The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
Parallel Translations
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The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
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The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
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The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His rebuke.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
Cross-references (7)
Passages linked to Job 26:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 2:8 He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill to make them sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s. He has set the world on them.
- Job 15:15 Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
- Psalms 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- Haggai 2:21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth.
- Hebrews 12:26-27 whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more” signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain.
- 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Revelation 20:11 I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Not that heaven hath pillars to uphold it, but…
Not that heaven hath pillars to uphold it, but he speaketh by a similitude, as though he would say, The heaven itself is not able to abide his reproach.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are…
Job 26:11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
Ver. 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] i.e. The angels, say some, who tremble out of conscience of their own comparative imperfections. The best of saints on earth, say others (according to Gal 2:9 Rev 3:12 Pro 9:1-2), who tremble at God’s word, Isa 66:2, and have many concussions by afflictions. But better understand the firmament of heaven, Hag 2:6-7 Mat 24:29. The powers of heaven shall be shaken, they shall quake with the loud check of his thunderclaps. Or the high and mighty mountains, whereon the heavens seem to rest, as on so many pillars, shaken by earth, quakes, and sometimes with great astonishment removed out of their places.
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And are astonished at his reproof] As all the beasts of the field are at the roaring of the lion; Ut quis a gravi et magnae potestatis vire, obiurgatus, tremit et vehementer solicitus est, as a slave chided by a prince trembleth, and is aghast.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The pillars of heaven; either,
The pillars of heaven; either,
1. Those mountains which by their height and strength may seem to reach and support the heavens, as the poets said of Atlas; for this is a poetical book, and there are many poetical expressions in it. These tremble sometimes by force of earthquakes, or by God’s glorious appearance in them, as Sinai did. Or,
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2. Holy angels; but they are not subject either to trembling, or to God’s rebuke. Or,
3. The heavenly bodies, as the sun, and moon, and stars, which as they may seem in some sort to support, so they do certainly adorn the heavens; and we know pillars are oft made, not to support, but only for ornament; as the two famous pillars of the temple, Jachin and Boaz, 1Ki 7:21. And these ofttimes seem to tremble and be astonished, as in eclipses or tempests, and terrible works of God in the air, by which they are frequently said to be affected and changed, because they seem so to us; and many things are spoken in Scripture according to appearance: see Isa 13:10; 24:23; Joe 2:10,31; Mt 24:29, &c.
At his reproof; either,
1. When God rebuketh them: for God is sometimes said in Scripture to rebuke the lifeless creatures; which is to be understood figuratively of the tokens of God’s anger in them. Or,
2. When God reproveth not them, but men by them, manifesting his displeasure against sinful men by thunders, or earthquakes, or prodigious works.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain The pillars of heaven tremble,.... Which may be understood…
The pillars of heaven tremble,.... Which may be understood either of the air, the lower part of the heavens, which may be thought to be the foundation, prop, and support of them, and is sometimes called the firmament, and "the firmament of his power", Psa 150:1; and which seems to tremble when there are thunder and lightnings, and coruscations in it; or else the mountains, which, reaching up to the heavens, look as if they were the pillars and support of them; and are indeed said to be the foundations of heaven, which move and shake and tremble at the presence and power of God, and at any expressions of his wrath and anger, and particularly through earthquakes and storms, and tempests of thunder and lightning; see Sa2 22:8, which are meant by what follows:
and are astonished at his reproof; his voice of thunder, which is sometimes awful and terrible, astonishing and surprising; and, to set forth the greatness of it, inanimate creatures are represented as trembling, and astonished at it; see Psa 104:7; some interpret this figuratively of angels, who they suppose are employed in the direction of the heavens, and the motion of the heavenly bodies; and who they think are the same which in the New Testament are called "the powers of heaven said to be shaken", Mat 24:29; and to be the seraphim that covered their faces upon a glorious display of the majesty of God, and when the posts of the door of the temple moved at the voice of him that cried, Isa 6:1; but if a figurative sense may be admitted of, the principal persons in the church, sometimes signified by heaven in Scripture, may be thought of; as ministers of the word, who are pillars in the house of God; yea, every true member of the church of God is made a pillar in it; and these tremble, and are astonished oftentimes when the Lord rebukes them by afflictions, though it is in love and kindness to them, Pro 9:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Pillars - Perhaps the mountains which by their height…
Pillars - Perhaps the mountains which by their height and strength seem to reach and support the heavens. Astonished - When God reproveth not them, but men by them, manifesting his displeasure by thunders, or earthquakes.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] This is…
Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake: -
"He shakes creation with his nod;
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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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Job 26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble — Perhaps…
Job 26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble — Perhaps the mountains, which by their height and strength seem to reach and support the heavens. And are astonished at his reproof — When God reproveth not them, but men by them, manifesting his displeasure by thunders or earthquakes.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The pillars of Heaven tremble - That is, the…
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. Virgil speaks of “Atlas whose brawny back supports the skies.” And Hesiod, ver. 785, advances the same notion:
“Atlas, so hard necessity ordains,
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Great, the ponderous vault of stars sustains
Not far from the Hesperides he stands,
Nor from the load retracts his head or hands.”
