Job 26 Study Notes: The Edges of God’s Power
Job mocks the worthless help Bildad has offered him. He then praises God’s power over the realm of the dead, the earth, the clouds, the moon and the sea, and concludes that all these works show only a faint glimpse of God’s full might.
General
What is Job doing in 26:2-4 when he exclaims how greatly Bildad has aided the weak and how sound his insight has been?
Answer: Mocking Bildad’s speech as no real help to a weak, suffering man
Job answers Bildad with irony, saying the opposite of what he means. He exclaims how wonderfully Bildad has helped the weak, rescued the feeble, advised the foolish and supplied such rich wisdom (26:2-3). Then he asks whom Bildad was really speaking to, and whose spirit was behind his words (26:4), questioning where such counsel came from. Bildad’s short speech had offered Job no comfort at all. Job had already called all three friends miserable comforters (16:2) and worthless physicians (13:4), and he had said that a man in despair should be shown kindness by his friend (6:14). At the end of the book the LORD confirms that the friends did not speak about Him accurately (42:7).
- Job 26:2-4 (BSB)““How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight! To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?”Job answers Bildad with irony about how much his words have helped.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job had already called his friends miserable comforters.
- Job 13:4 (BSB)“You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.”Job had called the friends worthless physicians.
- Job 6:14 (BSB)“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”Job had said a despairing man should receive kindness from his friend.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later says the friends did not speak about Him accurately.
Theological
What is Job doing with his exclamations in 26:2-4 about Bildad’s help to the weak?
Answer: Mocking Bildad’s speech as no real help to a weak, suffering man
Job’s opening is sustained irony: he extols the help Bildad has given the weak, the rescue of the feeble arm, the counsel offered the unwise and the abundance of insight supplied (26:2-3), then asks to whom Bildad was speaking and what spirit prompted him (26:4), calling into question the source of his counsel. The barb fits Job’s earlier verdicts on the friends as miserable comforters (16:2) and worthless physicians (13:4), and his plea that the despairing are owed a friend’s kindness (6:14). The LORD’s closing judgment that the friends spoke inaccurately about Him (42:7) bears out Job’s complaint against them.
- Job 26:2-4 (BSB)““How you have helped the powerless and saved the arm that is feeble! How you have counseled the unwise and provided fully sound insight! To whom have you uttered these words? And whose spirit spoke through you?”Job answers Bildad with irony about how much his words have helped.
- Job 16:2 (BSB)““I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all.”Job had already called his friends miserable comforters.
- Job 13:4 (BSB)“You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.”Job had called the friends worthless physicians.
- Job 6:14 (BSB)“A despairing man should have the kindness of his friend, even if he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”Job had said a despairing man should receive kindness from his friend.
- Job 42:7 (BSB)“After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and your two friends. For you have not spoken about Me accurately, as My servant Job has.”The LORD later says the friends did not speak about Him accurately.
General
How does Job sum up God’s mighty works in 26:14?
Answer: They show only the outer edges of God’s ways; His full might is beyond us
After describing God’s power over the depths, the sky and the sea, Job says that all of it is only the outer edge of God’s ways. What people hear of Him is like a faint whisper, and no one can grasp the full roar of His might (26:14). Even the greatest things we can see show only a small part of who God is. Paul likewise marvels that God’s judgments cannot be searched out and His ways cannot be traced (Romans 11:33). The LORD says His ways are as high above human ways as the sky is above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9), and a psalm declares that His greatness is beyond searching out (Psalm 145:3). When the LORD later answers Job, He presses this same point, asking where Job was when He laid the earth’s foundations (38:4).
- Job 26:14 (BSB)“Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?””Job says all these works are only the edges of God’s ways, a faint whisper of His power.
- Romans 11:33 (BSB)“O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!”Paul marvels that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His ways untraceable.
- Isaiah 55:8-9 (BSB)““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”The LORD says His ways are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth.
- Psalm 145:3 (BSB)“Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.”The psalmist says God’s greatness is unsearchable.
- Job 38:4 (BSB)“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.”When the LORD speaks, He presses Job with how little he knows of creation.
Theological
What conclusion does Job draw in 26:14 from his survey of God’s works?
Answer: They show only the outer edges of God’s ways; His full might is beyond us
Job concludes that the entire display of power just surveyed, over the underworld, the heavens and the sea, is only the periphery of God’s ways; what humans hear of Him is a faint whisper, and the full thunder of His might lies beyond comprehension (26:14). The confession of divine incomprehensibility is echoed in Paul’s praise of God’s unsearchable judgments and untraceable ways (Romans 11:33), in the LORD’s declaration that His ways transcend ours as the heavens the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9), and in the psalmist’s praise of unsearchable greatness (Psalm 145:3). The LORD’s own speeches will drive the point home, beginning with the question of where Job was at the founding of the earth (38:4).
- Job 26:14 (BSB)“Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?””Job says all these works are only the edges of God’s ways, a faint whisper of His power.
- Romans 11:33 (BSB)“O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!”Paul marvels that God’s judgments are unsearchable and His ways untraceable.
- Isaiah 55:8-9 (BSB)““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”The LORD says His ways are as far above ours as the heavens are above the earth.
- Psalm 145:3 (BSB)“Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.”The psalmist says God’s greatness is unsearchable.
- Job 38:4 (BSB)“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.”When the LORD speaks, He presses Job with how little he knows of creation.
General
Which of these is among the works of God that Job describes in 26:7-13?
