Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Job 26:5
Dead [things] are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
5, 6. God’s presence and power in the underworld. Job 26:5 reads according to the pointing,
The Shades tremble
Underneath the waters and their inhabitants.
The “Shades” (Heb. Refim, the flaccid) are the departed persons, whose place of concourse is Sheol. Comp. Isa 14:9, where “the dead” are the shades, so Isa 26:14 (the deceased). This abode of deceased persons lies deep down under the waters of the sea and all the inhabitants of these waters, for the sea belongs to the upper world. Yet the power of God is felt even at this immeasurable distance from His abode on high. Bildad had referred to the power of God as “making peace” on high; Job points to what is a more wonderful illustration of His power, it pervades the underworld, and the dead tremble under its influence. Whether the statement is general, or whether perhaps there may not be allusion to great convulsions in nature, shaking the earth, and rousing up out of their lethargy even the drowsy, nerveless, shades with terror, may be doubtful.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
5 13. That Job has no need to be instructed regarding the greatness of God he now shews, by entering upon an exhibition of its operations in every sphere of that which exists, Hades, the Earth and Heaven, in which he far outstrips the feeble effort of Bildad.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Dead things – Job here commences his description of God, to show that his views of his majesty and glory were in no way inferior to those which had been expressed by Bildad, and that what Bildad had said conveyed to him no real information. In this description he far surpasses Bildad in loftiness of conception, and sublimity of description. Indeed, it may be doubted whether for grandeur this passage is surpassed by any description of the majesty of God in the Bible. The passage here has given rise to much discussion, and to a great variety of opinion. Our common translation is most feeble, and by no means conveys its true force. The object of the whole passage is to assert the universal dominion of God. Bildad had said Job 25:1-6 that the dominion of God extended to the heavens, and to the armies of the skies; that God surpassed in majesty the splendor of the heavenly bodies; and that compared with him man was a worm. Job commences his description by saying that the dominion of God extended even to the nether world; and that such were his majesty and power that even the shades of the mighty dead trembled at his presence, and that hell was all naked before him. The word rapha’ym – Rephaim – so feebly rendered dead things, means the shades of the dead; the departed spirits that dwell in Sheol; see the word explained at length in the notes at Isa 14:9. They are those who have left this world and who have gone down to dwell in the world beneath – the great and mighty conquerors and kings; the illustrious dead of past times, who have left the world and are congregated in the land of Shades. Jerome renders it, gigantes, and the Septuagint, gigantes – giants; from a common belief that those shades were larger than life. Thus, Lucretius says:
Quippe et enim jam tum divum mortalia secla
Egregias animo facies vigilante videbant;
Et magis in somnis, mirando corporis aucter
Rer. Nat. ver. 1168.
The word shades here will express the sense, meaning the departed spirits that are assembled in Sheol. The Chaldee renders it, – mighty ones, or giants; the Syriac, in like manner, giants.
Are formed – The Syriac renders this, are killed. Jerome, gemunt – groan; Septuagint, Are giants born from beneath the water, and the neighboring places? What idea the authors of that version attached to the passage it is difficult to say. The Hebrew word used here ( yecholalu, from chul), means to twist, to turn, to be in anguish – as in child birth; and then it may mean to tremble, quake, be in terror; and the idea here seems to be, that the shades of the dead were in anguish, or trembled at the awful presence, and under the dominion of God. So Luther renders it – understanding it of giants – Die Riesen angsten sich unter den Wassern. The sense would be well expressed, The shades of the dead tremble, or are in anguish before him. They fear his power. They acknowledge his empire.
Under the waters – The abode of departed spirits is always in this book placed beneath the ground. But why this abode is placed beneath the waters, is not apparent. It is usually under the ground, and the entrance to it is by the grave, or by some dark cavern; compare Virgils Aeniad, Lib. vi. A different interpretation has been proposed of this verse, which seems better to suit the connection. It is to understand the phrase ( tachath) under, as meaning simply beneath – the shades beneath; and to regard the word ( maym) waters as connected with the following member:
The shades beneath tremble;
The waters and the inhabitants thereof.
Thus explained, the passage means that the whole universe is under the control of God, and trembles before him. Sheol and its Shades; the oceans and their inhabitants stand in awe before him.
And the inhabitants thereof – Of the waters – the oceans. The idea is, that the vast inhabitants of the deep all recognize the power of God and tremble before him. This description accords with that given by the ancient poets of the power and majesty of the gods, and is not less sublime than any given by them.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
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; , 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: , ; “Are not the giants formed from under the waters, and their neighbours?”
