5 Dead H7496 things are formed H2342 from under the waters, H4325 and the inhabitants H7931 thereof.
There were giants H5303 in the earth H776 in those days; H3117 and also after H310 that, H3651 when H834 the sons H1121 of God H430 came in H935 unto the daughters H1323 of men, H120 and they bare H3205 children to them, the same H1992 became mighty men H1368 which were of old, H5769 men H582 of renown. H8034
Wilt thou shew H6213 wonders H6382 to the dead? H4191 shall the dead H7496 arise H6965 and praise H3034 thee? Selah. H5542
Canst thou draw out H4900 leviathan H3882 with an hook? H2443 or his tongue H3956 with a cord H2256 which thou lettest down? H8257 Canst thou put H7760 an hook H100 into his nose? H639 or bore H5344 his jaw H3895 through with a thorn? H2336 Will he make many H7235 supplications H8469 unto thee? will he speak H1696 soft H7390 words unto thee? Will he make H3772 a covenant H1285 with thee? wilt thou take H3947 him for a servant H5650 for ever? H5769 Wilt thou play H7832 with him as with a bird? H6833 or wilt thou bind H7194 him for thy maidens? H5291 Shall the companions H2271 make a banquet H3739 of him? shall they part H2673 him among the merchants? H3669 Canst thou fill H4390 his skin H5785 with barbed irons? H7905 or his head H7218 with fish H1709 spears? H6767 Lay H7760 thine hand H3709 upon him, remember H2142 the battle, H4421 do no more. H3254 Behold, the hope H8431 of him is in vain: H3576 shall not one be cast down H2904 even at the sight H4758 of him? None is so fierce H393 that dare stir him up: H5782 H5782 who then is able to stand H3320 before H6440 me? Who hath prevented H6923 me, that I should repay H7999 him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven H8064 is mine. I will not conceal H2790 his parts, H907 nor his power, H1369 H1697 nor his comely H2433 proportion. H6187 Who can discover H1540 the face H6440 of his garment? H3830 or who can come H935 to him with his double H3718 bridle? H7448 Who can open H6605 the doors H1817 of his face? H6440 his teeth H8127 are terrible H367 round about. H5439 His scales H4043 H650 are his pride, H1346 shut up together H5462 as with a close H6862 seal. H2368 One H259 is so near H5066 to another, H259 that no air H7307 can come H935 between them. They are joined H1692 one H376 to another, H251 they stick together, H3920 that they cannot be sundered. H6504 By his neesings H5846 a light H216 doth shine, H1984 and his eyes H5869 are like the eyelids H6079 of the morning. H7837 Out of his mouth H6310 go H1980 burning lamps, H3940 and sparks H3590 of fire H784 leap out. H4422 Out of his nostrils H5156 goeth H3318 smoke, H6227 as out of a seething H5301 pot H1731 or caldron. H100 His breath H5315 kindleth H3857 coals, H1513 and a flame H3851 goeth out H3318 of his mouth. H6310 In his neck H6677 remaineth H3885 strength, H5797 and sorrow H1670 is turned into joy H1750 before H6440 him. The flakes H4651 of his flesh H1320 are joined together: H1692 they are firm H3332 in themselves; they cannot be moved. H4131 His heart H3820 is as firm H3332 as a stone; H68 yea, as hard H3332 as a piece H6400 of the nether H8482 millstone. When he raiseth up H7613 himself, the mighty H352 are afraid: H1481 by reason of breakings H7667 they purify H2398 themselves. The sword H2719 of him that layeth H5381 at him cannot hold: H6965 the spear, H2595 the dart, H4551 nor the habergeon. H8302 He esteemeth H2803 iron H1270 as straw, H8401 and brass H5154 as rotten H7539 wood. H6086 The arrow H1121 H7198 cannot make him flee: H1272 slingstones H68 H7050 are turned H2015 with him into stubble. H7179 Darts H8455 are counted H2803 as stubble: H7179 he laugheth H7832 at the shaking H7494 of a spear. H3591 Sharp H2303 stones H2789 are under him: he spreadeth H7502 sharp pointed things H2742 upon the mire. H2916 He maketh the deep H4688 to boil H7570 like a pot: H5518 he maketh H7760 the sea H3220 like a pot of ointment. H4841 He maketh a path H5410 to shine H215 after H310 him; one would think H2803 the deep H8415 to be hoary. H7872 Upon earth H6083 there is not his like, H4915 who is made H6213 without H1097 fear. H2844 He beholdeth H7200 all high H1364 things: he is a king H4428 over all the children H1121 of pride. H7830
So is this great H1419 and wide H7342 H3027 sea, H3220 wherein are things creeping H7431 innumerable, H4557 both small H6996 and great H1419 beasts. H2416 There go H1980 the ships: H591 there is that leviathan, H3882 whom thou hast made H3335 to play H7832 therein.
Speak, H1696 and say, H559 Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh H6547 king H4428 of Egypt, H4714 the great H1419 dragon H8577 that lieth H7257 in the midst H8432 of his rivers, H2975 which hath said, H559 My river H2975 is mine own, and I have made H6213 it for myself. But I will put H5414 hooks H2397 H2397 in thy jaws, H3895 and I will cause the fish H1710 of thy rivers H2975 to stick H1692 unto thy scales, H7193 and I will bring thee up H5927 out of the midst H8432 of thy rivers, H2975 and all the fish H1710 of thy rivers H2975 shall stick H1692 unto thy scales. H7193 And I will leave H5203 thee thrown into the wilderness, H4057 thee and all the fish H1710 of thy rivers: H2975 thou shalt fall H5307 upon the open H6440 fields; H7704 thou shalt not be brought together, H622 nor gathered: H6908 I have given H5414 thee for meat H402 to the beasts H2416 of the field H776 and to the fowls H5775 of the heaven. H8064
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).