The word “reproof” in this verse refers to the language of God, as if spoken in anger to rebuke the mountains or the earth. Perhaps the reference is to thunder, to storms, and to winds, which seem to be the voice of God; compare Psa 29:3-8. Similar descriptions of the majesty and glory of God abound in the Scriptures, where he speaks to the earth, the mountains, the hills, and they tremble. Thus, in Psa 104:32;
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth;
He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.
So in Hab 3:10 :
The mountains saw thee, and they trembled;
The overflowing of the water passed by;
The deep uttered his voice, and lift up his hands on high.
So in Nah 1:5, “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Heaven. The mountains are so styled by Pindar; and…
Heaven. The mountains are so styled by Pindar; and the poets represent them supporting the heavens. Totum ferre potest humeris minitantibus orbem. (Petronius) --- Yet others understand that power which keeps all things together, (Calmet) or the angels, to whose rule the ancients attributed the celestial bodies. (St. Gregory; Ven. Bede, &c.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain pillars--poetically for the mountains which seem to bear up…
pillars--poetically for the mountains which seem to bear up the sky (Psa 104:32).
astonished--namely, from terror. Personification.
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his reproof-- (Psa 104:7). The thunder, reverberating from cliff to cliff (Hab 3:10; Nah 1:5).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain Third strophe — The mightiest forces of nature are…
Third strophe — The mightiest forces of nature are simply the agencies of the divine will, a will which subdues to itself the most discordant elements of the physical and moral world. All that we can know, and all that we can think, of God, is but a zephyr of his presence as he walks in the visible garden of the universe, (Gen_3:8,) Job_26:11-14.
11. Pillars of heaven — See note on Job_26:7 and Job_9:6. That the reference of Job to the popular belief that the mountains, as “pillars,” upheld the heavens, must be figurative, is evident from Job_26:7, where the power of God is said to uphold the north (the heaven) over the empty place.
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Tremble — The Hebrew yerophaphou, occurring only here, may be fancied to oscillate like the earth-quivering it is intended to convey.
Reproof — The thunder, which is often called “the voice of God,” was regarded as his rebuke of the world. Psa_104:7. By a powerful personification, the mountain heights (pillars of heaven) are represented as being astonished with terror! Psa_114:6.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. The “pillars” of the heavens, if the conception…
11. The “pillars” of the heavens, if the conception be not wholly ideal, may be the lofty mountains on which the heavens seem to rest, and which, as they are lost in the clouds, are spoken of as belonging to heaven. At God’s rebuke, when His voice of thunder rolls, or when earthquakes shake the earth, they tremble with terror of His majesty,
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) The pillars of heaven tremble.—The phenomenon of storm…
(11) The pillars of heaven tremble.—The phenomenon of storm and tempest is alluded to.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The pillars of heaven tremble. The "pillars of heaven"…
The pillars of heaven tremble. The "pillars of heaven" are the mountains, on which the sky seems to rest. These "tremble," or seem to tremble, at the presence of God (Psa_18:7 Psa_114:4 Isa_5:25) when he visits the earth in storm and tempest, either because the whole atmosphere is full of disturbance, and the outline of the mountains shifts and changes as rain and storm sweep over them, or because the reverberations of the thunder, which shake the air, seem to shake the earth also. And are astonished at his reproof. To the mind of the poet this "trembling" is expressive of astonishment and consternation. He regards the mountains as hearing the voice of God in the storm, recognizing it as raised in anger, and so trembling and cowering before him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at…
The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke
People thought of heaven or the sky as resting on pillars. Job speaks as though the pillars are humans that shake in fear when God is angry. AT: "The pillars that hold up heaven shake in fear when God rebukes them" or "The pillars that hold up the sky shake like people who are afraid when God rebukes them" (See: Personification)
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he shattered Rahab
"he destroyed Rahab"
Rahab
This is the name of a frightening monster that lived in the sea. See how you translated this in Job 9:13. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
column
heaven
tremble
amazed
rebuke
power
understand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 26:11 Mountains at the edge of the horizon might…
26:11 Mountains at the edge of the horizon might be the foundations (or “pillars,” Judg 16:25-26) of heaven or the earth (Job 9:6). They were thought to reach from below the waters of the sea (Jon 2:6) and up to the clouds to support the vaults of heaven.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.