Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Job 26:9

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Job 26:9. 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.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Bildad speaks and Job replies (25:1-26:14)

It seems either that Job’s friends have no answer to what he says or that they are tired of arguing with him and see no point in continuing the debate. Bildad has only a brief speech, to which Job replies, and Zophar does not speak at all.
In an effort to bring Job to repentance, Bildad impresses upon him the greatness of the God with whom Job argues. His kingdom is all-powerful, his armies of angelic beings more than can be counted (25:1-3). In addition, God is pure beyond human understanding, so that even the mighty universe is unclean in his sight. How then can one tiny human being claim to be sinless (4-6)?
Bildad’s statement shows that he still does not understand Job’s complaint. Job has never claimed to be sinless; only that he is not the terrible sinner that they, on the basis of his sufferings, accuse him of being. Tired of their words, Job, with biting sarcasm, thanks Bildad for his sympathetic understanding and congratulates him for his outstanding knowledge (26:1-4).
Job then shows that he knows as much about the power of God in the universe as Bildad does. No region is outside God’s sovereignty, not even the mysterious gloomy world of the dead (5-6). The heavens also are in his power. He controls the stars, the moon and the clouds. He turns darkness into light when the sun rises above the horizon each morning (7-10). On the one hand he sends earthquakes and storms; on the other he calms the raging sea and gives fair weather (11-13). If these are but the ‘whispers’ of God’s power, how great must be his ‘thunder’ (14)!

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

JOB’S THOUGHT REGARDING THE CREATION BY GOD’S SPIRIT

“He that encloseth the face of his throne, And spreadeth his cloud upon it. He hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters, Unto the confines of light and darkness. The pillars of heaven tremble. And are astonished at his rebuke. He stirreth up the sea with his power, And by his understanding smiteth through Rahab. By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent. Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways: And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”

“By his Spirit” Corresponding with the great truth in Genesis 1:2, it is God’s Spirit that performs all the wonders of Creation.

The general thought of this paragraph, according to Heavenor, is that, “Earth and sea alike bear witness to the mighty power of God; how mighty must be the God of an ordered universe”!The New Bible Commentary, Revised p. 435.

Some scholars find all kinds of references in this section to Babylonian mythology; but Job’s statement in Job 26:7 absolutely contradicts the Babylonian Creation myth. “That myth supposed that the earth was a flat disc resting on the `great deep,’ an ocean of waters, standing for Chaos.”Asp, p. 359. Job taught that God suspended the earth on nothing (Job 26:7). We challenge anyone to find a more perpendicular contradiction of Babylonian mythology than that. Oh yes, some terms that are suggestive of ancient myths are found here, such as the “swift serpent,” and “Rahab”; but the cosmology here is Biblical, it is absolutely not mythological.

Moffatt’s translation of the last few lines of this chapter is beautiful:

“And all this is the mere fringe of his force, The faintest whisper we can hear of him!
Who knows then the full thunder of his power!”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

He holdeth back the face of his throne - That is, he does not exhibit it - he covers it with clouds. The idea seems to be, that God sometimes comes forth and manifests himself to mankind, but that he comes encompassed with clouds, so that his throne cannot be seen. So in Psalms 18:11, “He made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.” God is often represented as encompassed with clouds, or as accompanied with tempests.

And spreadeth his cloud upon it - That is, so that it cannot be seen. There is much poetic beauty in this image. It is, that the clouds are made to conceal the splendor of the throne of God from the sight of man, and that all their sublimity and grandeur, as they roll on one another, and all their beauty when painted with so many colors in the evening, are designed to hide that throne from mortal eyes. No one sees God; and though it is manifest that he is every where employed, and that he comes forth with amazing grandeur in the works of creation and providence, yet he is himself invisible.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 26

So Job answers now this little saying of Bildad. It's his third and final answer to Job, and it's really nothing.

Job answered and said, How have you helped him that is without power? how can you save me with an arm that has no strength? How have you counseled him who has no wisdom? how have you really declared the thing as it really is? To whom have you uttered your words? and whose spirit came from you? Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretched out the north over an empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing ( Job 26:1-7 ).

Interesting statement, indeed, in that Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible, probably as old as the book of Genesis, maybe even older; it could have been written before Genesis. And Job declares that God hangs the earth upon nothing. Now compare that with the scientific theories of those days, the men of science in those days. The wise men had drawn pictures of the earth being held up by an elephant. Now I don't know what he was standing on. Or Atlas holding up the earth. But Job declares he hung it on nothing. Interesting indeed.

He binds up the waters in the thick clouds; and the clouds do not tear under them ( Job 26:8 ).

Now, how much water is contained in a cloud? And Job says, "Hey, He's got all that water bound up in the cloud and yet the cloud doesn't tear." Yet there is not much substance to a cloud, you can run your hand right through it. But yet He can hold all that water there in the cloud.

