“The departed spirits tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
Parallel Translations
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“The departed spirits tremble, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
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Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
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The shades tremble beneath the waters and the inhabitants thereof.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Job 26:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
- Psalms 88:10 Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you?
- Job 41:1-34 “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope into his nose, or pierce his jaw through with a hook? Will he make many petitions to you, or will he speak soft words to you? Will he make a covenant with you, that you should take him for a servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird? Or will you bind him for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they part him among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with barbed irons, or his head with fish spears? Lay your hand on him. Remember the battle, and do so no more. Behold, the hope of him is in vain. Won’t one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that he dare stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Everything under the heavens is mine. “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who will come within his jaws? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. Strong scales are his pride, shut up together with a close seal. One is so near to another, that no air can come between them. They are joined to one another. They stick together, so that they can’t be pulled apart. His sneezing flashes out light. His eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning torches. Sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils a smoke goes, as of a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath kindles coals. A flame goes out of his mouth. There is strength in his neck. Terror dances before him. The flakes of his flesh are joined together. They are firm on him. They can’t be moved. His heart is as firm as a stone, yes, firm as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid. They retreat before his thrashing. If one attacks him with the sword, it can’t prevail; nor the spear, the dart, nor the pointed shaft. He counts iron as straw; and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow can’t make him flee. Sling stones are like chaff to him. Clubs are counted as stubble. He laughs at the rushing of the javelin. His undersides are like sharp potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the deep to boil like a pot. He makes the sea like a pot of ointment. He makes a path shine after him. One would think the deep had white hair. On earth there is not his equal, that is made without fear. He sees everything that is high. He is king over all the sons of pride.”
- Psalms 104:25-26 There is the sea, great and wide, in which are innumerable living things, both small and large animals. There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.
- Ezekiel 29:3-5 Speak and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’ I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Job beginneth to declare the force of God’s power…
Job beginneth to declare the force of God’s power and providence in the mines and metals in the deep places of the earth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Job 26:5 Dead [things] are formed from under the…
Job 26:5 Dead [things] are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
Ver. 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters] Here Job’s tongue, like a silver bell, begins to sound out the great things of God far better than Bildad had done, beginning at the bottom, and declaring that nothing is bred or brought forth, whether animate or inanimate, fish or other things in all the vast and deep ocean, but it is by his decree and power (Abbots). The Septuagint or Vulgate, for dead and lifeless things render giants, and understand thereby whales, those huge sea monsters formed under the waters.
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And the inhabitants thereof] That is, saith one, other fishes in general, which are in the seas where those whales are; for there is that Leviathan, and there are creeping things (that is, smaller fishes) innumerable. And in particular certain little fishes that are noted always to swim with the whales, as guides of their way, that they may not unawares, coming into muddy places, be mired there. Aristotle calleth them muscles; Pliny, musticets.
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 Job having censured Bildad’s discourse concerning God’s dominion and…
Job having censured Bildad’s discourse concerning God’s dominion and power, as insignificant and impertinent to their question, he here proceedeth to show how little he needed his information in that point, and that he was able to instruct him in that doctrine, of which accordingly he gives divers proofs or instances. Here he showeth that the power and providence of God reacheth not only to the things which we see, but also to the invisible parts of the world; not only to the heavens above, and their inhabitants, and to men upon earth, of which Bildad discoursed Job 25:2,3, but also to such persons or things as are under the earth, or under the waters, which are under the earth; which are out of our sight and reach, and might be thought to be out of the ken or care of Divine Providence. This Hebrew word sometimes signifies giants, as Deu 2:11,20; 3:13; 1Ch 20:8; whence it may be translated to other great and, as it were, gigantic creatures, and more commonly dead men, as Psa 88:11; Pro 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; Isa 14:9; Isa 26:14,19 whence it is supposed metaphorically to signify also dead or lifeless things; though there be no example of that use of the word elsewhere; and it may seem improper to call those things dead, which never had nor were capable of life. The next Hebrew word, or the verb, is primarily used of women with child, and signifies their bringing forth their young ones with travail or grievous pains, as Job 39:3; Psa 29:9; Isa 23:4; 45:10; and thence it signifies either to form or bring forth, as below, Job 26:13; Pro 26:10; or to grieve or mourn, or to be in pain. Accordingly these words are diversely understood; either,