The Chaldee: 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, Ge 6:4, “There were giants nephilim, in the earth in those days.” Now it is likely that Job means the same by 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Job having censured Bildads discourse concerning Gods dominion and power, as insignificant and impertinent to their question, he here proceedeth to show how little he needed his information in that point, and that he was able to instruct him in that doctrine, of which accordingly he gives divers proofs or instances. Here he showeth that the power and providence of God reacheth not only to the things which 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 under the earth; which are out of our sight and reach, and might be thought to be out of the ken or care of Divine Providence. This Hebrew word sometimes signifies giants, as Deu 2:11,20; 3:13; 1Ch 20:8; whence it may be translated to other great and, as it were, gigantic creatures, and more commonly dead men, as Psa 88:11; Pro 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; Isa 14:9; Isa 26:14,19 whence it is supposed metaphorically to signify also dead or lifeless things; though there be no example of that use of the word elsewhere; and it may seem improper to call those things dead, which never had nor were capable of life. The next Hebrew word, or the verb, is primarily used of women with child, and signifies their bringing forth their young ones with travail or grievous pains, as Job 39:3; Psa 29:9; Isa 23:4; 45:10; and thence it signifies either to form or bring forth, as below, Job 26:13; Pro 26:10; or to grieve or mourn, or to be in pain. Accordingly these words are diversely understood; either,
1. Of dead or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth, to wit, by the almighty power of God, from under the waters, i.e. 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 Gods providence, that the waters of the sea, which are higher than the earth, do not overwhelm it; and from under (which may be repeated out of the former clause of the verse, after the manner of the Hebrews)
the inhabitants thereof, i.e. either of the waters, which are fishes; or of the earth, which are men. Or rather,
2. Of the giants of the old world, which were men of great renown whilst they lived, Gen 6:4, and the remembrance of them and of their exemplary destruction was now in some sort fresh and famous; who once carried themselves insolently towards God and men, but were quickly subdued by the Divine power, and drowned with a deluge, and now mourn or groan from under the waters, where they were buried, and from under the present inhabitants thereof, as before. Or,
3. Of vast and gigantic fishes, or monsters of the sea, who by Gods infinite power were formed or brought forth under the waters with the other inhabitants thereof, to wit of the waters, the lesser fishes. Or,
4. Of dead men, and of the worst sort of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to further miseries; for of such this very word seems to be used, Pro 2:18; 9:18, who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters, i.e. from the lower parts of the earth, or from under those subterranean seas of waters which are by Scripture and by philosophers supposed to be within and under the earth; of which see Deu 8:7; Job 28:4,10; Psa 33:7; and from under
the inhabitants thereof, i.e. either of the waters, or of the earth, under which these waters are, or with the other inhabitants thereof, i.e. of that place under the waters, to wit, the apostate spirits. So the sense is, that Gods dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who though they would not own God nor his providence whilst 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 subterranean and infernal habitations, of which the next verse speaks more plainly. And this sense seems to be favoured by the context and scope of the place, wherein Job begins his discourse of Gods power and providence at the lowermost and hidden parts of the world, and thence proceeds to those parts which are higher and visible. Nor is it strange that Job speaks of these matters, seeing it is evident that Job, and others of the holy patriarchs and prophets of old, did know and believe the doctrine of the future life, and of its several recompences to good and bad men. Others understand this of the resurrection of the dead; The dead shall be born (as this word is used, Psa 2:7; Pro 8:24,25, i.e. shall be raised, which is a kind of regeneration, or second birth, and is so called, Mat 19:28; Act 13:33)
from under the waters, ( i.e. even those of them that lie in the waters, Rev 20:13, that were drowned and buried in the sea, and devoured by fishes, &c., whose case may seem to be most desperate, and therefore they only are here mentioned,) and (or even, this particle being oft used expositively) the inhabitants thereof, i.e. those dead corpses which lie or have long lain there.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-14. As before in the ninth andtwelfth chapters, Job had shown himself not inferior to the friends’inability to describe God’s greatness, so now he describes it asmanifested in hell (the world of the dead), Job 26:5;Job 26:6; on earth, Job26:7; in the sky, Job26:8-11; the sea, Job 26:12;the heavens, Job 26:13.
Dead things areformedRather, “The souls of the dead (Rephaim) tremble.”Not only does God’s power exist, as Bildad says (Job25:2), “in high places” (heaven), but reaches to theregion of the dead. Rephaim here, and in Pro 21:16;Isa 14:9, is from a Hebrewroot, meaning “to be weak,” hence “deceased”; inGe 14:5 it is applied to theCanaanite 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 termoriginally was applied to ghosts, and then to giants ingeneral [MAGEE].
from underUMBREITjoins this with the previous word “tremble from beneath“(so Isa 14:9). But theMasoretic text joins it to “under the waters.” Thus theplace of the dead will be represented as “under the waters”(Psa 18:4; Psa 18:5);and the waters as under the earth (Ps24:2). MAGEE welltranslates thus: “The souls of the dead tremble; (the places)under the waters, and their inhabitants.” Thus the Masoreticconnection is retained; and at the same time the parallel clauses areevenly balanced. “The inhabitants of the places under thewaters” are those in Gehenna, the lower of the two parts intowhich Sheol, according to the Jews, is divided; they answer to”destruction,” that is, the place of the wicked in Job26:6, as “Rephaim” (Job26:5) to “Hell” (Sheol) (Job26:6). “Sheol” comes from a Hebrew root”ask,”because it is insatiable (Pr27:20); or “ask as a loan to be returned,” implyingSheol is but a temporary abode, previous to the resurrection;so for English Version “formed,” the Septuagintand Chaldee translate; shall be born, or born again,implying the dead are to be given back from Sheol and bornagain into a new state [MAGEE].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Dead [things] are formed from under the waters,…. It is difficult to say what things are here meant; it may be understood of “lifeless” things, as Mr. Broughton renders it; things that never had any life, things inanimate, that never had at least an animal life, though they may have a vegetable one; and so may be interpreted of grains of corn, and which indeed die before they are quickened; to which both Christ and the apostle allude, Joh 12:24; and which, as they cannot grow without water, and their fructification and increase are owing to the earth being plentifully watered with rain, may be said to be formed under the waters; and of these Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret the words; and the latter also makes mention of herbs, plants, and trees in the sea, particularly almug trees, as being probably intended; to which may be added, corals, and other sea plants, formed from under the waters; yea, some make mention of woods and forests there: but the last mentioned writer, seems inclined to think that metals and minerals may be intended; and it is well known that much of gold is taken out of rivers, as also pearls and precious stones; and that iron is taken out of the earth, and brass molten out of stone; and that the several metals and minerals are dug out of mountains and hills, from whence fountains and rivers flow; but as the word used has the signification of something gigantic, it has inclined others to think of sea monsters, as of the great whales which God made in the seas, and the leviathan he has made to play therein:
and or “with”
the inhabitants thereof; the innumerable company of fishes, both of the larger and lesser sort, which are all formed in and under the waters: but why may not giants themselves be designed, since the word is sometimes used of them, De 2:11; and so the Vulgate Latin and the Septuagint version here render the word, and may refer to the giants that were before the flood, and who were the causes of filling the world with rapine and violence, and so of bringing the flood of waters upon it; in which they perished “with the inhabitants thereof”; or their neighbours; of whom see Ge 6:4; and the spirits of these being in prison, in hell, as the Apostle Peter says, 1Pe 3:19; which is commonly supposed to be under the earth, and so under the waters, in which they perished; they may be represented as in pain and torment, and groaning and trembling under the same, as the word here used is by some thought to signify, and is so rendered t; though as the word “Rephaim” is often used of dead men, Ps 88:10; it may be understood of them here, and have respect to the formation of them anew, or their resurrection from the dead, when the earth shall cast them forth; and especially of those whose graves are in the sea, and who have been buried in the waters of it, when that shall deliver up the dead that are therein, Re 20:13; which will be a wonderful instance of the mighty power of God. The Targumist seems to have a notion of this, or at least refers unto it, paraphrasing the words thus,
“is it possible that the mighty men (or giants) should be created (that is, recreated or regenerated; that is, raised from the dead); seeing they are under the waters, and their armies?”
t “gemunt”, V. L. “cruciabuntur”, Bolducius; “cruciantur, dolore contremiscunt”, Michaelis; “intremiscunt”, Schultens. Vid. Windet. de Vita Funct. Stat. p. 90.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 – The shades are put to pain
Deep under the waters and their inhabitants.
6 Shel is naked before him,
And the abyss hath no covering.
7 He stretched the northern sky over the emptiness;
He hung the earth upon nothing.
Bildad has extolled God’s majestic, awe-inspiring rule in the heights of heaven, His immediate surrounding; Job continues the strain, and celebrates the extension of this rule, even to the depths of the lower world. The operation of the majesty of the heavenly Ruler extends even to the realm of shades; the sea with the multitude of its inhabitants forms no barrier between God and the realm of shades; the marrowless, bloodless phantoms or shades below writhe like a woman in travail as often as this majesty is felt by them, as, perhaps, by the raging of the sea or the quaking of the earth. On , which also occurs in Phoenician inscriptions, vid., Psychol. S. 409; the book of Job corresponds with Psa 88:11 in the use of this appellation. The sing. is not (whence , as the name of a people), but ( ), which signifies both giants or heroes of colossal stature (from = Arab. rafua , to be high), and the relaxed (from , to be loose, like Arab. rafa’a , to soften, to soothe), i.e., those who are bodiless in the state after death (comp. , Isa 14:10, to be weakened, i.e., placed in the condition of a rapha ). It is a question whether be Pilel (Ges.) or Pulal (Olsh.); the Pul., indeed, signifies elsewhere to be brought forth with writing (Job 15:7); it can, however, just as well signify to be put in pain. On account of the reference implied in it to a higher causation here at the commencement of the speech, the Pul. is more appropriate than the Pil.; and the pausal , which is often found elsewhere with Hithpael ( Hithpal.), Psa 88:14; Job 33:5, but never with Piel ( Pil.), proves that the form is intended to be regarded as passive.
Job 26:6 is seemingly used as fem., as in Isa 14:9; but in reality the adj. precedes in the primitive form, without being changed by the gender of . alternates with , like in Psa 88:12. As Psa 139:8 testifies to the presence of God in Shel, so here Job (comp. Job 38:17, and especially Pro 15:11) that Shel is present to God, that He possesses a knowledge which extends into the depths of the realm of the dead, before whom all things are (Heb 4:13). The following partt., Job 26:7, depending logically upon the chief subject which precedes, are to be determined according to Job 25:2; they are conceived as present, and indeed of God’s primeval act of creation, but intended of the acts which continue by virtue of His creative power.
Job 26:7 By many modern expositors understand the northern part of the earth, where the highest mountains and rocks rise aloft (accordingly, in Isa 14:13, are mentioned parallel with the starry heights), and consequently the earth is the heaviest (Hirz., Ew., Hlgst., Welte, Schlottm., and others). But (1) it is not probable that the poet would first have mentioned the northern part of the earth, and then in Job 26:7 the earth itself – first the part, and then the whole; (2) is never said of the earth, always of the heavens, for the expansion of which it is the stereotype word ( , Job 9:8; Isa 40:22; Isa 44:24; Isa 51:13; Zec 14:1; Psa 104:2; , Isa 42:5; , Jer 10:12; Jer 51:15; , Isa 45:12); (3) one expects some mention of the sky in connection with the mention of the earth; and thus is ,
(Note: The name signifies the northern sky as it appears by day, from its beclouded side in contrast with the brighter and more rainless south; comp. old Persian apakhtara , if this name of the north really denotes the “starless” region, Greek , the north-west, from the root skap , , (Curtius, Griech. Etymologie, ii. 274), aquilo , the north wind, as that which brings black clouds with it.)
