Job 26:5-7

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Job 26:5 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.
2. Job 26:5 tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (har^efaʾim, “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.
3. Job 26:5 tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.
4. Job 26:5 tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.
5. Job 26:6 tn Heb “Sheol.”
6. Job 26:6 tn Heb “before him.”
7. Job 26:6 tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (ʾavaddon, “Abaddon”).
8. Job 26:7 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.
9. Job 26:7 sn There is an allusion to the creation account, for this word is תֹּהוּ (tohu), translated “without form” in Gen 1:2.
10. Job 26:7 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.