1. Of dead or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth, to wit, by the almighty power of God, from under the waters, i.e. either in the bottom of the sea, or within the earth, which is the lowest element, and in the Scripture and other authors spoken of as under the waters; this being observed as a remarkable work of God’s providence, that the waters of the sea, which are higher than the earth, do not overwhelm it; and from under (which may be repeated out of the former clause of the verse, after the manner of the Hebrews)
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the inhabitants thereof, i.e. either of the waters, which are fishes; or of the earth, which are men. Or rather,
2. Of the giants of the old world, which were men of great renown whilst they lived, Gen 6:4, and the remembrance of them and of their exemplary destruction was now in some sort fresh and famous; who once carried themselves insolently towards God and men, but were quickly subdued by the Divine power, and drowned with a deluge, and now mourn or groan from under the waters, where they were buried, and from under the present inhabitants thereof, as before. Or,
3. Of vast and gigantic fishes, or monsters of the sea, who by God’s infinite power were formed or brought forth under the waters with the other inhabitants thereof, to wit of the waters, the lesser fishes. Or,
4. Of dead men, and of the worst sort of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to further miseries; for of such this very word seems to be used, Pro 2:18; 9:18, who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters, i.e. from the lower parts of the earth, or from under those subterranean seas of waters which are by Scripture and by philosophers supposed to be within and under the earth; of which see Deu 8:7; Job 28:4,10; Psa 33:7; and from under
the inhabitants thereof, i.e. either of the waters, or of the earth, under which these waters are, or with the other inhabitants thereof, i.e. of that place under the waters, to wit, the apostate spirits. So the sense is, that God’s dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who though they would not own God nor his providence whilst they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their subterranean and infernal habitations, of which the next verse speaks more plainly. And this sense seems to be favoured by the context and scope of the place, wherein Job begins his discourse of God’s power and providence at the lowermost and hidden parts of the world, and thence proceeds to those parts which are higher and visible. Nor is it strange that Job speaks of these matters, seeing it is evident that Job, and others of the holy patriarchs and prophets of old, did know and believe the doctrine of the future life, and of its several recompences to good and bad men. Others understand this of the resurrection of the dead; The dead shall be born (as this word is used, Psa 2:7; Pro 8:24,25, i.e. shall be raised, which is a kind of regeneration, or second birth, and is so called, Mat 19:28; Act 13:33)
from under the waters, ( i.e. even those of them that lie in the waters, Rev 20:13, that were drowned and buried in the sea, and devoured by fishes, &c., whose case may seem to be most desperate, and therefore they only are here mentioned,) and (or even, this particle being oft used expositively) the inhabitants thereof, i.e. those dead corpses which lie or have long lain there.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The truth received a great deal of light from…
The truth received a great deal of light from the dispute between Job and his friends concerning those points about which they differed; but now they are upon a subject in which they were all agreed, the infinite glory and power of God. How does truth triumph, and how brightly does it shine, when there appears no other strife between the contenders than which shall speak most highly and honourably of God and be most copious in showing forth his praise! It were well if all disputes about matters of religion might end thus, in glorifying God as Lord of all, and our Lord, with one mind and one mouth (Rom 15:6); for to that we have all attained, in that we are all agreed.
I. Many illustrious instances are here given of the wisdom and power of God in the creation and preservation of the world.
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1. If we look about us, to the earth and waters here below, we shall see striking instances of omnipotence, which we may gather out of these verses. (1.) He hangs the earth upon nothing, Job 26:7. The vast terraqueous globe neither rests upon any pillars nor hangs upon any axle-tree, and yet, by the almighty power of God, is firmly fixed in its place, poised with its own weight. The art of man could not hang a feather upon nothing, yet the divine wisdom hangs the whole earth so. It is ponderibus librata suis - poised by its own weight, so says the poet; it is upheld by the word of God's power, so says the apostle. What is hung upon nothing may serve us to set our feet on, and bear the weight of our bodies, but it will never serve us to set our hearts on, nor bear the weight of our souls. (2.) He sets bounds to the waters of the sea, and compasses them in (Job 26:10), that they may not return to cover the earth; and these bounds shall continue unmoved, unshaken, unworn, till the day and night come to an end, when time shall be no more. Herein appears the dominion which Providence has over the raging waters of the sea, and so it is an instance of his power, Jer 5:22. We see too the care which Providence takes of the poor sinful inhabitants of the earth, who, though obnoxious to his justice and lying at his mercy, are thus preserved from being overwhelmed, as they were once by the waters of a flood, and will continue to be so, because they are reserved unto fire. (3.) He forms dead things under the waters. Rephaim-giants, are formed under the waters, that is, vast creatures, of prodigious bulk, as whales, giant-like creatures, among the innumerable inhabitants of the water. So bishop Patrick. (4.) By mighty storms and tempests he shakes the mountains, which are here called the pillars of heaven (Job 26:11), and even divides the sea, and smites through its proud waves, Job 26:12. At the presence of the Lord the sea flies and the mountains skip, Psa 114:3, Psa 114:4. See Hab 3:6, etc. A storm furrows the waters, and does, as it were, divide them; and then a calm smites through the waves, and lays them flat again. See Psa 89:9, Psa 89:10. Those who think Job lived at, or after, the time of Moses, apply this to the dividing of the Red Sea before the children of Israel, and the drowning of the Egyptians in it. By his understanding he smiteth through Rahab; so the word is, and Rahab is often put for Egypt; as Psa 87:4; Isa 51:9.
