Job 26:6-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Job 26:6 tn Heb “Sheol.”
2. Job 26:6 tn Heb “before him.”
3. Job 26:6 tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (ʾavaddon, “Abaddon”).
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.