Job · Chapter 26

Verse 1. But Job answered and said — Job, finding his friends quite driven from their strong hold, and reduced to give up the argument, now begins to triumph, verses 2, 3. He tells them, if the business was to celebrate the power and wisdom of the Almighty, he could produce as many shining instances of it as they could; but, at the same time, he intimates that their behaviour was mean, after so great a parade of wisdom as they had exhibited, to shelter themselves at last behind the power of God, rather than generously give up an argument which they were unable to maintain, and acquit him of a suspicion which they were not capable of supporting by a conviction. — Heath.

1. But Job answered — As Bildad had made no reply to his argument, Job, in the deepest spirit of sarcasm, fills out the jejune speech of the former with a transcendent description of the power, dominion, and works of God. Bildad had essayed the heavens; Job, on adventurous wing, explores the under world of the dead; looks down upon “the earth, that, self-balanced from her centre hung;” pores “upon the clouds and firmament that veil the throne of God;” and “passes the flaming bounds of time and space” to where the dominion of darkness is unbroken. God’s breath, he says, garnished the heavens, and “his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.” The climax is reached in a deity triumphant over evil. All this is “a whisper-word” of the might and glory of God.

First division — SHARP REBUKE OF BILDAD, 2-4.

Strophe — Job compliments Bildad on his inapposite discourse, which has served not only to exhaust the subject but Bildad himself 2-4.

Verse 2. How hast thou helped him] This seems a species of irony. How wonderfully hast thou counselled the unskilful and strengthened the weak! Alas for you! ye could not give what ye did not possess! In this way the Chaldee understood these verses: “Why hast thou pretended to give succour, when thou art without strength? And save, while thy arm is weak? Why hast thou given counsel, when thou art without understanding? And supposest that thou hast shown the very essence of wisdom?”

Verse 2. How hast thou helped him, that is without power? — Thou hast helped excellently! It is an ironical expression, implying quite the contrary, that he had not helped at all. As if he had said, I am a poor helpless creature, my strength and spirits are quite broken with the pains of my body, and the perplexities of my mind; and humanity and religion should have taught thee to support and comfort me, with representations of the goodness and promises of God, and not to terrify and overwhelm me with displaying his sovereign majesty, his glorious holiness, and inflexible justice, the thoughts whereof are already so discouraging and dreadful to me.

Verse 3. How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? — Me, whom thou takest to be void of understanding, and whom, therefore, thou oughtest to have instructed with wholesome counsels, instead of those impertinent discourses which thou hast delivered. But, as the words, him that hath, are not in the original, the text would be better rendered, Why dost thou counsel without wisdom? And how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? — And the essence, truth, or substance, (so the word hyvwtw, vethushiah, signifies,) namely, of the thing in question between us, in abundance thou hast made known; thou hast spoken the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and all that can be said in the matter! A most wise and profound discourse thou hast made, and much to the purpose! An ironical expression as before. But the word brl, la-rob, which we translate, plentifully, or, in abundance, may be read, la-rib, to contention: and then the clause will bear a clearer sense, thus: Why dost thou discover truth or wisdom for the sake of contention?

3. Plentifully — Job ridicules the brevity of Bildad’s speech. The first four verses are exquisitely ironical.

V. 4. To whom-For whose instruction hast thou uttered these things? For mine? Dost thou think I do not know, that which the meanest persons are not unacquainted with; that God is incomparably greater and better than his creatures? Whose spirit-Who inspired thee with this profound discourse of thine?

Verse 4. Whose spirit came from thee?] Mr. Good renders the verse thus: From whom hast thou pillaged speeches? And whose spirit hath issued forth from thee? The retort is peculiarly severe; and refers immediately to the proverbial sayings which in several of the preceding answers have been adduced against the irritated sufferer; for which see Job 8:11-19; 15:20-35, some of which he has already complained of, as in Job 12:3, and following. I concur most fully therefore with Dr. Stock in regarding the remainder of this chapter as a sample, ironically exhibited by Job, of the harangues on the power and greatness of God which he supposes his friends to have taken out of the mouths of other men, to deck their speeches with borrowed lustre. Only, in descanting on the same subject, he shows how much he himself can go beyond them in eloquence and sublimity.

Job intimates that, whatever spirit they had, it was not the Spirit of God, because in their answers falsehood was found.

Verse 4. To whom hast thou uttered words — For whose instruction hast thou uttered these things? For mine? Dost thou think I do not know that which the meanest persons are not unacquainted with; that God is incomparably greater and better than his creatures? Whose spirit came from thee — Who inspired thee with this profound discourse of thine?

4. Whose spirit — By whose inspiration hast thou spoken? He insinuates that Bildad has borrowed his few meagre thoughts, for instance, from Eliphaz, Job 4:17-21; 15:14-16.

Second division — AN INCOMPARABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY AND

V. 5. Dead things-Job having censured Bildad’s discourse, proceeds to shew how little he needed his information in that point. Here he shews that the power and providences of God reaches not only to the things we see, but also to the invisible parts of the world, not only to the heavens above and their inhabitants, and to men upon earth, of which Bildad discoursed, Job 25:2,3, but also to such persons or things as are under the earth, or under the waters; which are out of our sight and reach; yet not out of the ken of Divine providence. These words may be understood; either,

1. of dead, or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth; by the almighty power of God, from under the waters; either in the bottom of the sea, or within the earth, which is the lowest element, and in the scripture and other authors spoken of as under the waters; this being observed as a remarkable work of God’s providence, that the waters of the sea, which are higher than the earth, do not overwhelm it. Or,

2. of dead men, and of the worst of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to farther miseries; for of such this very word seems to be used, Proverbs 2:18 9:18, who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters; from the lower parts of the earth, or from under those subterranean waters, which are supposed to be within and under the earth; Psalm 33:7, and from under the inhabitants thereof; either of the waters or of the earth, under which these waters are, or with the other inhabitants thereof; of that place under the waters, namely, the apostate spirits.

So the sense is, that God’s dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who though they would not own God, nor his providence, while they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their infernal habitations.

Verse 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters] This verse, as it stands in our version, seems to convey no meaning; and the Hebrew is obscure; הרפאים, harephaim, “the Rephaim,” certainly means not dead things; nor can there be any propriety in saying that dead things, or things without life, are formed under the waters, for such things are formed everywhere in the earth, and under the earth, as well as under the waters. The Vulgate translates: Ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis, et qui habitant cum eis. “Behold the giants, and those who dwell with them, groan from under the waters.”

The Septuagint: Mh gigantev maiwqhsontai upokatwqen udatov, kai twn geitonwn autou; “Are not the giants formed from under the waters, and their neighbours?”

The Chaldee: ומשריתהונ ayml [rlm ואנון יתברינ דמתמזמזינ ayrbgd rvpa eposhar degibraiya demithmazmezin yithbareyan veinnun millera lemaiya umashreiyatehon,

“Can the trembling giants be regenerated, when they and their hosts are under the water?”

The Syriac and Arabic: “Behold, the giants are slain, and are drawn out of the water.” None of these appear to give any sense by which the true meaning can be determined.

There is probably here an allusion to the destruction of the earth by the general deluge. Moses, speaking concerning the state of the earth before the flood, says, Genesis 6:4, “There were giants נפלים nephilim, in the earth in those days.” Now it is likely that Job means the same by רפאים rephaim as Moses does by the nephilim; and that both refer to the antediluvians, who were all, for their exceeding great iniquities, overwhelmed by the waters of the deluge. Can those mighty men and their neighbours, all the sinners who have been gathered to them since, be rejected from under the waters, by which they were judicially overwhelmed?

Mr. Good thinks the shades of the heroes of former times, the gigantic spectres, the mighty or enormous dead, are meant.

I greatly question whether sea-monsters be not intended, such as porpoises, sharks, narwals, grampuses, and whales. We know, however that an opinion anciently prevailed, that the Titans, a race of men of enormous stature, rebelled against the gods, and endeavoured to scale heaven by placing one mountain on the top of another; and that they and their structure were cast down by the thunder of the deities, and buried under the earth and sea; and that their struggles to arise produce the earthquakes which occur in certain countries. Now although this opinion is supported by the most respectable antiquity among the heathens, it is not to be supposed that in the word of God there can be any countenance given to an opinion at once as absurd as it is monstrous. (But still the poet may use the language of the common people.) I must therefore either refer the passage here to the antediluvians, or to the vast sea-monsters mentioned above.

Verse 5. Dead things, &c. — That is, according to several interpreters, those seeds which are sown and die in the earth quicken again and grow. Or, as R. Levi rather thinks, an allusion is made to those vegetables, stones, or metals, which are found in the earth under the waters. The Hebrew word here for dead things is µyapr, rephaim, which is generally rendered dead men; thus, Psalm 88:10, we read, Wilt thou show wonders to methim, the dead? Shall rephaim, the dead, arise and praise thee? Isaiah 26:14. The dead, methim, shall not live: the deceased, rephaim, shall not rise. In these passages, therefore, and many others that might be produced, methim and rephaim are both translated dead or deceased. Instead of this, however, the LXX., the Vulgate Latin, and the Targum, render rephaim, giants, or mighty men. “Their interpretation is very just,” says Chappelow, “if, as R. Bechai writes, they were so named because their countenance was so austere, that whoever looked on them, manus ejus remissæ fuerunt, his hands were weakened with the terror that was upon him, (Buxtorf in rapha.) From hence it is that our learned Mede explains rephaim, in Proverbs 21:16, not of the dead, but of the giants or rebels against God, of whom we read, Genesis 6., namely, those mighty men of the old world, whose wickedness was so great as to occasion the deluge. Therefore, to ‘remain in the congregation of rephaim,’ is the same as to go and keep them company; that is, to go to that accursed place and condition in which they are. Thus, S. Jarchi’s gloss is, In cœtu rephaim, that is, in cœtu gehinnom, the congregation of those in hell. His gloss is the very same on our text here in Job. Again, Proverbs 9:17, 18, ‘He knoweth not that rephaim, the dead, (the mighty ones,) are there, and that her (the harlot’s) guests are in the depths of hell,’ that is, she will bring them, who frequent her, to hell, to keep the apostate giants company. From all which we conclude, with the ingenious author above mentioned, that the place before us, and the verse following, seem to be no other than a description of hell.” Peters, Dodd, and many other critics, view the passage in the same light. Houbigant renders it, Behold the giants tremble beneath the waters in their habitations; and, he says, “Job means those giants who were overwhelmed with the flood; having their overthrow as immediately present before his eyes, because the deluge at this time was fresh in the memory of men.” Poole, whose note on the passage is well worth the reader’s attention, comprehends all the forementioned particulars in his interpretation, thus: Job, having censured Bildad’s discourse, proceeds to show how little he needed his information in that point. He shows that the power and providence of God reach not only to the things we see, but also to the invisible parts of the world; not only to the heavens above and their inhabitants, and to men upon earth, of which Bildad discoursed, Job 25:2, 3, but also to such persons or things as are under the earth, or under the waters; which are out of our sight and reach, yet not out of the view of Divine Providence: including, 1st, dead or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth, by the almighty power of God, from under the waters; either in the bottom of the sea, or within the earth, which is the lowest element, and in the Scripture and other authors spoken of as under the waters. And, 2d, dead men, and the worst of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to further miseries; of whom this very word seems to be used, (Proverbs 2:18, and 9:18,) who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters, from the lower parts of the earth; or from under those subterranean waters which are supposed to be within and under the earth; and from under the inhabitants thereof; either of the waters or of the earth, under which these waters are; or with the other inhabitants thereof; of that place under the waters; namely, the apostate spirits. So the sense is, that God’s dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who, though they would not own God, nor his providence, while they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their infernal habitations.