2. If we consider hell beneath, though it is out of our sight, yet we may conceive the instances of God's power there. By hell and destruction (Job 26:6) we may understand the grave, and those who are buried in it, that they are under the eye of God, though laid out of our sight, which may strengthen our belief of the resurrection of the dead. God knows where to find, and whence to fetch, all the scattered atoms of the consumed body. We may also consider them as referring to the place of the damned, where the separate souls of the wicked are in misery and torment. That is hell and destruction, which are said to be before the Lord (Pro 15:11), and here to be naked before him, to which it is probable there is an allusion, Rev 14:10, where sinners are to be tormented in the presence of the holy angels (who attended the Shechinah) and in the presence of the Lamb. And this may give light to Job 26:5, which some ancient versions read thus (and I think more agreeably to the signification of the word Rephaim): Behold, the giants groan under the waters, and those that dwell with them; and then follows, Hell is naked before him, typified by the drowning of the giants of the old world; so the learned Mr. Joseph Mede understands it, and with it illustrates Pro 21:16, where hell is called the congregation of the dead; and it is the same word which is here used, and which he would there have rendered the congregation of the giants, in allusion to the drowning of the sinners of the old world. And is there any thing in which the majesty of God appears more dreadful than in the eternal ruin of the ungodly and the groans of the inhabitants of the land of darkness? Those that will not with angels fear and worship shall for ever with devils fear and tremble; and God therein will be glorified.
3. If we look up to heaven above, we shall see instances of God's sovereignty and power. (1.) He stretches out the north over the empty place, Job 26:7. So he did at first, when he stretched out the heavens like a curtain (Psa 104:2); and he still continues to keep them stretched out, and will do so till the general conflagration, when they shall be rolled together as a scroll, Rev 6:14. He mentions the north because his country (as ours) lay in the northern hemisphere; and the air is the empty place over which it is stretched out. See Psa 89:12. What an empty place is this world in comparison with the other! (2.) He keeps the waters that are said to be above the firmament from pouring down upon the earth, as once they did (Job 26:8): He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, as if they were tied closely in a bag, till there is occasion to use them; and, notwithstanding the vast weight of water so raised and laid up, yet the cloud is not rent under them, for then they would burst and pour out as a spout; but they do, as it were, distil through the cloud, and so come drop by drop, in mercy to the earth, in small rain, or great rain, as he pleases. (3.) He conceals the glory of the upper world, the dazzling lustre of which we poor mortals could not bear (Job 26:9): He holds back the face of his throne, that light in which he dwells, and spreads a cloud upon it, through which he judges, Job 22:13. God will have us to live by faith, not by sense; for this is agreeable to a state of probation. It were not a fair trial if the face of God's throne were visible now as it will be in the great day.
Lest his high throne, above expression bright,
With deadly glory should oppress our sight,
To break the dazzling force he draws a screen
Of sable shades, and spreads his clouds between.
- Sir R. Blackmore
(4.) The bright ornaments of heaven are the work of his hands (Job 26:13): By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit that moved upon the face of the waters, the breath of his mouth (Psa 33:6), he has garnished the heavens, not only made them, but beautified them, has curiously bespangled them with stars by night and painted them with the light of the sun by day. God, having made man to look upward (Os homini sublime dedit - To man he gave an erect countenance), has therefore garnished the heavens, to invite him to look upward, that, by pleasing his eye with the dazzling light of the sun and the sparkling light of the stars, their number, order, and various magnitudes, which, as so many golden studs, beautify the canopy drawn over our heads, he may be led to admire the great Creator, the Father and fountain of lights, and to say, "If the pavement be so richly inlaid, what must the palace be! 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! What is meant here by the crooked serpent which his hands have formed is not certain. Some make it part of the garnishing of the heavens, the milky-way, say some; some particular constellation, so called, say others. It is the same word that is used for leviathan (Isa 27:1), and probably may be meant of the whale or crocodile, in which appears much of the power of the Creator; and why may not Job conclude with that inference, when God himself does so? ch. 41.
