Job 38:4-6

God’s questions to Job

38:4 “Where were you

when I laid the foundation ¹  of the earth?

Tell me, ²  if you possess understanding!

38:5 Who set its measurements – if ³  you know –

or who stretched a measuring line across it?

38:6 On what ⁴  were its bases ⁵  set,

or who laid its cornerstone –

Psalms 24:2

24:2 For he set its foundation upon the seas,

and established ⁶  it upon the ocean currents. ⁷ 

Psalms 102:25

102:25 In earlier times you established the earth;

the skies are your handiwork.

Psalms 104:5

104:5 He established the earth on its foundations;

it will never be upended.

Hebrews 1:3

1:3 The Son is ⁸  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ⁹  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹⁰ 

¹ tn The construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, using the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix.

² tn The verb is the imperative; it has no object “me” in the text.

³ tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.

⁴ tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.

⁵ sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).

⁶ tn The prefixed verbal form is understood as a preterite, referring to the creation of the world.

⁷ sn He…established it upon the ocean currents. The description reflects ancient Israelite prescientific cosmology, which is based on outward appearances. The language also suggests that God’s creative work involved the subjugation of chaos, symbolized by the sea.

⁸ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

⁹ tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

¹⁰ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.