with Rosenm., Ges., Umbr., Vaih., Hahn, and Olsh., to be understood of the northern sky, which is prominently mentioned, because there is the pole of the vault of heaven, which is marked by the Pole-star, there the constellation of the greater Bear ( , Job 9:9) formed by the seven bright stars, there (in the back of the bull, one of the northern constellations of the ecliptic) the group of the Pleiades ( ), there also, below the bull and the twins, Orion ( ). On the derivation, notion, and synonyms of , vid., Genesis, S. 93; here (where it may be compared with the Arab. thej – un , empty, and th , desert) it signifies nothing more than the unmeasurable vacuum of space, parall. , not anything = nothing (comp. modern Arabic lash , or even mash , compounded of Arab. la or ma and sa , a thing, e.g., bilas , for nothing, ragul mash , useless men). The sky which vaults the earth from the arctic pole, and the earth itself, hang free without support in space. That which is elsewhere (e.g., Job 9:6) said of the pillars and foundations of the earth, is intended of the internal support of the body of the earth, which is, as it were, fastened together by the mountains, with their roots extending into the innermost part of the earth; for the idea that the earth rests upon the bases of the mountains would be, indeed, as Lwenthal correctly observes, an absurd inversion. On the other side, we are also not justified in inferring from Job’s expression the laws of the mechanism of the heavens, which were unknown to the ancients, especially the law of attraction or gravitation. The knowledge of nature on the part of the Israelitish Chokma, expressed in Job 26:7, however, remains still worthy of respect. On the ground of similar passages of the book of Job, Keppler says of the yet unsolved problems of astronomy: Haec et cetera hujusmodi latent in Pandectis aevi sequentis, non antea discenda, quam librum hunc Deus arbiter seculorum recluserit mortalibus . From the starry heavens and the earth Job turns to the celestial and sub-celestial waters.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Wisdom and Power of God. | B. C. 1520. |
5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. 6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. 7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. 8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. 9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. 10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. 11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. 12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. 13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
The truth received a great deal of light from the dispute between Job and his friends concerning those points about which they differed; but now they are upon a subject in which they were all agreed, the infinite glory and power of God. How does truth triumph, and how brightly does it shine, when there appears no other strife between the contenders than which shall speak most highly and honourably of God and be most copious in showing forth his praise! It were well if all disputes about matters of religion might end thus, in glorifying God as Lord of all, and our Lord, with one mind and one mouth (Rom. xv. 6); for to that we have all attained, in that we are all agreed.
I. Many illustrious instances are here given of the wisdom and power of God in the creation and preservation of the world.
1. If we look about us, to the earth and waters here below, we shall see striking instances of omnipotence, which we may gather out of these verses. (1.) He hangs the earth upon nothing, v. 7. The vast terraqueous globe neither rests upon any pillars nor hangs upon any axle-tree, and yet, by the almighty power of God, is firmly fixed in its place, poised with its own weight. The art of man could not hang a feather upon nothing, yet the divine wisdom hangs the whole earth so. It is ponderibus librata suis–poised by its own weight, so says the poet; it is upheld by the word of God’s power, so says the apostle. What is hung upon nothing may serve us to set our feet on, and bear the weight of our bodies, but it will never serve us to set our hearts on, nor bear the weight of our souls. (2.) He sets bounds to the waters of the sea, and compasses them in (v. 10), that they may not return to cover the earth; and these bounds shall continue unmoved, unshaken, unworn, till the day and night come to an end, when time shall be no more. Herein appears the dominion which Providence has over the raging waters of the sea, and so it is an instance of his power, Jer. v. 22. We see too the care which Providence takes of the poor sinful inhabitants of the earth, who, though obnoxious to his justice and lying at his mercy, are thus preserved from being overwhelmed, as they were once by the waters of a flood, and will continue to be so, because they are reserved unto fire. (3.) He forms dead things under the waters. Rephaim-giants, are formed under the waters, that is, vast creatures, of prodigious bulk, as whales, giant-like creatures, among the innumerable inhabitants of the water. So bishop Patrick. (4.) By mighty storms and tempests he shakes the mountains, which are here called the pillars of heaven (v. 11), and even divides the sea, and smites through its proud waves, v. 12. At the presence of the Lord the sea flies and the mountains skip,Job 26:26; Job 26:4. See Hab. iii. 6, c. A storm furrows the waters, and does, as it were, divide them and then a calm smites through the waves, and lays them flat again. See Psa 89:9; Psa 89:10. Those who think Job lived at, or after, the time of Moses, apply this to the dividing of the Red Sea before the children of Israel, and the drowning of the Egyptians in it. By his understanding he smiteth through Rahab; so the word is, and Rahab is often put for Egypt; as Psa 87:4; Isa 51:9.
2. If we consider hell beneath, though it is out of our sight, yet we may conceive the instances of God’s power there. By hell and destruction (v. 6) we may understand the grave, and those who are buried in it, that they are under the eye of God, though laid out of our sight, which may strengthen our belief of the resurrection of the dead. God knows where to find, and whence to fetch, all the scattered atoms of the consumed body. We may also consider them as referring to the place of the damned, where the separate souls of the wicked are in misery and torment. That is hell and destruction, which are said to be before the Lord (Prov. xv. 11), and here to be naked before him, to which it is probable there is an allusion, Rev. xiv. 10, where sinners are to be tormented in the presence of the holy angels (who attended the Shechinah) and in the presence of the Lamb. And this may give light to v. 5, which some ancient versions read thus (and I think more agreeably to the signification of the word Rephaim): Behold, the giants groan under the waters, and those that dwell with them; and then follows, Hell is naked before him, typified by the drowning of the giants of the old world; so the learned Mr. Joseph Mede understands it, and with it illustrates Prov. xxi. 16, where hell is called the congregation of the dead; and it is the same word which is here used, and which he would there have rendered the congregation of the giants, in allusion to the drowning of the sinners of the old world. And is there any thing in which the majesty of God appears more dreadful than in the eternal ruin of the ungodly and the groans of the inhabitants of the land of darkness? Those that will not with angels fear and worship shall for ever with devils fear and tremble; and God therein will be glorified.
3. If we look up to heaven above, we shall see instances of God’s sovereignty and power. (1.) He stretches out the north over the empty place, v. 7. So he did at first, when he stretched out the heavens like a curtain (Ps. civ. 2); and he still continues to keep them stretched out, and will do so till the general conflagration, when they shall be rolled together as a scroll, Rev. vi. 14. He mentions the north because his country (as ours) lay in the northern hemisphere; and the air is the empty place over which it is stretched out. See Ps. lxxxix. 12. What an empty place is this world in comparison with the other! (2.) He keeps the waters that are said to be above the firmament from pouring down upon the earth, as once they did (v. 8): He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, as if they were tied closely in a bag, till there is occasion to use them; and, notwithstanding the vast weight of water so raised and laid up, yet the cloud is not rent under them, for then they would burst and pour out as a spout; but they do, as it were, distil through the cloud, and so come drop by drop, in mercy to the earth, in small rain, or great rain, as he pleases. (3.) He conceals the glory of the upper world, the dazzling lustre of which we poor mortals could not bear (v. 9): He holds back the face of his throne, that light in which he dwells, and spreads a cloud upon it, through which he judges, ch. xxii. 13. God will have us to live by faith, not by sense; for this is agreeable to a state of probation. It were not a fair trial if the face of God’s throne were visible now as it will be in the great day.
| Lest his high throne, above expression bright, With deadly glory should oppress our sight, To break the dazzling force he draws a screen Of sable shades, and spreads his clouds between. |
| Sir R. BLACKMORE. |
(4.) The bright ornaments of heaven are the work of his hands (v. 13): By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, the breath of his mouth (Ps. xxxiii. 6), he has garnished the heavens, not only made them, but beautified them, has curiously bespangled them with stars by night and painted them with the light of the sun by day. God, having made man to look upward (Os homini sublime dedit—To man he gave an erect countenance), has therefore garnished the heavens, to invite him to look upward, that, by pleasing his eye with the dazzling light of the sun and the sparkling light of the stars, their number, order, and various magnitudes, which, as so many golden studs, beautify the canopy drawn over our heads, he may be led to admire the great Creator, the Father and fountain of lights, and to say, “If the pavement be so richly inlaid, what must the palace be! If the visible heavens be so glorious, what are those that are out of sight!” From the beauteous garniture of the ante-chamber we may infer the precious furniture of the presence-chamber. If stars be so bright, what are angels! What is meant here by the crooked serpent which his hands have formed is not certain. Some make it part of the garnishing of the heavens, the milky-way, say some; some particular constellation, so called, say others. It is the same word that is used for leviathan (Isa. xxvii. 1), and probably may be meant of the whale or crocodile, in which appears much of the power of the Creator; and why may not Job conclude with that inference, when God himself does so? ch. xli.
II. He concludes, at last, with an awful et ctera (v. 14): Lo, these are parts of his ways, the out-goings of his wisdom and power, the ways in which he walks and by which he makes himself known to the children of men. Here, 1. He acknowledges, with adoration, the discoveries that were made of God. These things which he himself had said, and which Bildad had said, are his ways, and this is heard of him; this is something of God. But, 2. He admires the depth of that which is undiscovered. This that we have said is but part of his ways, a small part. What we know of God is nothing in comparison with what is in God and what God is. After all the discoveries which God has made to us, and all the enquiries we have made after God, still we are much in the dark concerning him, and must conclude, Lo, these are but parts of his ways. Something we hear of him by his works and by his word; but, alas! how little a portion is heard of him? heard by us, heard from us! We know but in part; we prophesy but in part. When we have said all we can, concerning God, we must even do as St. Paul does (Rom. xi. 33); despairing to find the bottom, we must sit down at the brink, and adore the depth: O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! It is but a little portion that we hear and know of God in our present state. He is infinite and incomprehensible; our understandings and capacities are weak and shallow, and the full discoveries of the divine glory are reserved for the future state. Even the thunder of his power (that is, his powerful thunder), one of the lowest of his ways here in our own region, we cannot understand. See Job 37:4; Job 37:5. Much less can we understand the utmost force and extent of his power, the terrible efforts and operations of it, and particularly the power of his anger, Ps. xc. 11. God is great, and we know him not.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
2. No mysteries are hidden from God. (Job. 26:5-14)
(Some would attribute this section to Bildad.)
a. There is no close connection between it and the preceding verses.
TEXT 26:514
5 They that are deceased tremble
Beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.
6 Sheol Is naked before God,
And Abaddon hath no covering.
7 He stretcheth out the north over empty space,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds;
And the cloud is not rent under them.
9 He incloseth the face of his throne,
And spreadeth his cloud upon it.
10 He hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters,
Unto the confines of light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
And are astonished at his rebuke.
12 He stirreth up the sea with his power,
And by his understanding he smiteth through Rahab.
13 By his Spirit the heavens are garnished;
His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.
14 Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways:
And how small a whisper do we hear of hunt
But the thunder of his power who can understand?
COMMENT 26:514
Job. 26:5From Job. 26:5-14 we have the theme of Gods omnipotence set forth again. He is absolute authority over heaven and earth and Sheol (cf. Mat. 28:19-20). Bildad has previously declared Gods greatness; now Job declares his own faith in the greatness of God. The dead[271] (A. V. renders deceasedrepaimIsa. 14:9; Isa. 26:14; Psa. 88:10) are still in Gods control. They cannot hide from Him, even in Sheol2Sa. 22:5 and Psa. 18:4. Even the inhabitants of Sheol tremble before God. The reference here, according to the parallelism, is to the inhabitants of Sheol, not fishes, etc.[272]
[271] For an excellent discussion concerning the Rephaim, see A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 2nd ed., 1964, pp. 88ff.
[272] See Dhorme and Blommerde on the critical grammatical problems.
Job. 26:6For this imagery see Psa. 89:8; Pro. 15:11; and Amo. 9:2. Abaddon is another name for Sheol and is a perfect parallel in this verse. This parallel description of Sheol is found only in the Wisdom Literature Job. 28:22; Job. 31:12; Psa. 88:11; Pro. 15:11; and Pro. 27:20. Abaddon comes from a root meaning ruin or destruction and is a personal name translated as Apollyon in Rev. 9:11. No one and no place holds secrets from God.
Job. 26:7The Hebrew word for north (Sapon) originally was the name of the mountain of Hadad or Baal, the Syrian weather-god. The Ras Shamra texts from Ugarit relate how Baal-Hadad constructed his temple on the heights of Mount Sapon. The mountain lay directly north of Palestine; thus we know why Sapon[273] means north in the Old TestamentIsa. 14:13. The parallel is between the stretched out heavensGenesis 1-3not firmament but that which is stretched out or pounded outward; Psalms 1Job. 4:2; Isa. 40:22; Isa. 44:24; Isa. 45:12; Jer. 10:12; Jer. 51:15. There is no mythological implication in this description which transcends all primitive concepts of cosmography. Nor need we recall the great advancements made in astronomy among the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks, especially Pythagorasca 540510 B.C.in order to understand Jobs descriptions.[274] The earth stands on nothingJob. 26:11.
[273] Note in Psa. 48:2Zion is the seat of Yahweh; some translations transcribe this as Zaphonsee Otto Eissfeldt. Baal Zaphon, Zeus Kasios und der Durchzug der Israeliten durchs Meer, 1934.
[274] See for detailscompare with Jacques Merleau-Ponty, Cosmologie du XXsiecle (Paris, 1965); Astronomischer Jahresbericht (Berlin) 1899 to the present, complete bibliography of astronomical literature; a Koyre, The Astronomical Revolution (E. T., Cornell University Press, 1975); P. Duhem, Le Systeme du Monde; histoires des doctrines cosmologiques de Platon a Copernic (Paris, 10 Tomes); Rene Taton, Histoire generate des sciences (Paris, 4 Tomes); I. L. E. Dreyer, A History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepeer (New York: Dover, 1953); all of G. Sartons works; and F. Russo, Histoire des sciences et des Techniques bibliographie (Paris, 1954); also see my essay on Creation in Job in this commentary. For biblical data see the excellent work by E. W. Monder, Astronomy of The Bible which has been condensed in his article in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE), Vol. I, pp. 300316, Eerdman reprint.
Job. 26:8Job stands in awe at the clouds pictured as full of water but which do not burst under the weight of their burdenJob. 38:37; Pro. 30:4.
Job. 26:9The verse presents several problems, specifically as given in the A. V. God hides the face (Heb. hzgrasp, holdused of barring gates in Neh. 7:3; Mat. 6:6; perhaps we should read kesefull mooninstead of kissethroneas in A. V.) of the full moon by covering it with the clouds. Even the bright light of the moon is under His authority. Though this requires some emendation, it keeps the parallelism and sets forth Gods sovereignty which is Jobs thesis in this verse.
Job. 26:10God has described a circle, which means that He has set a limit or boundaryGen. 1:4; Gen. 1:7; Gen. 1:14; Job. 22:14; Pro. 8:27. The editors of the Qumran Targum render the Hebrew aux bords de la limitereinforcing the limitation of a boundary suggested by the text and the paralleldarkness in line two2Sa. 22:8; Isa. 13:13; and Joe. 2:10. Darkness suggests limitation. God here transcends all pagan mythological dualism; He alone controls chaos.
Job. 26:11The earth is here called the pillars of heaven. The pillars quiver (Heb. yeropeputremble or shake) at Gods rebuke. That which holds up heaven responds when God breaks His silencePsa. 18:14 ff; Psa. 29:6; and Psa. 104:32.
Job. 26:12The verb (rgdisturb or stir upIsa. 51:15 and Jer. 31:35) suggests that the powerful water supply which the heavens sustain is powerless when He intervenesRahab might refer to EgyptPsa. 87:4and the experience of the parting of the waters. When God liberates, nothing stands in His wayJob. 7:12; Job. 9:13; Jer. 10:12. He is claiming that it is by Gods wisdom and understanding, not His power, that He is victorious.
Job. 26:13The text probably refers to the clearing of the skies after a storm. The word rendered garnished in the A. V. is siprahbrightness. The wind referred to is, in all probability, the wind which clears the clouds out of the skies after a stormJob. 3:8; 40:25; Isa. 27:1; and Rev. 12:3. The second line has the same word that appears in Isa. 51:9 for pierced or wounded. If they are present, part of the authors literary style only, the mythological motifs, e.g. the fleeing serpent or LeviathonJob. 3:8 and Isa. 27:1are present only to show the sovereignty of God over nature.[275]
[275] See W. F. Albright, Bulletin of the American Society of Oriental Research, 1941, p. 39, for analysis of Ugaritic image of the primeval serpent.