II. He concludes, at last, with an awful et caetera (Job 26:14): Lo, these are parts of his ways, the out-goings of his wisdom and power, the ways in which he walks and by which he makes himself known to the children of men. Here, 1. He acknowledges, with adoration, the discoveries that were made of God. These things which he himself had said, and which Bildad had said, are his ways, and this is heard of him; this is something of God. But, 2. He admires the depth of that which is undiscovered. This that we have said is but part of his ways, a small part. What we know of God is nothing in comparison with what is in God and what God is. After all the discoveries which God has made to us, and all the enquiries we have made after God, still we are much in the dark concerning him, and must conclude, Lo, these are but parts of his ways. Something we hear of him by his works and by his word; but, alas! how little a portion is heard of him? heard by us, heard from us! We know but in part; we prophesy but in part. When we have said all we can, concerning God, we must even do as St. Paul does (Rom 11:33); despairing to find the bottom, we must sit down at the brink, and adore the depth: O the depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God! It is but a little portion that we hear and know of God in our present state. He is infinite and incomprehensible; our understandings and capacities are weak and shallow, and the full discoveries of the divine glory are reserved for the future state. Even the thunder of his power (that is, his powerful thunder), one of the lowest of his ways here in our own region, we cannot understand. See Job 37:4, Job 37:5. Much less can we understand the utmost force and extent of his power, the terrible efforts and operations of it, and particularly the power of his anger, Psa 90:11. God is great, and we know him not.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Dead things are formed from under the waters,.... It…
Dead things are formed from under the waters,.... It is difficult to say what things are here meant; it may be understood of "lifeless" things, as Mr. Broughton renders it; things that never had any life, things inanimate, that never had at least an animal life, though they may have a vegetable one; and so may be interpreted of grains of corn, and which indeed die before they are quickened; to which both Christ and the apostle allude, Joh 12:24; and which, as they cannot grow without water, and their fructification and increase are owing to the earth being plentifully watered with rain, may be said to be formed under the waters; and of these Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom interpret the words; and the latter also makes mention of herbs, plants, and trees in the sea, particularly almug trees, as being probably intended; to which may be added, corals, and other sea plants, formed from under the waters; yea, some make mention of woods and forests there: but the last mentioned writer, seems inclined to think that metals and minerals may be intended; and it is well known that much of gold is taken out of rivers, as also pearls and precious stones; and that iron is taken out of the earth, and brass molten out of stone; and that the several metals and minerals are dug out of mountains and hills, from whence fountains and rivers flow; but as the word used has the signification of something gigantic, it has inclined others to think of sea monsters, as of the great whales which God made in the seas, and the leviathan he has made to play therein:
and or "with"
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the inhabitants thereof; the innumerable company of fishes, both of the larger and lesser sort, which are all formed in and under the waters: but why may not giants themselves be designed, since the word is sometimes used of them, Deu 2:11; and so the Vulgate Latin and the Septuagint version here render the word, and may refer to the giants that were before the flood, and who were the causes of filling the world with rapine and violence, and so of bringing the flood of waters upon it; in which they perished "with the inhabitants thereof"; or their neighbours; of whom see Gen 6:4; and the spirits of these being in prison, in hell, as the Apostle Peter says, Pe1 3:19; which is commonly supposed to be under the earth, and so under the waters, in which they perished; they may be represented as in pain and torment, and groaning and trembling under the same, as the word here used is by some thought to signify, and is so rendered (t); though as the word "Rephaim" is often used of dead men, Psa 88:10; it may be understood of them here, and have respect to the formation of them anew, or their resurrection from the dead, when the earth shall cast them forth; and especially of those whose graves are in the sea, and who have been buried in the waters of it, when that shall deliver up the dead that are therein, Rev 20:13; which will be a wonderful instance of the mighty power of God. The Targumist seems to have a notion of this, or at least refers unto it, paraphrasing the words thus,
"is it possible that the mighty men (or giants) should be created (that is, recreated or regenerated; that is, raised from the dead); seeing they are under the waters, and their armies?''
(t) "gemunt", V. L. "cruciabuntur", Bolducius; "cruciantur, dolore contremiscunt", Michaelis; "intremiscunt", Schultens. Vid. Windet. de Vita Funct. Stat. p. 90.
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 Dead things - Job having censured Bildad's discourse, proceeds…
Dead things - Job having censured Bildad's discourse, proceeds to shew how little he needed his information in that point. Here he shews that the power and providences of God reaches not only to the things we see, but also to the invisible parts of the world, not only to the heavens above and their inhabitants, and to men upon earth, of which Bildad discoursed, chap. xxv, 2, 3, but also to such persons or things as are under the earth, or under the waters; which are out of our sight and reach; yet not out of the ken of Divine providence. These words may be understood; either,
1. of dead, or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth; by the almighty power of God, from under the waters; either in the bottom of the sea, or within the earth, which is the lowest element, and in the scripture and other authors spoken of as under the waters; this being observed as a remarkable work of God's providence, that the waters of the sea, which are higher than the earth, do not overwhelm it. Or,
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2. of dead men, and of the worst of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to farther miseries; for of such this very word seems to be used, Prov. ii, 18; ix, 18, who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters; from the lower parts of the earth, or from under those subterranean waters, which are supposed to be within and under the earth; Psalm xxxiii, 7, and from under the inhabitants thereof; either of the waters or of the earth, under which these waters are, or with the other inhabitants thereof; of that place under the waters, namely, the apostate spirits. So the sense is, that God's dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who though they would not own God, nor his providence, while they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their infernal habitations.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Dead things are formed from under the…
Verse 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters] This verse, as it stands in our version, seems to convey no meaning; and the Hebrew is obscure; הרפאים, harephaim, "the Rephaim," certainly means not dead things; nor can there be any propriety in saying that dead things, or things without life, are formed under the waters, for such things are formed everywhere in the earth, and under the earth, as well as under the waters.
The Vulgate translates: Ecce gigantes gemunt sub aquis, et qui habitant cum eis. "Behold the giants, and those who dwell with them, groan from under the waters."
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The Septuagint: Μη γιγαντες μαιωθησονται ὑποκατωθεν ὑδατος, και των γειτονων αυτου; "Are not the giants formed from under the waters, and their neighbours?"
The Chaldee: אפשר דגבריא דמתמזמזין יתברין ואנון מלרע למיא ומשריתהון eposhar degibraiya demithmazmezin yithbareyan veinnun millera lemaiya umashreiyatehon, "Can the trembling giants be regenerated, when they and their hosts are under the water?"
