Job 26:7

26:7 He spreads out the northern skies ¹  over empty space; ² 

he suspends the earth on nothing. ³ 

Psalms 102:25-26

102:25 In earlier times you established the earth;

the skies are your handiwork.

102:26 They will perish,

but you will endure. ⁴ 

They will wear out like a garment;

like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ⁵ 

Psalms 104:2

104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.

He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,

Psalms 136:5-6

136:5 to the one who used wisdom to make the heavens,

for his loyal love endures,

136:6 to the one who spread out the earth over the water,

for his loyal love endures,

Isaiah 40:12

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ⁶  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ⁷  measured the sky, ⁸ 

or carefully weighed ⁹  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 40:22

40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; ¹¹ 

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. ¹² 

He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, ¹³ 

and spreads it out ¹⁴  like a pitched tent. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 42:5

42:5 This is what the true God, ¹⁶  the Lord, says –

the one who created the sky and stretched it out,

the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, ¹⁷ 

the one who gives breath to the people on it,

and life to those who live on it: ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 44:24

The Lord Empowers Cyrus

44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹⁹  says,

the one who formed you in the womb:

“I am the Lord, who made everything,

who alone stretched out the sky,

who fashioned the earth all by myself, ²⁰ 

Isaiah 45:12

45:12 I made the earth,

I created the people who live ²¹  on it.

It was me – my hands ²²  stretched out the sky, ²³ 

I give orders to all the heavenly lights. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ²⁵ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ²⁶ 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 48:13

48:13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;

my right hand spread out the sky.

I summon them;

they stand together.

Isaiah 51:13

51:13 Why do you forget ²⁷  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ²⁸ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ²⁹ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ³⁰ 

Jeremiah 10:12

10:12 The Lord is the one who ³¹  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom established the world.

And by his understanding he spread out the skies.

Jeremiah 51:15

51:15 He is the one who ³²  by his power made the earth.

He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place,

by his understanding he spread out the heavens.

Hebrews 1:10-12

1:10 And,

“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, ³³ 

and the heavens are the works of your hands.

1:11 They will perish, but you continue.

And they will all grow old like a garment,

1:12 and like a robe you will fold them up

and like a garment ³⁴  they will be changed,

but you are the same and your years will never run out.” ³⁵ 

[26:7]  ¹ sn The Hebrew word is צָפוֹן (tsafon). Some see here a reference to Mount Zaphon of the Ugaritic texts, the mountain that Baal made his home. The Hebrew writers often equate and contrast Mount Zion with this proud mountain of the north. Of course, the word just means north, and so in addition to any connotations for pagan mythology, it may just represent the northern skies – the stars. Since the parallel line speaks of the earth, that is probably all that was intended in this particular context.

[26:7]  ² sn There is an allusion to the creation account, for this word is תֹּהוּ (tohu), translated “without form” in Gen 1:2.

[26:7]  ³ sn Buttenwieser suggests that Job had outgrown the idea of the earth on pillars, and was beginning to see it was suspended in space. But in v. 11 he will still refer to the pillars.

[102:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “stand.”

[102:26]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.

[40:12]  ⁶ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.

[40:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).

[40:12]  ⁸ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[40:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”

[40:12]  ¹⁰ sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.

[40:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[40:22]  ¹² tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:22]  ¹³ tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).

[40:22]  ¹⁴ tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.

[40:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”

[42:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.

[42:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”

[42:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).

[44:24]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:24]  ²⁰ tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.

[45:12]  ²¹ tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:12]  ²² tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.

[45:12]  ²³ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[45:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.

[45:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ²⁶ tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[51:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ²⁸ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ³⁰ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[10:12]  ³¹ tn The words “The Lord is” are not in the text. They are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation here because of the possible confusion of who the subject is due to the parenthetical address to the people of Israel in v. 11. The first two verbs are participles and should not merely be translated as the narrative past. They are predicate nominatives of an implied copula intending to contrast the Lord as the one who made the earth with the idols which did not.

[51:15]  ³² tn The participle here is intended to be connected with “Lord who rules over all” in the preceding verse. The passage is functioning to underline the Lord’s power to carry out what he has sworn in contrast to the impotence of their idols who will be put to shame and be dismayed (50:2).

[1:10]  ³³ sn You founded the earth…your years will never run out. In its original setting Ps 102:25-27 refers to the work of God in creation, but here in Hebrews 1:10-12 the writer employs it in reference to Christ, the Lord, making a strong argument for the essential deity of the Son.

[1:12]  ³⁴ tc The words “like a garment” (ὡς ἱμάτιον, Jw" Jimation) are found in excellent and early mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B D* 1739) though absent in a majority of witnesses (D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1881 Ï lat sy bo). Although it is possible that longer reading was produced by overzealous scribes who wanted to underscore the frailty of creation, it is much more likely that the shorter reading was produced by scribes who wanted to conform the wording to that of Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX), which here lacks the second “like a garment.” Both external and internal considerations decidedly favor the longer reading, and point to the author of Hebrews as the one underscoring the difference between the Son and creation.

[1:12]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Ps 102:25-27.