Verse 5. Dead things, µyaprh ha-raphaim, the raphaim are formed from under the waters. SCHULTENS reads, Manes orcinorum intremiscunt, de subter aquis, et la habitatores eorum. The manes of the dead tremble or howl beneath the waters, with their inhabitants; that is, the fallen angels, who inhabit those abodes of horror. Job’s allusion is to the antediluvian giants, the impious scoffers at the ark in the days of Noah. So is the running gloss of the rabbins, and of the christian fathers. The word “raphaim” determines the sense. We find it put for hell, Proverbs 2:18. 9:18. Isaiah 14:9.

The critics admit the poets here, as collateral evidence. Homer, in his Odyssey, book 12., represents the Syrens as alluring the mariners to the rocks of shipwreck and death. They are described to us as women in their superior formation, and as fishes in their posterior, with wings. They are daughters of the river Acheloiis; and had their residence on the Pelorian promontory in the Isle of Sicily.

Rapidis Acheloïdes alis

Sublatae, Siculi latus obsedere Pelori.

CLAUDIAN 50. 3. 5:254.

Bochart derives their name from sir, which designates song. Ulysses escaped the charms of the Syrens, by lying down on a mat, and closing his ears, and the ears of his companions with cakes of wax; and at the same time he tied up the helm so as to make the vessel steer the opposite way. To this idea we add, that the noise of the breakers on the rocks Sylla are compared to the yawning caverns of Erebus, and the howlings of a lion’s whelp, bereft of his dam, exciting terror even to the gods. Virgil also, in the sixth book of the Æneid, represents the giants, the children or young brood of Titania, as hurled down from the earth by the thunderbolts of Jove, and involved in the depths of hell. Hic genus antiquum terræ, Titania pubes,

Fulmine dejecti, fundo voluntur in imo.

GLORY, 5-14.

Strophe a — Not only are the heavenly hosts pacified by the majestic presence of the Lord as Bildad had shown, (Job 25:1,) but the shades of the under world tremble at the outgoings of the divine power; a power also displayed in upholding the world, 5-7.

5. With his characteristic abruptness Job launches into his subject, in medias res. Job first portrays the glory of God as felt in sheol, the world of the dead. The verse should be read, The dead tremble beneath the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. Dead things — µyaprh, The Rephaim. This word, primarily used of a race of giants, (Genesis 14:5; 15:20,) was in the course of time applied to the dead, (Psalm 88:10; Isaiah 14:9, 19; 26:14; Proverbs 2:18; 9:18; 21:16,) to whom the imagination attributed a towering form. Vitringa thinks that the word originally denoted the shades of the departed, and was transferred to denote men of gigantic bulk, and so finally became an appellation of both. (Com. on Isaiah, 1:433.) The word is cognate with the Arabic rafaa, “to soften,” and signifies “the weak,” “the relaxed,” (Delitzsch,) or “the shadowy,” (Furst,) corresponding to the Greek oi kamontev, “the wearied,” also “the relaxed,” an epithet of the dead. The best modern Hebraists accordingly ascribe to the Rephaim here spoken of the classic meaning of Manes, (“the Shades”) i.e., beings consciously alive. This word also occurs in the Phoenician inscription of Sargon. Are formed — wllwjy, substantially the same word, in Habakkuk 3:10 is rendered trembled, which is its meaning here, according to Hahn, Zockler, Hitzig, etc. Compare James 2:19. Whether the word be derived from hhoul or hhalal, it carries with it, the idea of suffering, a fact which leads Delitzsch, Dillmann, etc., to translate “are put to pain.” This passage is of moment not only in that it indicates and confirms Job’s belief in the consciousness of the dead, but also that some of them — those gigantic in wickedness, (Rephaim) — trembled, or, as others say, “writhed” (T. Lewis) beneath the display of God’s power. Under the waters — The terrors of sheol were heightened by the popular notion not only that it was subterranean, but that it extended beneath the sea, with its many monsters. The strange horror of death by water which possessed the ancient mind, (see note of Servius on the AEneid, 1:93,) possibly taking its rise in the awfulness of the deluge, may account for the association in the popular mind of the abode of a portion of the dead with the great deep. “That even these dwellers in the under world, although otherwise without feeling or motion, and at such an immeasurable distance from God’s dwelling-place, should be touched and terrified by the workings of the divine agency — this is a much stronger evidence of God’s greatness than aught that Bildad had alleged.” — Hirtzel.

V. 6. Hell-Is in his presence, and under his providence. Hell itself, that place of utter darkness, is not hid from his sight. Destruction-The place of destruction.

Verse 6. Hell is naked before him] Sheol, the place of the dead, or of separate spirits, is always in his view. And there is no covering to Abaddon—the place of the destroyer, where destruction reigns, and where those dwell who are eternally separated from God. The ancients thought that hell or Tartarus was a vast space in the centre, or at the very bottom of the earth. So VIRGIL, Æn. lib. vi., ver. 577:— ————————— Tum Tartarus ipse

Bis patet in præceps tantum, tenditque sub umbras, Quantus ad æthereum cœli suspectus Olympum Hic genus antiquum terræ, Titania pubes, Fulmine dejecti, fundo volvuntur in imo. “Full twice as deep the dungeon of the fiends, The huge Tartarean gloomy gulf, descends Below these regions, as these regions lie From the bright realms of yon ethereal sky. Here roar the Titan race, th’ enormous birth; The ancient offspring of the teeming earth. Pierced by the burning bolts of old they fell, And still roll bellowing in the depths of hell.” PITT.

And some have supposed that there is an allusion to this opinion in the above passage, as well as in several others in the Old Testament; but it is not likely that the sacred writers would countenance an opinion that certainly has nothing in fact or philosophy to support it. Yet still a poet may avail himself of popular opinions.

Verse 6. Hell is naked before him — Is in his presence, and under his providence. Hell itself, that place of utter darkness, is not hid from his sight. Destruction — The place of destruction, hath no covering — Such as can conceal it from his view.

6. Hell — Hebrew, sheol. Naked — Compare Hebrews 4:13. Destruction — Hebrews Abaddon. The rabbins were led, by Psalm 88:11, where the same word is used, to regard Abaddon as the nethermost of the two worlds into which they divided the under world. (See Excursus III, page 74.)

V. 7. North-The northern part of the heavens, which is put for the whole visible heaven, because Job and his friends lived in a northern climate. Nothing-Upon no props or pillars, but his own power and providence.

Verse 7. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place] wht l[ al tohu, to the hollow waste. The same word as is used, Genesis 1:2, The earth was without form, wht tohu. The north must here mean the north pole, or northern hemisphere; and perhaps what is here stated may refer to the opinion that the earth was a vast extended plain, and the heavens poised upon it, resting on this plain all round the horizon. Of the south the inhabitants of Idumea knew nothing; nor could they have any notion of inhabitants in that hemisphere.

Hangeth the earth upon nothing.] The Chaldee says: “He lays the earth upon the waters, nothing sustaining it.”

Verse 7. He stretcheth out the north — The northern part of the heavens, which he particularly mentions, and puts for the whole visible heavens, because Job and his friends lived in a northern climate; over the empty space — Hebrew, wht l[, gnal tohu, over the vacuity, or emptiness; the same word which Moses uses, Genesis 1:2, which does not prove that the author of this book lived after Moses wrote the book of Genesis, and had seen that book, but only that Moses’s account of the creation is the ancient and true account, well known in the days of Job and his friends, and therefore alluded to here. And hangeth the earth upon nothing — Upon its own centre, which is but an imaginary thing, and, in truth, nothing; or, he means, upon no props, or pillars, but his own power and providence. Bishop Patrick’s paraphrase is, “By his wonderful power and wisdom he stretches out the whole world from the one pole to the other, which he alone sustains; as he doth this globe of earth hanging in the air, without any thing to support it.”

7. The north — Delitzsch shows satisfactorily that we are not to understand by this the northern portion of the earth, as is held by Dillmann, etc., but the northern sky, which, with the ancients, was of more consideration than the southern. In the northern hemisphere were the great constellations mentioned by Job — the Bear, the Serpent, Orion, etc. Among the ancient poets the north pole was used synonymously for the heavens, and in this sense the north may be employed here. The arctic desolation disclosed by modern exploration singularly corresponds to the tohu, “desolateness,” over which Job in figure spreads out “the north.” Empty place — Hebrew, tohu. Same word as in Genesis 1:2. That the sky should overarch the immeasurable void without visible supports was always a marvel to the Oriental mind. Hence the poetical invention of pillars. See Job 9:6. Thus the Koran, Sur. xiii, “It is Allah who has built the heavens on high, without the support of visible pillars.” Nothing — The Hebrew word is a compound, hmylb, literally, not what, that is, nothing, (no-thing,) and is found in the Scriptures only here. This disclosure, which for so many ages preceded its scientific confirmation, stands out in yet more bold relief when compared with the mythologies of other ancient nations. The father of modern science, Lord Bacon, incidentally speaks of this among other passages: “The book of Job, likewise, will be found, if examined with care, pregnant with the secrets of natural philosophy. For example, when it says, ‘he stretcheth out the north,’ etc., the suspension of the earth and the convexity of the heavens are manifestly alluded to.… So in another place, ‘who maketh Arcturus,’ etc., 9:9; he again refers to the depression of the south pole in the expression, ‘interiora austri,’ ‘chambers of the south,’ because the southern stars are not seen in our hemisphere.” — Advancement of Learning, book 1. Kepler, the great astronomer, treating of the yet unsolved problems of science, thus reverently speaks of the disclosures made in the book of Job: “These, and other similar things, lie hidden in the pandects of coming times, and are not to be understood until God, the arbiter of the ages, shall have unfolded this book (Job) to mortals.” — Cited by Delitzsch. The Jerusalem Gemara says, that Alexander the Great is sometimes represented as holding a ball in his hand, because he had ascertained that the earth, which he had traversed to conquer, had the figure of a sphere. (Avoda Sara, chap. 3.) For a brief sketch of the conflicting opinions of the ancients upon this subject the reader is referred to Etheridge’s “Hebrew Literature,” p. 272.

Second strophe — In lofty flight Job’s imagination rises from the under world and the earth to the heavens, the seat of God’s throne, and thence surveys the enshrouding clouds (Psalm 18:11) and the confines of light and darkness, 8-10.