The Syriac and Arabic: "Behold, the giants are slain, and are drawn out of the water." None of these appear to give any sense by which the true meaning can be determined.
There is probably here an allusion to the destruction of the earth by the general deluge. Moses, speaking concerning the state of the earth before the flood, says, Ge 6:4, "There were giants נפלים nephilim, in the earth in those days." Now it is likely that Job means the same by רפאים rephaim as Moses does by the nephilim; and that both refer to the antediluvians, who were all, for their exceeding great iniquities, overwhelmed by the waters of the deluge. Can those mighty men and their neighbours, all the sinners who have been gathered to them since, be rejected from under the waters, by which they were judicially overwhelmed?
Mr. Good thinks the shades of the heroes of former times, the gigantic spectres, the mighty or enormous dead, are meant.
I greatly question whether sea-monsters be not intended, such as porpoises, sharks, narwals, grampuses, and whales. We know, however that an opinion anciently prevailed, that the Titans, a race of men of enormous stature, rebelled against the gods, and endeavoured to scale heaven by placing one mountain on the top of another; and that they and their structure were cast down by the thunder of the deities, and buried under the earth and sea; and that their struggles to arise produce the earthquakes which occur in certain countries. Now although this opinion is supported by the most respectable antiquity among the heathens, it is not to be supposed that in the word of God there can be any countenance given to an opinion at once as absurd as it is monstrous. (But still the poet may use the language of the common people.) I must therefore either refer the passage here to the antediluvians, or to the vast sea-monsters mentioned above.
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 26:5. Dead things, &c. — That is, according…
Job 26:5. Dead things, &c. — That is, according to several interpreters, those seeds which are sown and die in the earth quicken again and grow. Or, as R. Levi rather thinks, an allusion is made to those vegetables, stones, or metals, which are found in the earth under the waters. The Hebrew word here for dead things is רפאים, rephaim, which is generally rendered dead men; thus, Psa 88:10, we read, Wilt thou show wonders to methim, the dead? Shall rephaim, the dead, arise and praise thee? Isa 26:14. The dead, methim, shall not live: the deceased, rephaim, shall not rise. In these passages, therefore, and many others that might be produced, methim and rephaim are both translated dead or deceased. Instead of this, however, the LXX., the Vulgate Latin, and the Targum, render rephaim, giants, or mighty men. “Their interpretation is very just,” says Chappelow, “if, as R. Bechai writes, they were so named because their countenance was so austere, that whoever looked on them, manus ejus remissæ fuerunt, his hands were weakened with the terror that was upon him, (Buxtorf in rapha.) From hence it is that our learned Mede explains rephaim, in Pro 21:16, not of the dead, but of the giants or rebels against God, of whom we read, Genesis 6., namely, those mighty men of the old world, whose wickedness was so great as to occasion the deluge. Therefore, to ‘remain in the congregation of rephaim,’ is the same as to go and keep them company; that is, to go to that accursed place and condition in which they are. Thus, S. Jarchi’s gloss is, In cœtu rephaim, that is, in cœtu gehinnom, the congregation of those in hell. His gloss is the very same on our text here in Job. Again, Pro 9:17-18, ‘He knoweth not that rephaim, the dead, (the mighty ones,) are there, and that her (the harlot’s) guests are in the depths of hell,’ that is, she will bring them, who frequent her, to hell, to keep the apostate giants company. From all which we conclude, with the ingenious author above mentioned, that the place before us, and the verse following, seem to be no other than a description of hell.” Peters, Dodd, and many other critics, view the passage in the same light. Houbigant renders it, Behold the giants tremble beneath the waters in their habitations; and, he says, “Job means those giants who were overwhelmed with the flood; having their overthrow as immediately present before his eyes, because the deluge at this time was fresh in the memory of men.” Poole, whose note on the passage is well worth the reader’s attention, comprehends all the forementioned particulars in his interpretation, thus: Job, having censured Bildad’s discourse, proceeds to show how little he needed his information in that point. He shows that the power and providence of God reach not only to the things we see, but also to the invisible parts of the world; not only to the heavens above and their inhabitants, and to men upon earth, of which Bildad discoursed, Job 25:2-3, but also to such persons or things as are under the earth, or under the waters; which are out of our sight and reach, yet not out of the view of Divine Providence: including, 1st, dead or lifeless things, such as amber, pearl, coral, metals, or other minerals, which are formed or brought forth, by the almighty power of God, from under the waters; either in the bottom of the sea, or within the earth, which is the lowest element, and in the Scripture and other authors spoken of as under the waters. And, 2d, dead men, and the worst of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to further miseries; of whom this very word seems to be used, (Pro 2:18; Pro 9:18,) who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters, from the lower parts of the earth; or from under those subterranean waters which are supposed to be within and under the earth; and from under the inhabitants thereof; either of the waters or of the earth, under which these waters are; or with the other inhabitants thereof; of that place under the waters; namely, the apostate spirits. So the sense is, that God’s dominion is over all men, yea, even the dead, and the worst of them, who, though they would not own God, nor his providence, while they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their infernal habitations.
