Job Chapter 26
1 Then Job answered,
2 "How have you helped him who is without power! How have you saved the arm that has no strength!
3 How have you counselled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4 To 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.
6 Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
7 He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
9 He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it.
10 He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
12 He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab.
13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
14 Behold, 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?"
Footnotes
- Verse 6 (Sheol)
- Sheol is the lower world or the grave.
- Verse 6 (Abaddon)
- Abaddon means Destroyer.
Version: World English Bible
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Job Chapter 26 Guide
We come next to Job's answer. The reply to Bildad occupies but one chapter, which is characterized from beginning to end by scorn for the man who had no more to say. In a series of fierce exclamations Job revealed the impotence of all that his friend had said to help him. Then, to show the poverty of Bildad's argument, he spoke of the greatness of God to prove that he knew it, and even more perfectly than his friends. God's power is exercised in the underworld. The "shades tremble," the grave "is naked," destruction has "no covering." The whole material fabric is upheld simply by His power. The mysteries of controlled waters, and light and darkness are in the sphere of His government. The sweeping storm and its disappearance are alike by His power and spirit. Having thus, in almost overwhelming poetic beauty, suggested his consciousness of the greatness and government of God, Job declared that all these things are but the "outskirts of His ways," that, after all, everything that man is conscious of is but "a whisper" of God. The "thunder of His power" evidently is beyond human comprehension.
From "An Exposition of the Whole Bible" by G. Campbell Morgan.
Job Chapter 26 Commentary
Chapter Outline
- Job reproves Bildad. -- (1-4)
- Job acknowledges the power of God. -- (5-14)
Verses 1-4
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.
Verses 5-14
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.
From the "Concise Commentary on the Bible" by Matthew Henry.