Answer: Suspending the earth over nothing and holding water in the clouds
Job describes God spreading the north across the void and suspending the earth over nothing (26:7). God binds up water in the clouds, yet they do not tear open under the load (26:8). He veils the full moon with cloud (26:9) and marks out a horizon across the waters where light meets darkness (26:10). Heaven’s foundations shake at His rebuke (26:11). By His power and understanding He churned up the sea and struck down Rahab, a poetic name for a mighty sea monster, and He pierced the serpent as it fled (26:12-13). A psalm uses the same imagery, praising God who rules the raging sea and crushed Rahab (Psalm 89:9-10). Proverbs speaks of God marking a circle upon the deep and setting the sea’s boundary (Proverbs 8:27-29), and Isaiah pictures Him spreading the sky out like a curtain (Isaiah 40:22). Every part of creation, from sky to sea, is under His command.
- Job 26:7-10 (BSB)“He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud. He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.”Job describes God hanging the earth, holding water in clouds, veiling the moon and marking a horizon.
- Job 26:11-13 (BSB)“The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke. By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.”Heaven quakes at God’s rebuke, and He masters the sea, Rahab and the fleeing serpent.
- Proverbs 8:27-29 (BSB)“I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth, when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.”Wisdom recalls God inscribing a circle on the deep and setting a boundary for the sea.
- Isaiah 40:22 (BSB)“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”Isaiah pictures God stretching out the heavens like a curtain.
- Psalm 89:9-10 (BSB)“You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.”The psalmist praises God for ruling the raging sea and crushing Rahab.
Theological
Which of the following belongs to Job’s catalog of God’s works in 26:7-13?
Answer: Suspending the earth over nothing and holding water in the clouds
Job’s hymn to God’s power ranges across creation: He spreads the north over the void and suspends the earth over nothing (26:7), binds water in clouds that do not rupture (26:8), veils the moon (26:9), and inscribes the horizon on the sea where light and darkness meet (26:10). Heaven’s foundations tremble at His rebuke (26:11), and by power and understanding He subdues the sea, shatters Rahab and pierces the fleeing serpent (26:12-13), imagery a psalm shares when it praises God who rules the raging sea and crushed Rahab (Psalm 89:9-10). The same ordering of creation appears when wisdom recalls the circle on the deep and the sea’s fixed limit (Proverbs 8:27-29), and when Isaiah pictures God spreading the sky out like a curtain (Isaiah 40:22).
- Job 26:7-10 (BSB)“He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud. He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.”Job describes God hanging the earth, holding water in clouds, veiling the moon and marking a horizon.
- Job 26:11-13 (BSB)“The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke. By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab. By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.”Heaven quakes at God’s rebuke, and He masters the sea, Rahab and the fleeing serpent.
- Proverbs 8:27-29 (BSB)“I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth, when He set a boundary for the sea, so that the waters would not surpass His command, when He marked out the foundations of the earth.”Wisdom recalls God inscribing a circle on the deep and setting a boundary for the sea.
- Isaiah 40:22 (BSB)“He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”Isaiah pictures God stretching out the heavens like a curtain.
- Psalm 89:9-10 (BSB)“You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them. You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.”The psalmist praises God for ruling the raging sea and crushing Rahab.
General
According to Job in 26:5-6, how does the realm of the dead stand before God?
Answer: It lies fully exposed, with nothing in it hidden from Him
Job turns from Bildad to describe God’s greatness himself, beginning with the lowest places. Even the dead shake with fear, down beneath the waters with everything that lives there (26:5). Sheol, the realm of the dead, lies bare in God’s sight, and Abaddon, named alongside it, has nothing to cover it (26:6). Nothing is hidden from Him, even in the grave. Proverbs says the same about Sheol and Abaddon, adding that human hearts are even more open to the LORD (Proverbs 15:11). The psalmist knows God would be there even if he lay down in Sheol (Psalm 139:8), and Hebrews teaches that no created thing can hide from God’s eyes (Hebrews 4:13).
- Job 26:5-6 (BSB)“The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.”The dead tremble, and Sheol and Abaddon lie uncovered before God.
- Proverbs 15:11 (BSB)“Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD—how much more the hearts of men!”Proverbs also says Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD.
- Psalm 139:8 (BSB)“If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.”The psalmist knows God is present even in Sheol.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.
Theological
What does Job affirm in 26:5-6 about the realm of the dead in relation to God?
Answer: It lies fully exposed, with nothing in it hidden from Him
Job begins his own account of divine majesty from the depths: the dead beneath the waters tremble (26:5), and Sheol and Abaddon are stripped and uncovered before God (26:6). The underworld is no sphere beyond His sight or rule. Proverbs uses the same pairing to argue from the lesser to the greater, that if Sheol and Abaddon are bare to the LORD, human hearts are more exposed still (Proverbs 15:11). The psalmist confesses God’s presence even in Sheol (Psalm 139:8), and Hebrews extends the point to all creation, which lies uncovered before the One who will call every person to account (Hebrews 4:13).
- Job 26:5-6 (BSB)“The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and those who dwell in them. Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.”The dead tremble, and Sheol and Abaddon lie uncovered before God.
- Proverbs 15:11 (BSB)“Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD—how much more the hearts of men!”Proverbs also says Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD.
- Psalm 139:8 (BSB)“If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there.”The psalmist knows God is present even in Sheol.
- Hebrews 4:13 (BSB)“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.