Job 25:2
in Job 25“Dominion and awe belong to God; He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Dominion and fear are with him; He maketh peace in his high places.
KJV
Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places.
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This verse in Job 25
Commentary
11 notes on this verseDominion and fear are with Him; Who maketh peace in His high places. [LITERAL INTERPRETATION] As though he expressed himself in plain words; 'He only truly terrifies the hearts of mortals, who by the power of His Divine nature truly possesses these.' For what terror does the power of man infuse, which knows not when it may lack the light of that power? Now it is rightly said, He maketh peace in His high places.
This site's exposition
Then Bildad the Shuhite replied
on Job 25:1-3
Bildad's third speech runs six verses, the shortest, and after it Zophar never speaks a third time. What remains is majesty with no application: "Dominion and awe belong to God". Gill reads the question about "His light" as the sun shared by every man, whatever his standing before God.
This site's exposition
He establishes harmony in the heights of heaven
Bildad answers with God's dominion and awe alone. Barnes reads his aim as proving that man could never be pure before so great a God, the question of verse 4. Wesley sees the harmony of the heights set against Job's quarrel with God.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Job in his answer had now refuted the two calumnies which Eliphaz had thrown at him in his previous response. (22:5,12) He had shown that he was punished neither for sin nor for denying divine providence. He had shown very clearly that it was not …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
What great things are here said of God, designed to possess Job with a reverence of him, and to check his reflections upon him and upon his dealings with him: (1.) God is the sovereign Lord of all, and with him is terrible majesty.
The angels, though they be very numerous, all own his sovereignty, and acquiesce in his pleasure. The stars, tho' vast in their bulk, and various in their motions: exactly keep the order which God hath appointed them: and therefore it is great folly for thee to quarrel with the methods of God's dealings with thee.
Dominion and fear are with him,....
Men's dominion is often despicable, often despised, but God is always terrible. (2.) The glorious inhabitants of the upper world are all perfectly observant of him and entirely acquiesce in his will: He maketh peace in his high places.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Dominion and fear are with him - God is an absolute sovereign; his fear is on all the hosts of heaven; and by his sovereignty he establishes and preserves order in the heavens, and among all the inhabitants of the eternal world: how canst thou, therefore, dare to appeal to him, or desire to appear before him?
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Power and terror, that is, terror-inspiring power. peace in his high places--implying that His power is such on high as to quell all opposition, not merely there, but on earth also. The Holy Ghost here shadowed forth Gospel truths (Col 1:20;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Dominion and fear are with him - That is, God has a right to rule, and he ought to be regarded with reverence. The object of Bildad is to show that He is so great and glorious that it is impossible that man should be regarded as pure in his sight. He begins, therefore, by saying, that he is a Sovereign; that he is clothed with majesty, and that he is worthy of profound veneration. He maketh peace in his high places - “High places,” here refer to the heavenly worlds. The idea is, that he preserves peace and concord among the hosts of heaven. Numerous and mighty as are the armies of the skies, yet he keeps them in order and in awe. The object is to present an image of the majesty and power of that Being who thus controls a vast number of minds. The phrase does not necessarily imply that there had been variance or strife, and that then God had made peace, but that he preserved or kept them in peace.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Bildad’s reply Dominion and fear Directed towards what Job said (23:4), “I would set out my case before Him,” he says to him, “Dominion and fear are with Him.” “Dominion” refers to Michael, and “fear” refers to Gabriel. Can you answer even one of them?
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַמְשֵׁ֣ל | hamshel | dominion | H4910 → | |
| וָפַ֣חַד | vafachad | and dread | H6343 → | 49 times |
| עִמּ֑וֹ | imo | [are] with him | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| עֹשֶׂ֥ה | ʾoseh | [he] makes | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| שָׁ֝ל֗וֹם | shalom | peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
| בִּמְרוֹמָֽיו׃ | bimromav | in heights his | H4791 → | 54 times |
הַמְשֵׁ֣לdominion
hamshelH4910 →
וָפַ֣חַדand dread
vafachadH6343 →49 times
עִמּ֑וֹ[are] with him
imoH5973 →1050 times
עֹשֶׂ֥ה[he] makes
ʾosehH6213 →2628 times
שָׁ֝ל֗וֹםpeace
shalomH7965 →236 times
בִּמְרוֹמָֽיו׃in heights his
bimromavH4791 →54 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Colossians 1:20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:18–21
All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
- Ephesians 1:10
as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.
- 1 John 4:9–10
This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent His one and only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.
- Colossians 1:21–22
Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
- Ephesians 2:13–17
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
- 2 Corinthians 5:18–21
Through
Revelation 6:16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
it leads to
- Luke 23:30
At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
- Hosea 10:8
The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall…
- Revelation 4:2
At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.
- Luke 23:30
About Job
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book XVII; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.