Job 26:13
in Job 26By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.
KJV
By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
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This verse in Job 26
Commentary
11 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
By his spirit - The word spirit here is either synonymous with wisdom, referring to the wisdom by which God made the heavens; or with breath - meaning, that he did it by his own command. There is no evidence that Job refers to the Third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit - as being especially engaged in the work of creation. The word spirit is often used to denote one’s self; and the meaning here is, that God had done it. This was one of the exhibitions of his power and skill.
This site's exposition
By His power He stirred the sea
on Job 26:12-13
"His hand pierced the fleeing serpent" stands close to the wording of Isaiah 27:1 on Leviathan. Readers divide over whether the phrase names a creature of the deep or draws on the combat imagery Isaiah turns to judgment. Delitzsch and Barnes set out both readings without settling it.
This site's exposition
His hand pierced the fleeing serpent
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, following Umbreit, read the verse in the sky: God's breath clears clouds, and His hand obscures the constellation of the dragon. Barnes takes the breath as God's own command. The serpent stands beside Rahab of verse 12.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
These words eloquently signify the perceptible serpent that must be annihilated by Christ's death. He calls Satan a fleeing and deserting serpent in order to indicate his flight from the company of the heavenly powers, and also because he hoped to escape the punishment of …
The Medieval Church2 voices
Therefore, the spiritual gifts for the good angels were increased as he fell, and so he says, "his spirit has adorned the heavens," that is, he has adorned the heavenly spirits with the adornment of spiritual gifts. It was not fitting that he who had …
A commentator
Gregory the DialogistMorals on the Book of Job, Book XVII · Written before 604.
proposed
His Spirit garnished the heavens. [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION] What 'heavens,' saving those concerning whom it is written, The heavens are telling the glory of God? Which 'heavens His Spirit garnished' then, when It 'filled' them.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
If the visible heavens be so glorious, what are those that are out of sight!" From the beauteous garniture of the ante-chamber we may infer the precious furniture of the presence-chamber. If stars be so bright, what are angels!
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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)
UMBREIT less simply, "By His breath He maketh the heavens to revive": namely, His wind dissipates the clouds, which obscured the shining stars. And so the next clause in contrast, "His hand doth strangle," that is, obscures the north constellation, the dragon.
By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens - See the observations below.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
the outskirts of His ways The easiest and the smallest in comparison to His other qualities.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּ֭רוּחוֹ | berucho | by wind his | H7307 → | 378 times |
| שָׁמַ֣יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| שִׁפְרָ֑ה | shifrah | [are] clearness | H8235 → | |
| חֹֽלֲלָ֥ה | cholalah | it pierced | H2490 → | |
| יָ֝ד֗וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| נָחָ֥שׁ | nachash | [the] snake | H5175 → | |
| בָּרִֽיחַ׃ | bariach | fleeing | H1281 → |
בְּ֭רוּחוֹby wind his
beruchoH7307 →378 times
שָׁמַ֣יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
שִׁפְרָ֑ה[are] clearness
shifrahH8235 →
חֹֽלֲלָ֥הit pierced
cholalahH2490 →
יָ֝ד֗וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
נָחָ֥שׁ[the] snake
nachashH5175 →
בָּרִֽיחַ׃fleeing
bariachH1281 →
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
Genesis 1:2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
it leads to
- Psalms 33:6
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 4:23
I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Psalms 104:30
When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.
- Isaiah 45:18
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be…
- Job 26:7
He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- Psalms 33:6
Through
Psalms 104:30When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.
it leads to
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- Job 33:4
Through
Isaiah 27:1In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Isaiah 51:9
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the…
- Ezekiel 29:3
About Job
This page draws on 11 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 (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Job; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON JOB 26:13; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.