Job. 26:14Again the author skillfully evoked imagery portraying Gods infinite power. The secret of Gods power will forever elude the seeker, and the solution to Gods providential control over creation will only baffle and frustrate until in complete faith-trust he rests in His everlasting arms through resignation to Gods wisdom and justice. He finally confesses that only God has infinite wisdom and knowledge. Though man has only heard a soft whisperJob. 4:12, he stands in awful dread at what he has heard. He must wait for The Shattering of Silence, but until then, He reveals all that we can manage. Gods word, like thunder, cannot be leisurely contemplated and comprehendedJob. 37:2; Job. 37:5.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(5) Dead things are formed.The Hebrew word is the Rephaim, who were among the aboriginal inhabitants of the south of Palestine and the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and it is used to express the dead and the inhabitants of the nether world generally. The word rendered are formed probably means either are pierced or tremble: that is, they are pierced through with terror, or they tremble, with a possible reference to the state of the dead as the prey of corruption, though spoken of them where they are beyond the reach of it. All the secrets of this mysterious, invisible, and undiscoverable world are naked and open before Himthe grave lies naked and destruction is uncovered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Second division AN INCOMPARABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY AND GLORY, Job 26:5-14.
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, Job 26:5-7.
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 , The Rephaim. This word, primarily used of a race of giants, (Gen 14:5; Gen 15:20,) was in the course of time applied to the dead, (Psa 88:10; Isa 14:9; Isa 14:19; Isa 26:14; Pro 2:18; Pro 9:18; Pro 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 , “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 , substantially the same word, in Hab 3:10 is rendered trembled, which is its meaning here, according to Hahn, Zockler, Hitzig, etc. Compare Jas 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.
A Description Of God’s Surpassing Glory.
Job now, in order to refute Bildad more thoroughly, shows his understanding of the almighty power of God both in the creation and in the government of the world.
v. 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters and the inhabitants thereof, v. 6. Hell is naked before Him, v. 7. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, v. 8. He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds, v. 9. He holdeth back the face of His throne, v. 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, v. 11. The pillars of heaven, v. 12. He divideth the sea with His power, v. 13. By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens, v. 14. Lo, these are parts of His ways, Job 26:5. Dead things are formed from under the waters Shall the Rephaim be brought forth from under the waters; and their inhabitants, or their neighbours? It follows, Job 26:6, Sheol is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. Job is here giving instances of the almighty power of God. Our translators have been a little unhappy in their version. The word Rephaim never signifies dead things. It originally denotes those giants in impiety who were overwhelmed by the flood; and from thence it came afterwards to signify the manes of wicked men, or men of violence like them, who, as they died, were gathered to their assembly, to the lowest depths of sheol. See Pro 9:18. The Chaldee paraphrast, LXX. and Vulgate, all translate rephaim here by a word which signifies giants; and from a view of their translations, compared with the Hebrew, the meaning of the verse seems to be, “Shall the Rephaim be brought forth again from under the waters, with which they were overwhelmed at the flood; or their neighbours, those wicked souls who have since been gathered to their assembly?” See Peters, Pro 21:16, and Isa 14:9. Houbigant renders this verse, Behold the giants tremble beneath the waters, in their inhabitants: Job means those giants, says he, 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.
(5) Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. (6) Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. (7) He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (8) He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them. (9) He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it. (10) He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end. (11) The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. (12) He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud. (13) By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. (14) Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
Beautiful as this relation is, concerning GOD and his glorious attributes, yet certainly it was nothing but what might have been as well discoursed, without an eye to the dispute between Job and his friends, as with it. It forms a grand subject in the display of GOD’S power. His omnipotency in creating; his omniscience in beholding. Hell naked before him, is a solemn description, in few words, of everything awful and alarming. But these things, read in a spiritual point of view also, as referring to his gracious power in re-creating the souls of his people, observing the sorrows of hell in their struggles with the kingdom of darkness; holding back the face of his throne, when dark seasons oppress them; spreading his cloud upon it, when there seemeth no answer to prayer: these are beautiful illustrations of GOD’S ways, though, as Job saith, these are but parts of his ways: and how little a portion, after all, can the wisest discover of him. Reader! it is profitable to eye these things with reference to ourselves. Beautiful and instructive as all scriptures are, when seen as exemplified in the history of others, yet, to our own experience, those come home nearest and closest to the heart, which speak to a man’s own mind. David hath made a very striking and just observation on this ground when he saith, I will never forget thy precepts, for with them thou hast quickened me. Psa 119:93 .
Job 26:5 Dead [things] are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
Ver. 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters ] Here Job’s tongue, like a silver bell, begins to sound out the great things of God far better than Bildad had done, beginning at the bottom, and declaring that nothing is bred or brought forth, whether animate or inanimate, fish or other things in all the vast and deep ocean, but it is by his decree and power (Abbots). The Septuagint or Vulgate, for dead and lifeless things render giants, and understand thereby whales, those huge sea monsters formed under the waters.
And the inhabitants thereof Dead things are formed from under the waters. The Ellipsis must be supplied thus: “[The place where] the Rephaim stay [which is] beneath the waters, and the things that are therein. “This place thus answers to the other place, Sheol, the grave, in the next verse.
Dead things. Hebrew “The Rephaim”, the offspring of the fallen angels, akin to the Nephilim (Gen 6:4. See App-23and App-25and note on Isa 26:14, Isa 26:19).
are formed = remain. Hebrew. hul, a Homonym with three meanings: (1) to stay, remain, as here; Gen 8:10. Jdg 3:25. 2Sa 3:29. Lam 4:6. Hos 11:6, even to wait, hence to trust, Job 35:14. Compare Psa 37:7. Lam 3:26; (2) to be in pain, and hence to bring forth, Deu 2:25. Isa 23:4; Isa 26:18; Isa 54:1; Isa 66:8. Psa 29:9, &c.; (3) to be formed as made or brought forth, Job 26:13. Psa 51:5; Psa 90:2. Deu 32:18. Pro 8:24, Pro 8:25; Pro 26:10. Pro 15:7.
Job 26:5-8
Job 26:5-8
JOB EXTOLS THE WONDER OF GOD’S GREAT WORKS
“They that are deceased tremble
Beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.
Sheol is naked before God,
And Abaddon hath no covering.