He holds back the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud upon it. He has compassed the waters with bounds [the oceans, he has set the boundaries for the oceans], until the day and night come to an end. The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He divides the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smites through the proud. And by his Spirit he has garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. 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? ( Job 26:9-14 ) "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Job’s denunciation of Bildad’s wisdom ch. 26

"Chapter 26 is one of the grandest recitals in the whole book. It is excelled only by the Lord’s speeches, as is fitting. It sounds well in Job’s mouth, and ends the dialogue, like the first movement of a symphony, with great crashing chords." [Note: Andersen, p. 216.]

Job began by rebuking Bildad’s attitude (Job 26:1-4). Sarcastically he charged Bildad with the same weakness and inability Bildad had attributed to all men (Job 26:2-3). Bildad’s words were not profound but quite superficial (Job 26:4).

"These verses contain Job’s harshest rejection of a friend’s counsel." [Note: Hartley, p. 362.]

Next, Job picked up the theme of God’s greatness that Bildad had introduced (Job 26:5-14). Some commentators have understood this pericope to be the words of Bildad or Zophar. However, the lack of textual reference to either Bildad or Zophar, plus the content of the section, which is more consistent with Job’s words than theirs, makes this an unattractive view. [Note: See Andersen, p. 216.] Job’s beautiful description of God’s omnipotence in these verses shows that he had a much larger concept of God than Bildad did (cf. Job 25:3; Job 25:5-6).

"Departed spirits" (Job 26:5) is literally rephaim in Hebrew. The Rephaim, meaning giants, were both the mythical gods and human warlords of ancient Ugaritic (Canaanite) culture. They were the elite, and the Canaanites thought that those of them who had died were the most powerful and worthy of the dead. [Note: Conrad L’Heureax, "The Ugaritic and Biblical Rephaim," Harvard Theological Review 67 (1974):265-74.] Job said these trembled "under the waters" (i.e., in Sheol) because they are under God’s authority. "Abaddon" is a poetic equivalent for Sheol (cf. Job 26:6; Job 28:23; Job 31:12; Psalms 88:11 margin; Proverbs 15:11; Proverbs 27:20). Job viewed the earth as sustained only by God (Job 26:7). God bottles the rain in clouds, but they do not break (Job 26:8). Probably the circle in view (Job 26:11) is the horizon that appears as a boundary for the sun. The pillars of heaven (Job 26:11) are doubtless the mountains that in one sense appear to hold up the sky. "Rahab" was a mythical sea monster that was symbolic of evil (cf. Job 9:13). The "fleeing serpent" (Job 26:13) is a synonym for Rahab.

"God’s power over and knowledge of Sheol, His creation of outer space and the earth, His control of the clouds, His demarcating of the realms of light and darkness, His shaking of the mountains, His quelling of the sea, His destruction of alleged opposing deities-to call these accomplishments the bare outlines or fragmentary sketches of God’s activities [Job 26:14] gives an awareness of the vast immensity and incomprehensible infinity of God!" [Note: Zuck, Job, p. 119.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He holdeth back the face of his throne,.... His throne is the heaven of heavens; the face of it, or what is before it, is the starry and airy heavens; this face of his throne is sometimes held back, or covered with clouds, that so his throne is so far from being visible, that even the face of it, or the outside or external appearance of it, is not to be seen, as follows:

[and] spreadeth his cloud upon it; and both he and his throne are invisible; clouds and darkness are round about him, and his pavilion round about are dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies,

Psalms 18:11; and even the light in which he dwells, and with which he clothes himself, is impervious to us, and is so dazzling, that itself covers and keeps back himself and throne from being seen by mortals. The Targum suggests, that what is here said to be done is done that the angels may not see it; but these always stand before the throne of God, and always behold the face of God himself.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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 (Romans 15:6); 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,Job 26:7; Job 26:7. 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 (Job 26:10; Job 26:10), 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, Jeremiah 5:22. 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 (Job 26:11; Job 26:11), and even divides the sea, and smites through its proud waves,Job 26:12; Job 26:12. At the presence of the Lord the sea flies and the mountains skip,Job 26:26; Job 26:4. See Habakkuk 3:6, 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 Psalms 89:9; Psalms 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 Psalms 87:4; Isaiah 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 (Job 26:6; Job 26:6) 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 (Proverbs 15:11), and here to be naked before him, to which it is probable there is an allusion, Revelation 14:10, 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 Job 26:5; Job 26:5, 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 Proverbs 21:16, 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,Job 26:7; Job 26:7. So he did at first, when he stretched out the heavens like a curtain (Psalms 104:2); 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,Revelation 6:14. 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 Psalms 89:12. 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 (Job 26:8; Job 26:8): 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 (Job 26:9; Job 26:9): He holds back the face of his throne, that light in which he dwells, and spreads a cloud upon it, through which he judges,Job 22:13; Job 22:13. 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.

      (4.) The bright ornaments of heaven are the work of his hands (Job 26:13; Job 26:13): By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, the breath of his mouth (Psalms 33:6), 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 (Isaiah 27:1), 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? Job 41:1-34; Job 41:1-34

      II. He concludes, at last, with an awful et cætera (Job 26:14; Job 26:14): 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 (Romans 11:33); 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,Psalms 90:11. God is great, and we know him not.