Verse 8. He bindeth up the waters] Drives the aqueous particles together, which were raised by evaporation, so that, being condensed, they form clouds which float in the atmosphere, till, meeting with strong currents of wind, or by the agency of the electric fluid, they are farther condensed; and then, becoming too heavy to be sustained in the air, fall down in the form of rain, when, in this poetic language, the cloud is rent under them.

Verse 8. He bindeth up the waters — Those fluid and heavy bodies, pressing downward with great force; in his thick clouds — As it were in bags, keeping them there suspended often for a long time; and the cloud is not rent under them — But sustains them, notwithstanding their great weight, so that they do not burst forth all at once, and fall suddenly and violently upon the earth, but distil in dews, drops, and showers, to moisten, refresh, and fertilize it in due season.

Ver. 8. He bindeth up the waters, by the laws of gravity, which with the exactest precision sport their tides on the shores. He elevates the vapours in vesicles, which water the plains, and descend on the mountain ranges in copious showers. This beautiful figure is frequently referred to in the sacred writings. Psalm 33:7. Proverbs 30:4.

8. The waters in his thick clouds — That an inconceivable weight of water should be suspended mid-heaven, not unlike the earth, self-balanced, struck Job as a never ceasing manifestation of divine power. Compare Job 37:16.

V. 9. Holdeth-From our view, that his glory may not dazzle our sight; he covereth it with a cloud. Throne-The heaven of heavens, where he dwelleth.

Verse 9. He holdeth back the face of his throne] Though all these are most elegant effects of an omniscient and almighty power, yet the great Agent is not personally discoverable; he dwelleth in light unapproachable, and in mercy hides himself from the view of his creatures. The words, however may refer to those obscurations of the face of heaven, and the hiding of the body of the sun, when the atmosphere is laden with dense vapours, and the rain begins to be poured down on the earth.

Verse 9. He holdeth back — Namely, from our view, that its effulgent brightness may not dazzle our sight; the face of his throne — The heaven of heavens: where he dwells, its light and glory being too great for mortal eyes; and spreadeth his clouds upon it — And thereby mercifully hides from our eyes those overpowering splendours which we could not bear to behold. Bishop Patrick, however, understands this merely of God’s covering the face of the sky with clouds, to prevent “the beams of the sun from scorching the earth.”

9. Holdeth back — Who veileth. The word zja, used in Nehemiah 7:3 in the sense of barring (the gate,) also signifies “hold fast,” (see Job 23:11,) or “fasten together.” 2 Chronicles 9:18. In this, the sole case of the Piel form, it is generally interpreted to mean “enshroud,” or “inclose,” although Merx understands its meaning to be that of bearing or holding up, with the idea that God miraculously holds up the throne on which he sits. But the text, it is to be remembered, speaks of “the outside,” “the face,” of the throne. It is a beautiful poetical conception that the firmament not only reflects the splendour of God, (Exodus 24:10,) but also veils his throne (literally, the face of his throne) from human eyes. Isaiah 66:1. All nature may be regarded as a veil of deity “through whose mantling folds” he deigns to show so much of his being as eye or heart can bear. Compare Amos 9:6; Psalm 104:3.

Verse 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds] Perhaps this refers merely to the circle of the horizon, the line that terminates light and commences darkness, called here Ëcj µ[ rwa tylkt d[ ad tachlith or im chosech, “until the completion of light with darkness.” Or, if we take tylkt tachlith here to be the same with tlkt techeleth, Exodus 25:4, and elsewhere, which we translate blue, it may mean that sombre sky-blue appearance of the horizon at the time of twilight, i.e., between light and darkness; the line where the one is terminating and the other commencing. Or, He so circumscribes the waters, retaining them in their own place, that they shall not be able to overflow the earth until day and night, that is, time itself, come to an end.

Verse 10. He hath compassed the waters — Namely, of the sea; for of the waters of the clouds he had just spoken; with bounds — With rocks and shores, and principally his own decree, formed at the creation, and renewed after the deluge, (Genesis 9:11, 15,) that the waters should not overwhelm the earth; until the day and night come to an end — Until the end of the world, for so long these vicissitudes of day and night are to continue.

10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds — The Syriac gives a satisfactory rendering of this difficult passage thus, He hath described a circle on the face of the waters. According to some, (Rosenmuller,) the idea is, He has appointed a rotary motion of the heavens round and above the sea, by which the vicissitudes of day and night are regulated. The more simple view of Dr. A. Clarke is the more correct one, “Perhaps this refers merely to the circle of the horizon, the line that terminates light and commences darkness, called here, until the completion of light with darkness,” which Pareau renders more freely, “unto the confines of light and darkness.” The use of the word taklith, “end,” in Nehemiah 3:21, shows that the marginal rendering here is substantially correct. Comp. Job 11:7. There is no occasion for attributing to Job ancient misconceptions, (VIRGIL, Georg., 1:247,) which lasted well into the middle ages — that the earth is surrounded by the ocean, on the other side of which the region of darkness begins. This view of possible misconception, held by Dillmann, Hitzig very properly scouts.

Third strophe — The mightiest forces of nature are simply the agencies of the divine will, a will which subdues to itself the most discordant elements of the physical and moral world. All that we can know, and all that we can think, of God, is but a zephyr of his presence as he walks in the visible garden of the universe, (Genesis 3:8,) 11-14.

V. 11. Pillars-Perhaps the mountains which by their height and strength seem to reach and support the heavens. Astonished-When God reproveth not them, but men by them, manifesting his displeasure by thunders, or earthquakes.

Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake:— “He shakes creation with his nod;

Earth, sea, and heaven, confess him God.” But there may be an allusion to the high mountains, which were anciently esteemed by the common people as the pillars on which the heavens rested; and when these were shaken with earthquakes, it might be said the pillars of heaven tremble. Mount Atlas was supposed to be one of those pillars, and this gave rise to the fable of Atlas being a man who bore the heavens on his shoulders. The Greek and Roman poets frequently use this image. Thus SILIUS ITALICUS, lib. i., ver. 202:— Atlas subducto tracturus vertice cœlum: Sidera nubiferum fulcit caput, æthereasque Erigit æternum compages ardua cervix:

Canet barba gelu, frontemque immanibus umbris Pinea silva premit; vastant cava tempora venti Nimbosoque ruunt spumantia flumina rictu. “Atlas’ broad shoulders prop th’ incumbent skies: Around his cloud-girt head the stars arise. His towering neck supports th’ ethereal way; And o’er his brow black woods their gloom display. Hoar is his beard; winds round his temples roar; And from his jaws the rushing torrents pour.” J. B. C.

Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble — Perhaps the mountains, which by their height and strength seem to reach and support the heavens. And are astonished at his reproof — When God reproveth not them, but men by them, manifesting his displeasure by thunders or earthquakes.

Ver. 11. The pillars of heaven tremble, by subterranean convulsions, by hurricanes and thunder in the air.

11. Pillars of heaven — See note on verse 7 and Job 9:6. That the reference of Job to the popular belief that the mountains, as “pillars,” upheld the heavens, must be figurative, is evident from verse 7, where the power of God is said to uphold the north (the heaven) over the empty place. Tremble — The Hebrew yerophaphou, occurring only here, may be fancied to oscillate like the earth-quivering it is intended to convey. Reproof — The thunder, which is often called “the voice of God,” was regarded as his rebuke of the world. Psalm 104:7. By a powerful personification, the mountain heights (pillars of heaven) are represented as being astonished with terror! Psalm 114:6.

Verse 12. He divideth the sea with his power] Here is a manifest allusion to the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, according to the opinion of the most eminent critics. He smiteth through the proud.] bhr Rahab, the very name by which Egypt is called Isaiah 51:9, and elsewhere. Calmet remarks: “This appears to refer only to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh. Were we not prepossessed with the opinion that Job died before Moses, every person at the first view of the subject must consider it in this light.” I am not thus prepossessed. Let Job live when he might, I am satisfied the Book of Job was written long after the death of Moses, and not earlier than the days of Solomon, if not later. The farther I go in the work, the more this conviction is deepened; and the opposite sentiment appears to be perfectly gratuitous.

Verse 12. He divideth the sea with his power — “By his power he raises tempests, which make great furrows in the sea, and divideth, as it were, one part of it from another;” and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud — “And, such is his wisdom, he knows how to appease it again, and repress its proud waves into the deadest calm.” — Bishop Patrick. Waterland and Schultens render µyh [gr, ragang hajam, he shaketh the sea. Bishop Warburton tells us, that the destruction of Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea is here plainly referred to, and that bhr, rahab, rendered proud, signifies Egypt. But Mr. Peters justly observes, “Others may see nothing more in it than the description of a storm or tempest. The Hebrew word translated divide, is not the same that is used, Exodus 14., of the Red sea, but signifies a violent breaking and tossing of the waves as in a storm. And if the former part of the sentence means that God sometimes, by his power, raises a violent storm at sea, the latter may well enough be understood of the pride and swelling of the sea itself, allayed again by the same divine power and will which raised it.”

Ver. 12. He divideth the sea. Genesis 1:7-9. The passage of the Hebrews through the red sea, was posterior to the time of Job.

12. Divideth the sea — A prime idea of [gr is “rouse,” thence terrify. Others, however, guided by its other root idea, translate it quell. Smiteth through — Mahhats is rendered also to crush, break in pieces. The proud — Hebrew, rahab, (see on Job 9:13,) is parallel to sea, and seems to call for “a sea-monster” of some kind, which is the version of the Septuagint. Such a monster may have represented to the popular mind the power of evil, and thus have paved the way for the allusion to “the fleeing serpent” of the next verse. Dillmann has as little reason for supposing that Job makes use of a traditionary saying which was equivalent to “he hath stilled the raging sea,” as others have for referring the text to the exodus, and the crushing of pride at the Red Sea.

Verse 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens] See the observations below.

Verse 13. By his Spirit — Either, 1st, By his divine virtue or power, called his Spirit, Zac. 4:6; Matthew 12:28. Or, 2d, By his Holy Spirit, to which the creation of the world is ascribed, Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4. He hath garnished the heavens — Adorned or beautified them with those glorious lights, the sun, moon, and stars. His hand hath formed the crooked serpent — By which he may mean all kinds of serpents, with fishes and monsters of the sea. It is the same word that is used for leviathan, Isaiah 27:1, of which the Targum understands it, and perhaps may be intended of the whale or crocodile. Chappelow, who gives us divers senses of the word jrb, bariach, here rendered crooked, and used as an epithet to designate the kind of serpent intended, observes that, in any of those senses, it is applicable to the great dragon, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, Revelation 12:9, and 20:2. For (to allude to those senses of the word) that crooked, apostate serpent was formed, was brought forth, was wounded even to death, by God, fled from his vengeance, grieved, and trembled. “It may well be asked,” says the learned Bishop Sherlock, who is of the same mind, and thinks that by the crooked serpent here is meant that apostate spirit who tempted Eve under the form of a serpent, “how come these disagreeable ideas to be joined together? How comes the forming of a crooked serpent to be mentioned as an instance of almighty power, and to be set, as it were, upon an equal footing with the creation of the heavens, and all the host of them? When you read the whole chapter, all the images in which are great and magnificent, can you possibly imagine that the forming the crooked serpent, in this place, means no more than that God created snakes and adders? This surely cannot be the case. If we consider the state of religion in the world when this book was penned, it will help to clear this matter up. The oldest notion in opposition to the supremacy of the Creator is that of two independent principles; and the only kind of idolatry mentioned in the book of Job, and it was of all others the most ancient, is the worship of the sun and moon, and heavenly host. From this Job vindicates himself, Job 31:26, &c. Suppose Job now to be acquainted with the fall of man, and the part ascribed to the serpent of the introduction of evil; and see how aptly the parts cohere. In opposition to the idolatrous practice of his time, he asserts God to be the Maker of all the hosts of heaven. By his Spirit hath he garnished the heavens — In opposition to the false notion of two independent principles, he asserts God to be the Maker of him who was the first author of evil; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent — You see how properly the garnishing of the heavens and the forming of the serpent are joined together. That this is the ancient traditionary explanation of this place we have undeniable evidence from the translation of the LXX., who render the latter part of this verse, which relates to the serpent, in this manner: By a decree he destroyed the apostate dragon. The Syriac and Arabic versions are to the same effect. These translators apply the place to the punishment inflicted on the serpent, and it comes to the same thing; for the punishing the serpent is as clear an evidence of God’s power over the author of evil as the creating him.”

Ver. 13. He hath garnished the heavens, with suns and stars, and formed the crooked serpent. The zodiac is described in chap. 9.; but the serpent in our modern celestial globes is not thought to be referred to here. Most critics think that the milky way is here intended, being an irregular extension of light in the starry heavens, pointing towards the south west. In this luminous tract, our planetary discoveries have mostly been made.

13. Garnished the heavens — Literally, By his breath the heavens are bright. At the root of Shiphra, bright, (a woman’s name in Exodus 1:15,) lies the idea of beauty. “The word is used,” says Scott, “by the elegant Hariri of a beautiful woman unveiling and shining out to her admirers.” Formed — hllj, pierced through. So the Syriac, Arabic, Furst, Hirtzel, Dillmann, Ewald, Hitzig, etc. The same word in the participial form is used in Isaiah 51:9, where it unquestionably signifies the piercing of the dragon. Some, however, give to the word a different root form, and make it to signify, as in the Authorized Version, to “form,” or “create:” — Welte, Renan, Conant, etc. Crooked serpent — Better, the fleeing serpent. The Septuagint renders the phrase, “he destroyed the apostate serpent,” which reduced Tyndale to translate it, “With his hand hath he wounded the rebellyous serpent.” In the opinion of some there is a reference to a mythological legend, as in Job 3:8, (see note.). On the contrary, as the mention of the sea suggested its Rahab, so that of the sky suggests its Serpent, a constellation that from the remotest ages has borne either this or kindred names. This constellation, (Draco, the Dragon,) with its nearly a hundred stars and its head beneath the foot of Hercules, winds its way between the greater and lesser Bears, almost half around the polar circle. Popular imagination conceived that the hand of God pierced it through as it strove to escape, and thus transfixed it in its course. The tragical story of the garden is seemingly transferred to the skies. Hitzig links “the fleeing serpent” with “the host of the height,” (Isaiah 24:21,) and regards it as a veil of a pneumatikon tou ponhrou, or, evil intelligences, kindred to Ephesians 6:12. Prof. Lee and Wordsworth see in the passage a transition from the works of creation to that of redemption. The wounding of the serpent, also paraphrased in Isaiah 27:1, where this very “fleeing serpent” is said to be pierced with the sword, may harbinger the triumph of the cross, in which Christ bruised the head of the serpent. If so, the sublime description of the works of creation culminates in the vastly greater work of redemption. The two verses, 12 and 13, are thus linked in the one common thought — the final subjugation of evil. Bildad speaks of the uncleanness and hopelessness of man, (verse 4;) — Job’s reply, far reaching and in shadowy vision, embraces the cross.

V. 14. Parts-But small parcels, the outside and visible work. Portion-Of his power and wisdom, and providence. His Power-His mighty power, is aptly compared to thunder; in regard of its irresistible force, and the terror which it causes to wicked men.

Verse 14. Lo, these are parts of his ways] twxq ketsoth, the ends or extremities, the outlines, an indistinct sketch, of his eternal power and Godhead.

How little a portion is heard] xmv shemets, a mere whisper; admirably opposed, as Mr. Good has well observed, to רעם raam, the thunder, mentioned in the next clause. As the thunder is to a whisper, so are the tremendous and infinitely varied works of God to the faint outlines exhibited in the above discourse. Every reader will relish the dignity, propriety, and sense of these expressions. They force themselves on the observation of even the most heedless.

