Job 26:8
in Job 26He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; And the cloud is not rent under them.
KJV
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
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This verse in Job 26
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds, that they should not burst forth alike beneath. For what does he call 'the waters' in this place but knowledge; what 'clouds' but the Preachers? For that in Holy Writ 'water' may sometimes be a term used for knowledge, we have been taught by Solomon bearing witness to it, who says, The words of a man's mouth are as deep waters, and the well-spring of wisdom as a flowing brook.
This site's exposition
He hangs the earth upon nothing
on Job 26:7-9
"He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing" is the only place Scripture uses this phrase. The poem states it without pressing any modern cosmology. Delitzsch reads the empty space as the northern sky over a void, held up by God's will alone.
This site's exposition
He wraps up the waters in His clouds
Barnes pictures the clouds holding the waters as in bottles, until God sends them down drop by drop upon the earth. The clouds carry that weight and hold. Clarke explains the same wonder by condensation and the winds.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not dispersed under it." In fact, if he does not order the clouds to rain, they do not release rain on earth in the quantity that has been ordered by him.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then he enumerates the effects of divine power in the middle space between heaven and earth. First, in the air, where one finds the wondrous fact that water is lifted up as vapor, is suspended in the air, and does not fall all at once, …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
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].
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds - That is, he seems to do it, or to collect the waters in the clouds, as in bottles or vessels. The clouds appear to hold the waters, as if bound up, until he is pleased to send them drop by drop upon the earth. And the cloud is not rent under them - The wonder which Job here expresses is, that so large a quantity of water as is poured down from the clouds, should be held suspended in the air without seeming to rend the cloud, and falling all at once. His image is that of a bottle, or vessel, filled with water, suspended in the air, and which is not rent. What were the views which he had of the clouds, of course it is impossible now to say. If he regarded them as they are, as vapors, or if he considered them to be a more solid substance, capable of holding water, there was equal ground for wonder. In the former case, his amazement would have arisen from the fact, that so light, fragile, and evanescent a substance as vapor should contain so large a quantity of water; in the latter case, his wonder would have been that such a substance should distil its contents drop by drop. There is equal reason for admiring the wisdom of God in the production of rain, now that the cause is understood. The clouds are collections of vapors. They contain moisture, or vapor, which ascends from the earth, and which is held in suspension when in small particles in the clouds; as, when a room is swept, the small particles of dust will be seen to float in the room. When these small particles are attracted, and form masses as large as drops, the air will no longer sustain them, and they fall to the earth. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צֹרֵֽר־ | tzorer- | [he] binds up | H6887 → | |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בְּעָבָ֑יו | beavav | in clouds his | H5645 → | 31 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִבְקַ֖ע | nivka' | it is split open | H1234 → | 51 times |
| עָנָ֣ן | ʾanan | [the] cloud | H6051 → | 87 times |
| תַּחְתָּֽם׃ | tachtam | under them | H8478 → | 505 times |
צֹרֵֽר־[he] binds up
tzorer-H6887 →
מַ֥יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
בְּעָבָ֑יוin clouds his
beavavH5645 →31 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
נִבְקַ֖עit is split open
nivka'H1234 →51 times
עָנָ֣ן[the] cloud
ʾananH6051 →87 times
תַּחְתָּֽם׃under them
tachtamH8478 →505 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
Proverbs 30:4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth?…
it leads to
- John 3:13
No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
- Ephesians 4:8–10
This is why it says: “When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men.”
- Deuteronomy 30:12
It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’
- Matthew 1:21–23
She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”
- Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of…
- John 3:13
Through
Jeremiah 10:13When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from…
it leads to
- Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
- Job 38:22
Have you entered the storehouses of snow or observed the storehouses of hail,
- Psalms 135:7
Through
Isaiah 5:6I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 7:23–25
And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
- Isaiah 7:23–25
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 on the Book of Job; 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); 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); Olympiodorus of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON JOB 26:7-9 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.