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 Dead things - Job here commences his description of…
Dead things - Job here commences his description of God, to show that his views of his majesty and glory were in no way inferior to those which had been expressed by Bildad, and that what Bildad had said conveyed to him no real information. In this description he far surpasses Bildad in loftiness of conception, and sublimity of description. Indeed, it may be doubted whether for grandeur this passage is surpassed by any description of the majesty of God in the Bible. The passage here has given rise to much discussion, and to a great variety of opinion. Our common translation is most feeble, and by no means conveys its true force. The object of the whole passage is to assert the universal dominion of God. Bildad had said Job 25:1-6 that the dominion of God extended to the heavens, and to the armies of the skies; that God surpassed in majesty the splendor of the heavenly bodies; and that compared with him man was a worm. Job commences his description by saying that the dominion of God extended even to the nether world; and that such were his majesty and power that even the shades of the mighty dead trembled at his presence, and that hell was all naked before him. The word רפאים râphâ'ı̂ym - Rephaim - so feebly rendered “dead things,” means the shades of the dead; the departed spirits that dwell in Sheol; see the word explained at length in the notes at Isa 14:9. They are those who have left this world and who have gone down to dwell in the world beneath - the great and mighty conquerors and kings; the illustrious dead of past times, who have left the world and are congregated in the land of Shades. Jerome renders it, “gigantes,” and the Septuagint, γίγαντες gigantes - giants; from a common belief that those shades were larger than life. Thus, Lucretius says:
Quippe et enim jam tum divum mortalia secla
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Egregias animo facies vigilante videbant;
Et magis in somnis, mirando corporis aucter
Rer. Nat. ver. 1168.
The word “shades” here will express the sense, meaning the departed spirits that are assembled in Sheol. The Chaldee renders it, גבריא - mighty ones, or giants; the Syriac, in like manner, giants.
Are formed - The Syriac renders this, are killed. Jerome, gemunt - groan; Septuagint, “Are giants born from beneath the water, and the neighboring places?” What idea the authors of that version attached to the passage it is difficult to say. The Hebrew word used here (יחוּללו yechôlālû, from חוּל chûl), means to twist, to turn, to be in anguish - as in child birth; and then it may mean to tremble, quake, be in terror; and the idea here seems to be, that the shades of the dead were in anguish, or trembled at the awful presence, and under the dominion of God. So Luther renders it - understanding it of giants - Die Riesen angsten sich unter den Wassern. The sense would be well expressed, “The shades of the dead tremble, or are in anguish before him. They fear his power. They acknowledge his empire.”
Under the waters - The abode of departed spirits is always in this book placed beneath the ground. But why this abode is placed beneath the waters, is not apparent. It is usually under the ground, and the entrance to it is by the grave, or by some dark cavern; compare Virgil’s Aeniad, Lib. vi. A different interpretation has been proposed of this verse, which seems better to suit the connection. It is to understand the phrase (תחת tachath) “under,” as meaning simply beneath - “the shades beneath;” and to regard the word (מים mayı̂m) waters as connected with the following member:
“The shades beneath tremble;
The waters and the inhabitants thereof.”
Thus explained, the passage means that the whole universe is under the control of God, and trembles before him. Sheol and its Shades; the oceans and their inhabitants stand in awe before him.
And the inhabitants thereof - Of the waters - the oceans. The idea is, that the vast inhabitants of the deep all recognize the power of God and tremble before him. This description accords with that given by the ancient poets of the power and majesty of the gods, and is not less sublime than any given by them.
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 With them. The less and greater fishes, (Menochius) or…
CHAPTER XXVI.
With them. The less and greater fishes, (Menochius) or rather the giants and others who were buried in the waters of the deluge, and are confined in the dungeons of hell. The poets speak in the same manner. "Hic genus antiquum terræ, Titania pubes,
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Fulmine dejecti fundo voluntur in imo.
-----Aliis sub gurgite vasto,
Infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni." (Virgil, Æneid vi.)
--- Homer (Iliad viii.) and Hesiod (Theog.) place the giants at the extremity of the earth, in the utmost darkness. See also Proverbs ix. 18., and Isaias xiv. 9. (Calmet)
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 As before in the ninth and twelfth chapters, Job…
As before in the ninth and twelfth chapters, Job had shown himself not inferior to the friends' inability to describe God's greatness, so now he describes it as manifested in hell (the world of the dead), Job 26:5-6; on earth, Job 26:7; in the sky, Job 26:8-11; the sea, Job 26:12; the heavens, Job 26:13.
Dead things are formed--Rather, "The souls of the dead (Rephaim) tremble." Not only does God's power exist, as Bildad says (Job 25:2), "in high places" (heaven), but reaches to the region of the dead. Rephaim here, and in Pro 21:16 and Isa 14:9, is from a Hebrew root, meaning "to be weak," hence "deceased"; in Gen 14:5 it is applied to the Canaanite giants; perhaps in derision, to express their weakness, in spite of their gigantic size, as compared with Jehovah [UMBREIT]; or, as the imagination of the living magnifies apparitions, the term originally was applied to ghosts, and then to giants in general [MAGEE].
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from under--UMBREIT joins this with the previous word "tremble from beneath" (so Isa 14:9). But the Masoretic text joins it to "under the waters." Thus the place of the dead will be represented as "under the waters" (Psa 18:4-5); and the waters as under the earth (Psa 24:2). MAGEE well translates thus: "The souls of the dead tremble; (the places) under the waters, and their inhabitants." Thus the Masoretic connection is retained; and at the same time the parallel clauses are evenly balanced. "The inhabitants of the places under the waters" are those in Gehenna, the lower of the two parts into which Sheol, according to the Jews, is divided; they answer to "destruction," that is, the place of the wicked in Job 26:6, as "Rephaim" (Job 26:5) to "Hell" (Sheol) (Job 26:6). "Sheol" comes from a Hebrew root--"ask," because it is insatiable (Pro 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].
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 Second division — AN INCOMPARABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVINE…
Second division — AN INCOMPARABLE DESCRIPTION OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY AND GLORY, Job_26:5-14.
Strophe a — Not only are the heavenly hosts pacified by the majestic presence of the Lord as Bildad had shown, (Job_25:1,) but the shades of the under world tremble at the outgoings of the divine power; a power also displayed in upholding the world, Job_26:5-7.
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5. With his characteristic abruptness Job launches into his subject, in medias res. Job first portrays the glory of God as felt in sheol, the world of the dead. The verse should be read, The dead tremble beneath the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
Dead things — הרפאים, The Rephaim. This word, primarily used of a race of giants, (Gen_14:5; Gen_15:20,) was in the course of time applied to the dead, (Psa_88:10; Isa_14:9; Isa_14:19; Isa_26:14; Pro_2:18; Pro_9:18; Pro_21:16,) to whom the imagination attributed a towering form. Vitringa thinks that the word originally denoted the shades of the departed, and was transferred to denote men of gigantic bulk, and so finally became an appellation of both. (Com. on Isaiah, 1, 433.) The word is cognate with the Arabic rafaa, “to soften,” and signifies “the weak,” “the relaxed,” (Delitzsch,) or “the shadowy,” (Furst,) corresponding to the Greek οι καμοντες, “the wearied,” also “the relaxed,” an epithet of the dead. The best modern Hebraists accordingly ascribe to the Rephaim here spoken of the classic meaning of Manes, (“the Shades”) i.e., beings consciously alive. This word also occurs in the Phoenician inscription of Sargon.
Are formed — יחוללו, substantially the same word, in Hab_3:10 is rendered trembled, which is its meaning here, according to Hahn, Zockler, Hitzig, etc. Compare Jas_2:19. Whether the word be derived from hhoul or hhalal, it carries with it, the idea of suffering, a fact which leads Delitzsch, Dillmann, etc., to translate “are put to pain.” This passage is of moment not only in that it indicates and confirms Job’s belief in the consciousness of the dead, but also that some of them — those gigantic in wickedness, (Rephaim) — trembled, or, as others say, “writhed” (T. Lewis) beneath the display of God’s power.
Under the waters — The terrors of sheol were heightened by the popular notion not only that it was subterranean, but that it extended beneath the sea, with its many monsters. The strange horror of death by water which possessed the ancient mind, (see note of Servius on the AEneid, 1:93,) possibly taking its rise in the awfulness of the deluge, may account for the association in the popular mind of the abode of a portion of the dead with the great deep. “That even these dwellers in the under world, although otherwise without feeling or motion, and at such an immeasurable distance from God’s dwelling-place, should be touched and terrified by the workings of the divine agency — this is a much stronger evidence of God’s greatness than aught that Bildad had alleged.” — Hirtzel.
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 5, 6. God’s presence and power in the underworld.…
5, 6. God’s presence and power in the underworld. Job_26:5 reads according to the pointing,
The Shades tremble
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Underneath the waters and their inhabitants.
The “Shades” (Heb. Refáim, the flaccid) are the departed persons, whose place of concourse is Sheol. Comp. Isa_14:9, where “the dead” are the shades, so Isa_26:14 (the deceased). This abode of deceased persons lies deep down under the waters of the sea and all the inhabitants of these waters, for the sea belongs to the upper world. Yet the power of God is felt even at this immeasurable distance from His abode on high. Bildad had referred to the power of God as “making peace” on high; Job points to what is a more wonderful illustration of His power, it pervades the underworld, and the dead tremble under its influence. Whether the statement is general, or whether perhaps there may not be allusion to great convulsions in nature, shaking the earth, and rousing up out of their lethargy even the drowsy, nerveless, shades with terror, may be doubtful.
5–13. That Job has no need to be instructed regarding the greatness of God he now shews, by entering upon an exhibition of its operations in every sphere of that which exists, Hades, the Earth and Heaven, in which he far outstrips the feeble effort of Bildad.
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 (5) Dead things are formed.—The Hebrew word is the…
(5) Dead things are formed.—The Hebrew word is the Rephaim, who were among the aboriginal inhabitants of the south of Palestine and the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea, and it is used to express the dead and the inhabitants of the nether world generally. The word rendered are formed probably means either are pierced or tremble: that is, they are pierced through with terror, or they tremble, with a possible reference to the state of the dead as the prey of corruption, though spoken of them where they are beyond the reach of it. All the secrets of this mysterious, invisible, and undiscoverable world are naked and open before Him—the grave lies naked and destruction is uncovered.
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 Vers. 5-14. Job now turns from controversy to the…
Vers. 5-14. Job now turns from controversy to the realities of the case, and begins with a full acknowledgment of God"s greatness, might, and inscrutableness. As Bildad seemed to have supposed that he needed enlightenment on these points, (Job_26:2-4) Job may have thought it right to make once more a plain profession of his belief. (comp. Job_9:4-18 Job_12:9-25, etc.) Dead things are formed from under the waters; rather, the dead from under the waters tremble. Hebraists generally are agreed that one of the meanings of Rephaim ( is "the dead" or the departed, considered especially as inhabitants of Hades. (comp. Psa_88:11 Pro_2:18 Isa_14:9 Isa_26:14) And if so, this meaning is certainly appropriate here. Blidad had illustrated God"s dominion from his power in heaven. Job shows that it exists alike in heaven and earth (vers. 7-13), and in the region under the earth (vers. 5, 6). There, in Sheol, under the waters of the ocean, the dead tremble at the thought of the Most High; they tremble together with other inhabitants thereof, as evil spirits, rebel intelligences, east down to Hades, and there held in durance. (Jud_1:6)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain A Description Of God’s Surpassing Glory.
A Description Of God’s Surpassing Glory.
Job now, in order to refute Bildad more thoroughly, shows his understanding of the almighty power of God both in the creation and in the government of the world.
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v. 5. Dead things are formed from under the waters and the inhabitants thereof, the giant shades or phantoms of the dead whirl and writhe in the underworld, shaking with every manifestation of the divine majesty.
v. 6. Hell is naked before Him, the very abode of darkness cannot hide before His omniscient eye, and destruction, the abyss of hell, hath no covering, all its wasting horrors are open before the eyes of God.
v. 7. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, the northern half of the vault of heaven being compared to a great canopy. which the Creator spread out, and hangeth the earth upon nothing, it is suspended in space, held there by His almighty power.
v. 8. He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds, shutting them in, bolding them suspended as in immense containers; and the cloud is not rent under them, it does not burst under the enormous pressure of the water, the laws of rain being entirely of God’s appointment.
v. 9. He holdeth back the face of His throne, enshrouding the throne of heaven by causing clouds to come between it and the earth, and spreadeth His cloud upon it, to screen the majesty of His power from profane eyes.
v. 10. He hath compassed the waters with bounds, literally, "He has rounded off a circular boundary on the face of the waters," the horizon appearing as a bounding circle, until the day and night come to an end, where the light merges into darkness.
v. 11. The pillars of heaven, the great mountains which seem to bear on their summits the great vault of heaven, tremble and are astonished at His reproof, both by reason of earthquakes and by the awe-inspiring peals of His thunderstorms.
v. 12. He divideth the sea with His power, frightening up, arousing, its billows in frightful storms, and by His understanding He smiteth through the proud, literally, "Rahab," a great monster of the deep. As the sea is aroused to the greatest pitch of fury at His command, so it subsides into stillness at His word.
v. 13. By His spirit He hath garnished the heavens, His breath scatters the clouds and brightens the face of the sky; His hand hath formed the crooked serpent, pierces or strangles the constellation of the Dragon, which popular belief brought into connection with eclipses.
v. 14. Lo, these are parts of His ways, just a few instances, accessible to our understanding, of His almighty power in the government of the world; but how little a portion is heard of Him! What evidences of God’s great majesty we hear in all these natural phenomena are but the faintest whisperings of His real essence. But the thunder of His power, who can understand? It would be impossible for frail mortal beings to comprehend It full revelation of His omnipotence. The divine glory surpasses all human knowledge to an infinite degree; even the works of God’s creation and providence are past finding out.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 The dead
The dead
This refers to dead people. AT: "Those who are dead" or "The spirits of the dead" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
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tremble
They tremble because they are afraid of God. This can be stated clearly. AT: "tremble in fear" or "tremble in fear of God" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
those who are beneath the waters
This refers to the dead people who tremble.
all who dwell in them
This refers to the dead people who dwell in the waters.
Sheol is naked before God; destruction itself has no covering
Sheol is spoken of as if it were a person. These two phrases have the same meaning. To be "naked" or have "no covering" is to be completely exposed and not able to hide anything. AT: "It is like sheol is naked before God, for nothing in sheol, the place of destruction, is hidden from God" (See: Metaphor and Parallelism)
destruction
This is another name for sheol. AT: "the place of destruction"
translationWords
water
Hades
God
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 26:5-6 The underworld (Hebrew Sheol), the abode of all…
26:5-6 The underworld (Hebrew Sheol), the abode of all the dead, is located beneath the waters of the sea. • The place of destruction (Hebrew Abaddon) existed specifically for the wicked.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.