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Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:8

He bindeth up the waters - Drives the aqueous particles together, which were raised by evaporation, so that, being condensed, they form clouds which float in the atmosphere, till, meeting with strong currents of wind, or by the agency of the electric fluid, they are farther condensed; and then, becoming too heavy to be sustained in the air, fall down in the form of rain, when, in this poetic language, the cloud is rent under them. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:10

He hath compassed the waters with bounds - Perhaps this refers merely to the circle of the horizon, the line that terminates light and commences darkness, called here חשך עם אור תכלית עד ad tachlith or im chosech , "until the completion of light with darkness." Or, if we take תכלית tachlith here to be the same with תכלת techeleth , Exodus 25:4 , and elsewhere, which we translate blue, it may mean that sombre sky-blue appearance of the horizon at the time of twilight, i.e.,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:11

The pillars of heaven tremble - This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake: - "He shakes creation with his nod; Earth, sea, and heaven, confess him God." But there may be an allusion to the high mountains, which were anciently esteemed by the common people as the pillars on which the heavens rested; and when these were shaken with earthquakes, it might be said the pillars of heaven tremble. Mount Atlas was supposed to be one of those pillars, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:12

He divideth the sea with his power - Here is a manifest allusion to the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, according to the opinion of the most eminent critics. He smiteth through the proud - רהב Rahab , the very name by which Egypt is called Isaiah 51:9 , and elsewhere. Calmet remarks: "This appears to refer only to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh. Were we not prepossessed with the opinion that Job died... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:13

By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens - See the observations below. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Job 26:14

Lo, these are parts of his ways - קצות ketsoth , the ends or extremities, the outlines, an indistinct sketch, of his eternal power and Godhead. How little a portion is heard - שמץ shemets , a mere whisper; admirably opposed, as Mr. Good has well observed, to רעם raam , the thunder, mentioned in the next clause. As the thunder is to a whisper, so are the tremendous and infinitely varied works of God to the faint outlines exhibited in the above discourse. Every reader will... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 26:1-14

Job to Bildad: another sermon on the foregoing text. I. THE PREFACE TO THE SERMON ; OR , THE DISCOURSE OF BILDAD CRITICIZED . In Job's estimation it was: 1 . Wholly unserviceable. With stinging irony Job, according to our view, represents it as having been extremely helpful to him in his feebleness, as having imparted strength to his powerless arm and wisdom to his ignorant mind (verses 2, 3); meaning, of course, the opposite—that in these respects the brief but... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Job 26:1-14

Praises of the Eternal I. REPARTEE AND REPROOF . ( Job 26:2-4 .) The tone seems to be ironical: "How well hast thou helped feebleness, supported the arm of him that has no strength, counselled unwisdom, and in fulness given utterance to good sense! To whom hast thou offered words, and whose breath went forth from thee? By whose inspiration?" possibly pointing to the borrowed character of Bildad's speech. Words may be good in themselves, yet not pleasant or profitable if not spoken... read more

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