Job 9:8
in Job 9He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
That alone stretcheth out the heavens, And treadeth upon the waves of the sea;
KJV
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
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This verse in Job 9
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd treadeth upon the waves - This is a very majestic image. God not only walks upon the waters, but when the sea runs mountains high, he steps from billow to billow in his almighty and essential majesty. There is a similar sentiment in David, Psa 29:10: “The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever.” But both are far outdone by the Psalmist, Psa 18:9-15, and especially in these words, Psa 18:10, He did fly on the wings of the wind. Job is great, but in every respect David is greater.
This site's exposition
He moves mountains without their knowledge
on Job 9:5-10
Job answers his own hard question with praise for the God who "moves mountains," "shakes the earth from its place," and "seals off the stars". "He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion" reaches into the created order the whirlwind speeches return to in chapters 38 and 39.
This site's exposition
He alone stretches out the heavens
Barnes sets the heavens He stretches out beside Isaiah 40:22, where they spread like a curtain. The waves of the sea are its heights in the Hebrew. Clarke pictures God treading from wave to wave in a storm, and Wesley reads treads as rules.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
After Blessed Job has shown the firm character of divine power, he here begins to show the depth of divine wisdom. However, he proceeds in an inverse order to the preceding one. Before he began by showing the divine power in human affairs and proceeded …
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens. For what is denoted by the name of 'the heavens,' but this very heavenly life of the persons preaching, of whom it is said by the Psalmist, The heavens declare the glory of God. Thus the same persons are recorded to be the heavens, and the same to be the sun; the heavens indeed, in that by interposing they shield; the sun, in that by preaching they display the power of light.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
9 ), which is given as a reason why we should all fear God and stand in awe of him, Jer. v. 22 . He is mightier than the proud waves Ps. xciii. 7 . [3.] He makes the constellations; three are named for all the rest (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number
Who. &c. - A farther description of a black and tempestuous season, wherein the heavens seem to be brought down nearer to the earth. Treadeth - Represseth and ruleth them when they rage and are tempestuous: for treading upon any thing, signifies in scripture using power and dominion over it.
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens,....
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)
proposed
In the descent of the vault of heaven, God has come down from His high throne and walks majestically over the mountain waves (Hebrew, "heights"), as a conqueror taming their violence. So "tread upon" (De 33:29; The Egyptian hieroglyphic for impossibility is a man walking on waves.
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
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens - As an expanse, or a curtain; see the notes at Isa 40:22. And treadeth upon the waves of the sea - Margin, “Heights.” So it is in the Hebrew. It means the “high waves;” that is, he walks upon the waves of the ocean when lifted up by a storm. This is spoken of here as a proof of the greatness of God; and the meaning of all is, that he is seen in the storm, in the heaving ocean, when the heavens are black with tempest, and when the earth is convulsed. It may be added here, that the Lord Jesus walked amidst the howling winds on the lake, and thus gave evidence that he was God; Mat 14:25. “The Egyptian hieroglyphic for what was not possible to be done, was a man walking on the water.” Burder. Dr. Good, and some others, render this, “on the mountains.” But the more correct rendering is given in the common version. The Hebrew word rendered “waves” (במה bâmâh) indeed properly means a height, a lofty place, a mountain; but the comparison of waves with a mountain, is common in all languages. So we speak of waves “mountain-high,” or as high as mountains. So Virgil, Aeneid i. 105, Insequitur cumulo praeruptus aquae mons. Similar to this, is the expression occurring in Homer, κύματα ἶσα ὄρεσσιν kumata isa oressin; and so Apollonius, i. 521 - ἅλὸς ἄκρον chalos akron. The Septuagint renders it, “who walketh upon the sea as upon a pavement.”
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֹטֶ֣ה | noteh | [one who] stretches out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| שָׁמַ֣יִם | shamayim | [the] heavens | H8064 → | 421 times |
| לְבַדּ֑וֹ | levado | to only him | H905 → | 200 times |
| וְ֝דוֹרֵ֗ךְ | vedorekh | and [one who] treads | H1869 → | 62 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בָּ֥מֳתֵי | bomotei | [the] high places of | H1116 → | |
| יָֽם׃ | yam | [the] sea | H3220 → | 396 times |
נֹטֶ֣ה[one who] stretches out
notehH5186 →214 times
שָׁמַ֣יִם[the] heavens
shamayimH8064 →421 times
לְבַדּ֑וֹto only him
levadoH905 →200 times
וְ֝דוֹרֵ֗ךְand [one who] treads
vedorekhH1869 →62 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בָּ֥מֳתֵי[the] high places of
bomoteiH1116 →
יָֽם׃[the] sea
yamH3220 →396 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
Isaiah 44:24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
it leads to
- Isaiah 42:5
This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 45:12
It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.
- Isaiah 54:5
For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all 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…
- Isaiah 44:2
This is the word of the LORD, your Maker, who formed you from the womb and who will help you: “Do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Isaiah 42:5
Through
Isaiah 40:22He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:2
He wraps Himself in light as with a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 8:27
I was there when He established the heavens, when He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,
- Psalms 104:2
Through
Job 37:18can you, like Him, spread out the skies to reflect the heat like a mirror of bronze?
it leads to
- Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
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); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Book of Job; 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 (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Job.