Job 26:13 - Exposition

By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens ; or, by his spirit the heavens are brightness ; i.e. at a breath from his mouth the heavens, lately all cloud and storm ( Job 26:8-11 ), recover their serenity, are calm and clear and bright. Our experience says, "After a storm comes a calm." Job notes that both alike are from God. His hand hath formed the crooked serpent ; rather, his hand hath pierced the swift serpent (see the Revised Version). The reference is probably to "the war in heaven," already suggested by the mention of" Rahab" (verse 12). In that war, according to the tradition that had reached Job, a great serpent, like the Egyptian Apepi (Apophis), had borne a part.