Job 26
World English Bible
WEB1Then Job answered, 2“How have you helped him who is without power! How have you saved the arm that has no strength! 3How have you counseled him who has no wisdom, and plentifully declared sound knowledge! 4To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came out of you? 5“The departed spirits tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. 6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. 7He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing. 8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them. 9He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it. 10He has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness. 11The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke. 12He stirs up the sea with his power, and by his understanding he strikes through Rahab. 13By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent. 14Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
World English Bible, 2020 stable text edition. Public domain; “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org. eBible.org
Overview
Job Chapter 26 presents a powerful response from Job to his friend #Bildad, who has just spoken about the greatness of God. Job begins by highlighting the futility of Bildad's words, questioning how he could offer such limited understanding of God's majesty. He asserts that God's power and wisdom are beyond human comprehension, stating, "How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!" (Job 26:2). This rhetorical questioning emphasizes Job's frustration with the simplistic views of his friends regarding suffering and divine justice.
Job then goes on to describe the vastness of God's creation and His sovereignty over the universe. He speaks of God stretching out the north over empty space and hanging the earth on nothing (Job 26:7). Job poetically illustrates God's control over the natural world, mentioning the pillars of heaven and the terror of His rebuke (Job 26:11-12). He concludes by affirming that God's wisdom is unsearchable and that even the greatest forces of nature are but a whisper of His power. This chapter serves as a profound declaration of God's omnipotence and a reminder of the limitations of human understanding in the face of divine mystery.
Topics in this chapter
- Creation
- Sovereignty of God
- Majesty of God
- Wisdom
- God's Majesty
- Humility
- Job
- Power
- Authority
- Divine Order
- God's Power
- God's Sovereignty
- Order
- Peace
- Providence
- Reverence
- Suffering
- Sustainer
- Trusting God
- Afterlife
- Art in the Bible
- Control
- Creator
- Dependence on God
- Divine Intervention
- Divine Justice
- Divine Majesty
- Divine Mystery
- Divine Power
- Divine Wisdom
- Faith
- God
- God's Control
- God's Nature
- God's Understanding
- Healing
- Heavens
- Human Understanding
- Literature in the Bible
- Mortality
- Mystery
- Nature
- Omnipotence
- Sheol
- The Earth
- The North
- The Presence of God
- Transcendence
- Trust
- Understanding
- Wisdom Literature
Related chapters
- Psalms 104SustainerTranscendenceNature
- Job 38ControlSustainerDivine Mystery
- Genesis 1HeavensDivine OrderCreator
- Job 37SustainerNatureGod's Control
- Isaiah 40SustainerGod's NatureCreator
- Job 36ControlNatureGod's Majesty
- Job 12ControlNatureGod's Control
- Job 9TranscendenceGod's MajestyMystery
- Job 39God's UnderstandingNatureMystery
- Job 25God's NatureGod's MajestyDivine Order
- Job 11Divine MysteryTranscendenceMystery
- Job 10SheolAfterlifeCreator
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