By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.—Numerous are the opinions relative to the true meaning of this verse. Some think it refers to the clearing of the sky after a storm, such as appears to be described Job 26:11, 12; and suppose his Spirit means the wind, which he directs to sweep and cleanse the face of the sky, by which the splendour of the day or the lustre of the night is restored: and by the crooked, flying, or aerial serpent, as it is variously rendered, the ecliptic is supposed to be meant, as the sun’s apparent course in it appears to be serpentine, in his approach to and recession from each of the tropics. This tortuous line may be seen on any terrestrial globe. Many will object to this notion as too refined for the time of Job; but this I could easily admit, as astronomy had a very early existence among the Arabians, if not its origin. But with me the chief objection lies against the obscurity of the allusion, if it be one; for it must require no small ingenuity, and almost the spirit of divination, to find out the sun’s oblique path in the zodiac in the words His hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Others have imagined that the allusion is to the lightning in that zigzag form which it assumes when discharged from one cloud into another during a thunder storm. This is at once a natural and very apparent sense. To conduct and manage the lightning is most certainly a work which requires the skill and omnipotence of GOD, as much as garnishing the heavens by his Spirit, dividing the sea by his power, or causing the pillars of heaven to tremble by his reproof. Others think that the act of the creation of the solar system is intended to be expressed, which is in several parts of the sacred writings attributed to the Spirit of God; (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6;) and that the crooked serpent means either Satan, who deceived our first parents, or huge aquatic animals; for in Isaiah 27:1, we find the leviathan and dragon of the sea called jrb vjn nachash bariach, the very terms that are used by Job in this place: “In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent, (jrb vjn nachash bariach,) even leviathan, that crooked serpent, (ˆwtlq[ vjn nachash akallathon,) and he shall slay the dragon (התנין hattannin) that is in the sea.” And we know that in Genesis 1:21 הגדלים התנינם hattanninim haggedolim, which we translate great whales, includes all sea-monsters or vast aquatic animals. Calmet, who without hesitation adopts this sentiment, says: “I see no necessity to have recourse to allegory here. After having exhibited the effects of the sovereign power of God in the heavens, in the clouds, in the vast collection of waters in the sea, it was natural enough for Job to speak of the production of fishes.” The intelligent Dr. Sherlock gives another interpretation. After strongly expressing his disapprobation of the opinion that Job should descend, after speaking of the creation of the heavens and their host, to the formation of snakes and adders, he supposes “that Job here intended to oppose that grand religious system of sabæism which prevailed in his time, and to which, in other parts of this book, he alludes; a system which acknowledged two opposite independent principles by which the universe was governed, and paid Divine adoration to the celestial luminaries. Suppose, therefore, Job to be acquainted with the fall of man, and the part ascribed to the serpent of the introduction of evil, see how aptly the parts cohere. In opposition to the idolatrous practice of the time, he asserts God to be the maker of all the host of heaven: By his Spirit he garnished the heavens. In opposition to the false notion of two independent principles, he asserts God to be the maker of him who was the author of evil: His hand hath formed the crooked serpent. You see how properly the garnishing of the heavens and the forming of the serpent are joined together. That this is the ancient traditionary explication of this place, we have undeniable evidence from the translation of the Septuagint, who render the latter part of this verse, which relates to the serpent, in this manner: Prostagmati de eqanatwse drakonta apostathn, By a decree he destroyed the apostate dragon. The Syriac and Arabic versions are to the same effect: And his hand slew the flying serpent.

“These translators apply the place to the punishment inflicted on the serpent; and it comes to the same thing, for the punishing the serpent is as clear an evidence of God’s power over the author of evil as the creating him. We need not wonder to see so much concern in this book to maintain the supremacy of God, and to guard it against every false notion; for this was the theme, the business of the author.”—Bp. Sherlock on Prophecy, Diss. ii. From the contradictory opinions on this passage, the reader will no doubt feel cautious what mode of interpretation he adopts, and the absolute necessity of admitting no texts of doubtful interpretation as vouchers for the essential doctrines of Christianity. Neither metaphors, allegories, similes, nor figurative expressions of any kind, should ever be adduced or appealed to as proofs of any article in the Christian faith. We have reason to be thankful that this is at present the general opinion of the most rational divines of all sects and parties, and that the allegory and metaphor men are everywhere vanishing from the meridian and sinking under the horizon of the Church. Scriptural Christianity is prevailing with a strong hand, and going forward with a firm and steady step.

JOB

Verse 14. Lo, these are parts of his ways — But very small parcels even of those of his works which are visible to us. For it would be a vain and fruitless labour should I undertake to speak of all the wonders of the Creator. His works are so many, so great, and so far surpassing our narrow conceptions, that we can never hope to arrive at a perfect knowledge of them all, or even of any of them. We must be content to stand, as it were, at a distance, and, with profound reverence, take a short, imperfect view of a few mere sketches of the effects of his wonder-working power. But how little a portion is heard of him? — Of his wisdom, and power, and providence. If these his external and visible works be so stupendous, how glorious then must be his invisible, and more internal perfections and operations! For what we see or know of him is nothing in comparison of what we do not know, and of what is in him, or is done by him. But the thunder of his power who can understand? — Either, first, Of his mighty and terrible thunder, which is often mentioned as an eminent work of God. Or, second, Of his almighty power, which is properly compared to thunder, in regard of its irresistible force, and the terror which it causes to wicked men.

14. Parts — Ends; “the extreme point;” “the border.” Exodus 25:19; 28:7. The Arabian schoolmen called our present knowledge the ends, or off-cuttings of things. “They compared it to the threads which stick out from the lower or wrong side of the tapestry which the great Artificer is weaving above.” Compare 1 Corinthians 13:9, 12. But how little a portion, etc. — Literally, what a whisper-word is that we hear. For shemets, “whisper,” see note on Job 4:12. It was a pleasing conceit of Pythagoras that the heavenly bodies in their motions emitted sounds which were blended together in musical harmony. The reason we do not hear it. Cicero says, is because “the sound is so loud as to transcend our power of hearing.” “Tantus sonitus ut eum aures hominum capere non possint.” — De Republica, 6:18. Kepler’s discoveries give countenance to the very old conception of the philosophers. Schlottmann’s interpretation, that what we hear of God’s ways and works is but an echo of the distant thunder, falls greatly below the thought of Job, whose figure is that of a whispered word compared with the mightier thunder, “the thunder of his power.” May it not be just as true still, now that science has brought to our knowledge “a hundred million worlds,” that these are the outskirts of his universe, the fringes of his royal garment, “the ends of his ways?”