Job 9:13
in Job 9God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
God will not withdraw his anger; The helpers of Rahab do stoop under him.
KJV
If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
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This verse in Job 9
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
If God will not withdraw his anger - That is, if he perseveres in inflicting punishment. He will not turn aside his displeasure by any opposition or resistance made to him. The proud helpers - Margin, Helpers of pride, or, strength. Jerome renders this, “under whom they who bear up the world bow down.” The Septuagint, not less singularly, “by him the whales (or monsters - κήτος ketos) which are under heaven, are bowed down.” Codurcus renders it, “aids of pride,” and understands by it all the things on which proud men rely, as wealth, health, rank, talent.
This site's exposition
Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him
on Job 9:11-13
The words "Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him" turn praise into an ache, a God active everywhere and visible nowhere. The line "the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him" carries the same unanswerable strength further, since none can stand against Him.
This site's exposition
God does not restrain His anger
Rahab carries the sense of pride, and the King James renders the helpers of Rahab as proud helpers. Barnes reports that the Septuagint saw sea monsters under God and Jerome saw those who hold up the earth. Every reading has them cower beneath Him.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Third, the depth of the divine wisdom is shown in the punishment of the guilty, because no cunning tactics or power can avoid the vengeance of God wherever a man turns as Psalm 138 says, "Where can I flee from your spirit, or where can …
God, Whose wrath none can resist, and under Whom they that bear the world are bowed down. It is very strange that it is declared that none can resist God's wrath, seeing that the divine Oracles witness that many have withstood the wrathfulness of the visitation of Heaven.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Men of Israel, help, Acts xxi. If one enemy of God's kingdom fall under his judgment, the rest come proudly to help that, and think to deliver that out of his hand: but in vain; unless he pleases to withdraw his anger (which he often does, for it is the day of his patience) the proud helpers stoop under him, and fall with those whom they designed to help.
13 If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him. Bildad began with a rebuke to Job for talking so much, ch. viii. Job makes no answer to that, though it would have been easy enough to retort it upon himself; but in what he next lays down as his principle, that God never perverts judgment, Job agrees with him: I know it is so of a truth,
If God will not withdraw his anger,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
If God--rather, "God will not withdraw His anger," that is, so long as a mortal obstinately resists [UMBREIT]. the proud helpers--The arrogant, who would help one contending with the Almighty, are of no avail against Him.
If God will not withdraw his anger - It is of no use to contend with God; he cannot be successfully resisted; all his opposers must perish.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
will not hold back His wrath because of fear (other editions: righteousness) of a man.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Behold, He strikes suddenly Heb. יחתף, He strikes suddenly, like (Prov.:28), “She, too, will suddenly (כחתף) lurk,” an expression of suddenness.
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. 6 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֱ֭לוֹהַּ | ʾeloah | God | H433 → | 57 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָשִׁ֣יב | yashiv | he will turn back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אַפּ֑וֹ | ʾapo | anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
| תַּחְתָּ֥יו | tachatov | under him | H8478 → | 505 times |
| שָׁ֝חֲח֗וּ | shachachu | they lay prostrate | H7817 → | |
| עֹ֣זְרֵי | ʾozerei | [the] helpers of | H5826 → | 81 times |
| רָֽהַב׃ | rahav | Rahab | H7294 → |
אֱ֭לוֹהַּGod
ʾeloahH433 →57 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָשִׁ֣יבhe will turn back
yashivH7725 →1056 times
אַפּ֑וֹanger his
ʾapoH639 →276 times
תַּחְתָּ֥יוunder him
tachatovH8478 →505 times
שָׁ֝חֲח֗וּthey lay prostrate
shachachuH7817 →
עֹ֣זְרֵי[the] helpers of
ʾozereiH5826 →81 times
רָֽהַב׃Rahab
rahavH7294 →
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
Isaiah 51:9Awake, 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…
it leads to
- Psalms 74:13–14
You divided the sea by Your strength; You smashed the heads of the dragons of the sea;
- Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
- Psalms 89:10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
- Isaiah 27:1
In 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.
- Isaiah 30:7
Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
- Psalms 74:13–14
Through
Job 26:12By His power He stirred the sea; by His understanding He shattered Rahab.
it leads to
- Isaiah 51:15
For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Jeremiah 31:35
Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day, who sets in order the moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the…
- Isaiah 51:15
Through
Isaiah 30:7Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
it leads to
- Isaiah 2:22
Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
- Isaiah 2:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Job
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Gregory the Dialogist, Morals on the Book of Job, Book IX; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.