Job 26:11
in Job 26The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The pillars of heaven tremble And are astonished at his rebuke.
KJV
The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
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This verse in Job 26
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His nod. [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] What else does he call 'the pillars of heaven' but the holy Angels, or the principal preachers of the Church, over whom in the heavenly world the whole structure of the spiritual edifice increasing arose, as Holy Scripture elsewhere bears witness, saying, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God.
This site's exposition
inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters
on Job 26:10-11
"He has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness" continues the picture. "The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke" pictures the sky's supports shaking. Clarke takes these supports as the towering peaks that seem to hold up the horizon.
This site's exposition
The foundations of heaven quake
Barnes and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the foundations of heaven as the mountains that seem to hold up the skies. Clarke hears a poetic picture of thunder or an earthquake. Heaven and earth quake at His rebuke.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
After listing the effects of the divine power on corporeal creatures he shows its effect on spiritual creatures which he calls the pillars of heaven, because their duty, in effect, is to preside over the movements of the heaven. So he says, "The pillars of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The pillars of heaven tremble,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The pillars of Heaven tremble - That is, the mountains, which seem to bear up the heavens. So, among the ancients. Mount Atlas was represented as one of the pillars of heaven.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
"Sheol" comes from a Hebrew root--"ask," because it is insatiable (Pr 27:20); or "ask as a loan to be returned," implying Sheol is but a temporary abode, previous to the resurrection; so for English Version "formed," the Septuagint and Chaldee translate; shall be born, or born again, implying the dead are to be given back from Sheol and born again into a new state [MAGEE].
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
pillars--poetically for the mountains which seem to bear up the sky (Ps 104:32). astonished--namely, from terror. Personification. his reproof-- (Ps 104:7).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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 this gave rise to the fable of Atlas being a man who bore the heavens on his shoulders. The Greek and Roman poets frequently use this image. Thus Silius Italicus, lib. i., ver. 202: - Atlas subducto tracturus vertice coelum: Sidera nubiferum fulcit caput, aethereasque Erigit aeternum compages ardua cervix: Canet barba gelu, frontemque immanibus umbris Pinea silva premit; vastant cava tempora venti Nimbosoque ruunt spumantia flumina rictu. “Atlas’ broad shoulders prop th’ incumbent skies: Around his cloud-girt head the stars arise. His towering neck supports th’ ethereal way; And o’er his brow black woods their gloom display. Hoar is his beard; winds round his temples roar; And from his jaws the rushing torrents pour.” J. B. C.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
trembled when He created them, and He caused them to congeal. They were trembling, and He rebuked them, and they stood dry and strong.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
the sea wrinkled Like (above:5), “my skin wrinkled.” Many wrinkles were formed. (So, when He said (Gen.:9), “Let the waters..gather,” they were gathered from their straightness and were wrinkled into many wrinkles) until they gathered into one place, which was prepared for 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. 5 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
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עַמּוּדֵ֣י | ʾamudei | [the] pillars of | H5982 → | |
| שָׁמַ֣יִם | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| יְרוֹפָ֑פוּ | yerofafu | they shake | H7322 → | |
| וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּ | veyitmehu | and they may be astonished | H8539 → | |
| מִגַּעֲרָתֽוֹ׃ | migaarato | from rebuke his | H1606 → |
עַמּוּדֵ֣י[the] pillars of
ʾamudeiH5982 →
שָׁמַ֣יִםheaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
יְרוֹפָ֑פוּthey shake
yerofafuH7322 →
וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּand they may be astonished
veyitmehuH8539 →
מִגַּעֲרָתֽוֹ׃from rebuke his
migaaratoH1606 →
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
1 Samuel 2:8He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap. He seats them among princes and bestows on them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth…
it leads to
- Psalms 113:7–8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Daniel 2:48
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many generous gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
- James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Daniel 6:3
Soon, by his extraordinary spirit, Daniel distinguished himself among the administrators and satraps. So the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.
- Ecclesiastes 4:14
For the youth has come from the prison to the kingship, though he was born poor in his own kingdom.
- Psalms 113:7–8
Through
Job 15:15If God puts no trust in His holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in His eyes,
it leads to
Through
Haggai 2:21“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth:
it leads to
- Zechariah 4:6–10
So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Zechariah 4:6–10
About Job
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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.