Commentary on
The Book of Job

Chapter Twenty-six: Job Replies

Job Replies to Bildad

Job Replies to Bildad

Job: chapter 26
¹ But Job answered and said,

² How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
³ How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
⁴ To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
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?

“How hast thou helped him that is without power?” Job answers Bildad's ‘hows’ with sarcastic ‘hows’ of his own (26:2). ‘How have you counseled the lost, or shared wisdom’ (26:3)? ‘Your words that should be meant to build up, only serve to break down. Is this your desire for your friend?’

Whose Spirit Speaks from You?

“Who has helped you utter these words?” Job asks, “and whose spirit spoke from your mouth” (26:4, NIV)? This is the most stinging rebuke yet. Job implies that an evil spirit is speaking through Bildad. Job has just realized that his friends are being used. His merciless tone implies that he believes them to be willing participants.

In a more oblique way, Job speaks of “dead things” formed below the deep and living in the deep (26:5). God's vision penetrates the deep: “Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering” (26:6). ‘God sees where your words come from,’ Job warns his friend.

Clarke and other scholars are uncomfortable with verse 5. “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” (Clarke, note on 26:5; see also:Barnes, note to 26:5). He goes on to quote several older texts which substitute ‘giants’ for ‘dead things’, believing that the giants who perished in the great flood are intended. Clarke then suggests that ‘sea monsters’ may be intended. The word ‘rephaim’ is often used to denote giants, but is also used to denote the dead. Barnes notes: “Vitringa supposes that the term was given to the spirits of the dead on account of the fact that they appeared to be ‘larger’ than life; that they in their form and stature resembled giants. But a more probable opinion is, that it is applied to the shades of the dead as being weak, feeble, or without power or sensation, from the word ‘râpâ’, weak, feeble, powerless” (Barnes, note to Isa. 14:9). Strong's seems comfortable with ‘dead things’ (Strong, H7496). Interestingly, the word here translated ‘formed’ is ‘chûl’ or ‘chîyl’ in Hebrew and is “A primitive root; properly to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), that is, (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain” (Strong, H2342).

One Jewish legend speaks of Rahab, “the Angel of the Sea, who rebelled at the creation of the world… His body rests in the depths of the sea, the water dispelling the foul odor that emanates from it” (Ginzberg 1909, 27). Whatever they are ‘dead things’, ‘sea monsters’ or antediluvian ‘giants’, they are writhing in the depths and God sees them. Given the context, the depths would seem to refer to the location of the ‘spirit’ speaking through Bildad. Job has joined his friends in leaving off all niceties.

He Cut Rahab to Pieces

Job answers Bildad's portrayal of God, with his own. God hangs the earth in space (26:7). God holds the waters in the clouds (26:8). Job has amazing scientific insight, but what he sees is the amazing power of God.

“By His power He churned up the sea, by his wisdom He cut Rahab to pieces” (26:12, NIV). Notice that the King James Bible has translated ‘Rahab’, the name of a sea monster associated with Egypt, as ‘proud’. Similar to the translation difficulty for chapter 3, verse 8, this may make the immediate passage digestable, but depletes the deeper meaning. The use of ‘proud’ here seems out of place. The context, referring back to verses 4 and 5 above, is things living in the deep, spirits who speak out through men. By wisdom, God cuts Rahab to pieces. In Job 9:13, we saw that Rahab has helpers.

In a very similar sort of reference to Rahab, see Psalm 89:10: “Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain.” The context of this Psalm is David's covenant with God. The implication is that though Rahab is crushed or cut up as if dead, Rahab is not dead. We should not push this analogy too far. Rahab can refer to Egypt (see: Isaiah 30:7), although the context would seem to prohibit that. Several levels of meaning are concurrently possible.

“By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent” (26:13). Two very different images are being juxtaposed. His “spirit” is ‘rûach’ (Strong, H7307), the ‘breath’ of God which garnishes or ‘brightens’ (Strong, H8235) heaven. In contrast, God also forms the crooked serpent. ‘Formed’ in this verse is the same word used in verse 5 above, meaning to twist or to writh in pain (Strong, H2342). The ‘crooked serpent’ is ‘bârîach nâchâsh’ in Hebrew (Strong, H1281 & H5175). Scheindlin suggests a more reasonable explanation of the first part of this verse: “This formerly obscure verse is rendered perfectly clear by a passage in the Mesopotamian creation epic. In this work, written in Akkadian, the creator-god Marduk uses both wind and a net to ensnare the sea monster. The Akkadian word for ‘net’ is practically identical to a word in our verse.” (Scheindlin 1998, 202). Thus he translates verse 13, “With His wind, He got Yamm-ocean in a net, His hand pierced the Elusive Serpent” (Scheindlin 1998, 112).

Isaiah proclaims the day of deliverance when, “the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isa. 27:1). Here the ‘piercing serpent’ is the same two words in Hebrew ‘bârîach nâchâsh’. Isaiah calls captive Babylonians ‘bârîach’ (Isa. 43:14, see Strong) in the only other Biblical use of that word. ‘Bârîach’ is defined by Strong's as “a fugitive, that is, the serpent (as fleeing), and the constellation by that name” (Strong, H1281).

Who Can Understand the Thunder?

Job is pouring out his heart here. Something is pricking him, rubbing against the back of his head. He is seeing the light of God and the darkness in which shines Leviathan. This is precisely the contrast that God will force him to see in chapters 40 and 41. But, like a child refusing each new spoonful, Job continues to turn away and not examine the thought. He settles for an effusion of high sounding adorations.

We know so little and understand even less. “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” (26:14)? It would appear that Job's scientific knowledge is several thousand years ahead of that of Europe. “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them” (26:7-8). Here he alludes to the desolate wastelands of the arctic, the earth hanging in space, and clouds containing water. But mostly, he knows that he knows very little. “How little a portion is heard” refers to a faint whisper. The idea is that God's tiniest whisper is overpowering and we cannot understand it (Clarke, note on 26:14).

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*All Bible quotes are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated.

Commentary onThe Book of Job