Job 26

26:2 Job’s friends had not helped him (12:2; 16:4). Bildad’s denial that acquittal was possible hit Job’s most sensitive nerve (10:1-7; 13:3, 13-19; 16:18-21; 19:23-27; 23:2-7).

26:4 Eliphaz (4:15), Zophar (20:3), and Elihu (32:18; 33:4) all claimed to be prompted by the proper spirit (see Jer 29:8-9; 1 Cor 12:10; 1 Jn 4:1).

26:5-6 The underworld (Hebrew Sheol), the abode of all the dead, is located beneath the waters of the sea. • The place of destruction (Hebrew Abaddon) existed specifically for the wicked.

26:7 The Hebrew tsapon (“north,” Gen 13:14) sometimes refers to the northern mountain of the Canaanite gods (the Canaanite equivalent of Olympus); here the NLT understands it to refer to the sky, stretched out over empty space (see Gen 1:6-8; Ps 104:2-3; Isa 40:22-23).

26:10 created the horizon: See Gen 1:6-10; Ps 104:6-9; Prov 8:29.

26:11 Mountains at the edge of the horizon might be the foundations (or “pillars,” Judg 16:25-26) of heaven or the earth (Job 9:6). They were thought to reach from below the waters of the sea (Jon 2:6) and up to the clouds to support the vaults of heaven.

26:12 the sea grew calm (cp. Exod 14:21; Mark 4:39): Or the sea was stirred up (cp. Isa 51:15; Jer 31:35). In either interpretation, God performed a miracle on behalf of his people. • crushed the great sea monster: God’s dominance over the sea demythologized popular beliefs about the sea’s divinity. See also Pss 74:13-14; 89:9-10; Isa 27:1; 51:9-10.

26:13 His Spirit (or wind): God’s authority clears the skies after a storm (26:12). • The gliding serpent corresponds to Yam and Rahab (see study note on 7:12); it provides background for the image of Satan as a dragon (Isa 27:1; also Ps 74:13-14; see Gen 3:15; Rom 16:20; Rev 12:9; 20:2).