1BUT Job answered and said,
2 How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
3 How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?
5 Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.
6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
8 He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
12 He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud.
13 By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?

1But Iob answered and sayd,

2Howe hast thou helped him that is without power? how sauest thou the arme that hath no strength?

3How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisedome? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing, as it is?

4To whom hast thou vttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

5Dead things are formed from vnder the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

6Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no couering.

7He stretcheth out the North ouer the emptie place, and hangeth the earth vpon nothing.

8Hee bindeth vp the waters in his thicke clouds, and the cloud is not rent vnder them.

9Hee holdeth backe the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud vpon it.

10Hee hath compassed the waters with bounds, vntill the day and night come to an end.

11The pillars of heauen tremble, and are astonished at his reproofe.

12Hee diuideth the sea with his power, and by his vnderstanding he smiteth through the proud.

13By his spirit he hath garnished the heauens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

14Loe, these are parts of his waies, but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can vnderstand?

III == James 1:17

 

IV == Job 4:17 , 21 ; 15:14-16

 

 

 

VI == Ps 139:8 , 11 ; Prov 15:11 ; Heb 4:13

VII == Job 9:8 ; Ps 24:2 ; 104:2-5

 

VIII == Prov 30:4

 

 

X == Job 38:8 ; Ps 33:7 ; 104:9 ; Prov 8:29 ; Jer 5:22

 

XII == Ex 14:21 ; Ps 74:13 ; Isa 51:15 ; Jer 31:35

XIII == Ps 33:6 ; Isa 27:1

 

 

 

1 Then Job spoke again and said:

2 What help you give to the powerless, what strength to the feeble arm!

3 How you counsel, as though he had no wisdom; how profuse is the advice you offer!

4 With whose help have you uttered those words, and whose is the breath that comes forth from you?

5 The shades beneath writhe in terror, the waters, and their inhabitants.

6 Naked before him is the nether world, and Abaddon has no covering.

7 He stretches out the North over empty space, and suspends the earth over nothing at all;

8 He binds up the waters in his clouds, yet the cloud is not rent by their weight;

9 He holds back the appearance of the full moon by spreading his clouds before it.

10 He has marked out a circle on the surface of the deep as the boundary of light and darkness.

11 The pillars of the heavens tremble and are stunned at his thunderous rebuke;

12 By his power he stirs up the sea, and by his might he crushes Rahab;

13 With his angry breath he scatters the waters, and he hurls the lightning against them relentlessly; His hand pierces the fugitive dragon as from his hand it strives to flee.

14 Lo, these are but the outlines of his ways, and how faint is the word we hear!

v 1-4. Job mocks Bildad’s attempt to help him, because his words had been no help at all. He had made pretense of great wisdom, but Job had better understanding of God’s wisdom than he did. Bildad did not have the teaching of the Spirit of God, but was a copy cat of Eliphaz.

 

 

v 5,6. Job shows greater wisdom than Bildad by pointing also to God’s rule over the place of the dead. They are lying in anguish, indicating their continuing after death. He assumed Sheol, the place of the dead, and Abaddon, the place of destruction to be under the waters. We also believe it is somewhere under the earth.

v 7-10. Job was aware of the northern hemisphere and that God has the earth suspended in space. He had mentioned the southern hemisphere in 9:9  and RSV translates v 10, He has described a circle upon the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness, indicating the east and west hemispheres. Isaiah was acquainted with the circle of the earth and heavens stretched out like a curtain, Isa. 40:22. That knowledge was ignored for 3000 years and scientists in recent centuries have rediscovered that the earth is not flat. Job also notes that the rain is held up so it doesn’t all fall at once, and God can cover the moon with those clouds.

v 11-13. Mountains are poetically spoken of as holding up the sky, and God causes earthquakes and sea storms or calms. He overcomes the powers of evil (Rahab) which were represented by early sea monsters. God’s wind brings storm clouds or clears the sky after a storm, and He controls position of stars, as, the Zodiac.

v 14. All those things mentioned are but but a portion, or the outer fringe of what God does. As in 4:12, we can only hear a whisper of His magnificence, and can not comprehend the vastness of his power. These statements of Job make the speech of Bildad in chapter 25 to be insignificant indeed.