English Standard Version
Job 26:7
7He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing.
Job 26:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
- New International Version (NIV)He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
- New King James Version (NKJV)He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
- New Living Translation (NLT)God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
Context of Job 26:7
5The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants. 6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering. He stretches out the north over the void and hangs the earth on nothing. 8He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them. 9He covers the face of the full moon and spreads over it his cloud.
Read all of Job 26Job 26:7 word by word
נֹטֶ֣ה צָפ֣וֹן עַל־תֹּ֑הוּ תֹּ֥לֶה אֶ֝֗רֶץ עַל־בְּלִי־מָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Job 26:7
- Job 9:8who alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea;
- Genesis 1:1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Psalms 24:2for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
- Psalms 104:2covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent.
- Proverbs 8:23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
- Isaiah 40:22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
- Isaiah 42:5Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:
Commentaries on Job 26:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place - תהו על al tohu, to the hollow waste. The same word as is used, Genesis 1:2, The earth was without form, תהו tohu . The north must here mean the north pole, or northern hemisphere; and perhaps what is here stated may refer to the opinion that the earth was a vast extended plain, and the heavens poised upon it, resting on this plain all round the horizon. Of the south the inhabitants of Idumea knew nothing…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7He stretcheth out the north - This whole passage is particularly interesting as giving a view of the cosmology which prevailed in those early times. Indeed, as has been already remarked, this poem, apart from every other consideration, is of great value for disclosing to us the prevailing views on the subject of astronomy, geography, and many of the arts, at a much earlier period than we have an account of them elsewhere. The word north here denotes the…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-14Verses 5-14 Many striking instances are here given of the wisdom and power of God, in the creation and preservation of the world. If we look about us, to the earth and waters here below, we see his almighty power. If we consider hell beneath, though out of our sight, yet we may conceive the discoveries of God's power there. If we look up to heaven above, we see displays of God's almighty power. By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit that moved upon the face of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7The Hebrew word tsapon means north. It sometimes refers to the northern mountain of the Canaanite gods, similar to Mount Olympus (Genesis 13:14). The Berean Standard Bible refers to it as the sky, stretched over empty space (see Genesis 1:6–8; Psalm 104:2–3; Isaiah 40:22–23).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5-145-14. 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…Read the comment
Topics related to Job 26:7
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Job 26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries