained; and at the same time the parallel clauses are evenly balanced. "The inhabitants of the places under the waters" are those in Gehenna, the lower of the two parts into which Sheol, according to the Jews, is divided; they answer to "destruction," that is, the place of the wicked in Job 26:6, as "Rephaim" (Job 26:5) to "Hell" (Sheol) (Job 26:6). "Sheol" comes from a Hebrew root—"ask," because it is insatiable (Pr 27:20); or "ask as a loan to be returned," implying Sheol is but a temporary abode, previous to the resurrection; so for English Version "formed," the Septuagint and Chaldee translate; shall be born, or born again, implying the dead are to be given back from Sheol and born again into a new state [Magee].
6. (Job 38:17; Ps 139:8; Pr 5:11).
destruction—the abode of destruction, that is, of lost souls. Hebrew, Abaddon (Re 9:11).
no covering—from God's eyes.
7. Hint of the true theory of the earth. Its suspension in empty space is stated in the second clause. The north in particular is specified in the first, being believed to be the highest part of the earth (Isa 14:13). The northern hemisphere or vault of heaven is included; often compared to a stretched-out canopy (Ps 104:2). The chambers of the south are mentioned (Job 9:9), that is, the southern hemisphere, consistently with the earth's globular form.
8. in … clouds—as if in airy vessels, which, though light, do not burst with the weight of water in them (Pr 30:4).
9. Rather, He encompasseth or closeth. God makes the clouds a veil to screen the glory not only of His person, but even of the exterior of His throne from profane eyes. His agency is everywhere, yet He Himself is invisible (Ps 18:11; 104:3).
10. Rather, "He hath drawn a circular bound round the waters" (Pr 8:27; Ps 104:9). The horizon seems a circle. Indication is given of the globular form of the earth.
until the day, &c.—to the confines of light and darkness. When the light falls on our horizon, the other hemisphere is dark. Umbreit and Maurer translate "He has most perfectly (literally, to perfection) drawn the bound (taken from the first clause) between light and darkness" (compare Ge 1:4, 6, 9): where the bounding of the light from darkness is similarly brought into proximity with the bounding of the waters.
11. pillars—poetically for the mountains which seem to bear up the sky (Ps 104:32).
astonished—namely, from terror. Personification.
his reproof—(Ps 104:7). The thunder, reverberating from cliff to cliff (Hab 3:10; Na 1:5).
12. divideth—(Ps 74:13). Perhaps at creation (Ge 1:9, 10). The parallel clause favors Umbreit, "He stilleth." But the Hebrew means "He moves." Probably such a "moving" is meant as that at the assuaging of the flood by the wind which "God made to pass over" it (Ge 8:1; Ps 104:7).
the proud—rather, "its pride," namely, of the sea (Job 9:13).
13. Umbreit less simply, "By His breath He maketh the heavens to revive": namely, His wind dissipates the clouds, which obscured the shining stars. And so the next clause in contrast, "His hand doth strangle," that is, obscures the north constellation, the dragon. Pagan astronomy typified the flood trying to destroy the ark by the dragon constellation, about to devour the moon in its eclipsed crescent-shape like a boat (Job 3:8, Margin). But better as English Version (Ps 33:6).
crooked—implying the oblique course, of the stars, or the ecliptic. "Fleeing" or "swift" [Umbreit] (Isa 27:1). This particular constellation is made to represent the splendor of all the stars.
14. parts—Rather, "only the extreme boundaries of," &c., and how faint is the whisper that we hear of Him!
thunder—the entire fulness. In antithesis to "whisper" (1Co 13:9, 10, 12).