He stretcheth out the North over empty space,
And hangeth the earth upon nothing.
He bindeth up the waters in the thick clouds;
And the cloud is not rent under them.”
There is an amazing comprehensiveness in Job’s understanding of God’s power in these verses. “He recognizes God’s dominion as not only existing in heaven and upon earth, but under the earth as well, even over the inhabitants of Hades, spoken of here as being under the oceans.” Here is a reference to persons under the earth, as also in the New Testament (Rev 5:3).
“And hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:3). The amazing truth of what is said here was unknown in pre-Christian ages and thus anticipates scientific information of modern times by thousands of years. Incidentally, the truth of these things here spoken with regard to God positively identifies these words as Job’s, not Bildad’s, as some have vainly supposed. Job spoke truth; Bildad did not (Job 42:7).
Job 26 is one of the grandest recitals in the whole book. It is excelled only by the Lord’s speeches.
“It sounds well in Job’s mouth. It ends the dialogue, like the first movement of a symphony, with great crushing chords.” Stealing parts of this chapter and putting the words in the mouth of Job’s friends is ridiculous, a vandalism on this chapter that has actually been committed by, “So many scholars.”
“He bindeth up the waters in the thick clouds, and yet the cloud is not rent” (Job 26:8). Only in the wonderful power of God Himself is there any full understanding of the mysteries that lie about us in the natural creation.
E.M. Zerr:
Job 26:5. Dead is from a word that means “ghost,” and is used here in the sense of something unseen to man. The myriad of creatures in the sea unknown and unseen by man have been the work of God.
Job 26:6. Hell in the O.T. is always from SHEOL and Strong defines it, “hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean retreat), including its accessories and inmates).” It has been translated in the A. V. by grave, hell and pit. This verse means that God knows all about the unseen world, and things that would wish to cause destruction are subject to His power.
Job 26:7. The earth is not resting on any material known to man that could support such a ponderous weight. Therefore it is like hanging it on nothing.
Job 26:8. We can see the clouds floating through the air over us and holding the moisture in suspense. When it rains the clouds have changed to water according to the law of the Creator, and thus it is not the clouds that are coming down. The familiar term “cloudburst” is a misleading one for there is no such thing in reality. As long as the vapor Is uncondensed the cloud will remain intact.
Dead things: Or, “The giants rephaim are in anguish under the waters and their inhabitants;” probably in allusion to the destruction of the earth by the deluge. Job 41:1-34, Gen 6:4, Psa 104:25, Psa 104:26, Eze 29:3-5
and: or, with
Reciprocal: Gen 1:21 – great Job 5:9 – marvellous Job 25:2 – Dominion Job 36:24 – magnify Job 38:16 – walked Ecc 11:5 – even Jer 27:5 – made
Job 26:5. 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 , rephaim, which is generally rendered dead men; thus, Psa 88:10, we read, Wilt thou show wonders to methim, the dead? Shall rephaim, the dead, arise and praise thee? Isa 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 remiss 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 Pro 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. Jarchis gloss is, In ctu rephaim, that is, in ctu gehinnom, the congregation of those in hell. His gloss is the very same on our text here in Job. Again, Pro 9:17-18, He knoweth not that rephaim, the dead, (the mighty ones,) are there, and that her (the harlots) 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 readers attention, comprehends all the forementioned particulars in his interpretation, thus: Job, having censured Bildads 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, (Pro 2:18; Pro 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 Gods 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.
Job 26:5-14. Conclusion of Bildads Speech.Bildad pursues the theme of the greatness of God, begun in Job 25:2-3.
The giants (Deu 2:11-20) tremble at God (Job 26:5). Rephaim (Gen 14:5*) means both shades (mg.) and giants; perhaps the connexion is that the giants, the oldest inhabitants of the earth, were the first to go down to Sheol, and so gave their name to all the shades. In any case it is best to translate here giants. It gives an excellent illustration of Gods power that these mighty men, who are conceived as having once done battle with Him, tremble under it. Abaddon (Job 26:6) is a synonym for Sheol, which lies open to Gods eyes (Pro 15:11*). The north in Job 26:7 is that part of the earth known to the Jews as the place of great mountains, whose weight makes the wonder that the earth rests upon nothing more wonderful still. Nothing and empty space mean chaos.
Job 26:8 passes to the wonder of the clouds, the bottles of heaven (Job 38:37), whose thin skins do not burst in spite of their enormous content.
Job 26:9 a is somewhat obscure; the meaning apparently is that God conceals His throne behind the clouds.
Job 26:10 is to be explained by reference to the Babylonian cosmology, adopted in Genesis 1. The earth is a flat disc resting on the great deep or chaos, an ocean of waters. Above it rises the vault of heaven or firmament, which is the sphere of light. Outside is darkness. In Job 26:11 the pillars of heaven are the mountains. In the Babylonian cosmology these rise from the extreme edge of the disc of the earth, and upon them is set the vault of heaven: their roots go down into the great deep.
Job 26:12 refers again to the great deep or chaos under the names of the sea and Rahab (= Tiamat), the chaos monster (cf. Job 7:12, Job 9:13). We may translate either stirreth up, when the meaning is God first incites and then destroys the rebellion of Tiamat, or else stilleth, when the two lines of the verse become parallel.
Job 26:13 refers to the clearing of the storm-clouds. By his breath the heavens are bright. The swift serpent is the leviathan of Job 3:8.
Job 26:14. Bildad has enumerated all these instances of the Divine power, but concludes by saying that all this is only the mere fringe of its manifestation.
26:5 {d} Dead [things] are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
(d) Job begins to declare the force of God’s power and providence in the mines and metals in the deep places of the earth.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes