Job 26:5

A Better Description of God’s Greatness ¹ 

26:5 “The dead ²  tremble ³  –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them. ⁴ 

Job 38:30

38:30 when the waters become hard ⁵  like stone,

when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?

Job 38:34

38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds

so that a flood of water covers you? ⁶ 

[26:5]  ¹ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

[26:5]  ² tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

[26:5]  ³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

[26:5]  ⁴ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.

[38:30]  ⁵ tn Several suggest that the verb is not from חָבָא (khava’, “to hide”) but from a homonym, “to congeal.” This may be too difficult to support, however.

[38:34]  ⁹ tc The LXX has “answer you,” and some editors have adopted this. However, the reading of the MT makes better sense in the verse.