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Job's response to Bildad's speech in the third conversation. 1–4. Characteristics of Bildad's speech. 5–14. Job, like Bildad, knows the omnipotence of God. Job 26:1. And Job answered and said: Job 26:2. how you helped the powerless, supported the muscle of the weak! Since Bildad’s speech does nothing to resolve the disturbing, “relaxing” Job’s heart (Job 23.16) question about the cause of the suffering of the righteous, the unjust attitude of God towards him (XXIII) and the prosperity of sinners (Job 24.25), it evokes a fair ironic remark on his part: “how you helped the powerless!” With his reasoning, Bildad did not help Job, who was powerless to solve the riddle of his existence, and therefore did not console him at all (“he supported the arm of the weak”). Job 26:3. What advice did you give to the unwise and how completely did you explain the matter! Job 26:4. To whom did you speak these words, and whose spirit came from you? Job speaks with even greater sarcasm about the evidence presented by Bildad in favor of the idea of ​​​​divine omnipotence. How fully and comprehensively he covered this issue (“how he explained the matter in its entirety”). Did he receive a revelation from above? ("whose spirit came out of you?"). Everything that Bildad said is known to Job, this fool ("unwise"), according to his friends. Job 26:5. The Rephaim tremble under the waters, and those who live in them. Job knows about the omnipotence of God as much, if not more, than Bildad. He knows that he is not limited by anything, there are no barriers for him. Proof of this is the fear of the Lord of the Rephaim (cf. Ps 87:11), the inhabitants of Sheol. Although the latter is separated from heaven, the dwelling of God, by a space of water, it does not stop the action of divine omnipotence: “the Rephaim tremble.” “Rephaim” means weak, like a shadow, a similar name is adopted by the inhabitants of Sheol - the dead, because the latter seemed to be a place of peace, sleep (Job 3.13; Isaiah 26.19), a semi-conscious state, from which its inhabitants emerge only under the influence of external influences (Isaiah 14.9). Job 26:6. Sheol is naked before Him, and there is no covering for Abaddon. Not only Sheol is open to divine omnipotence, but also “Abaddon” (Ps 87.12; Proverbs 15.11, 27.20; cf. Heb 4.13), the lowest and deepest part of hell (“ἄβυσσος” - the abyss; cf. Rev. 9.11: “angels of the abyss”). Job 26:7. He spread the north over the void, hanging the earth on nothing. The omnipotence of God is reflected in the establishment of the laws of gravity, by the force of which the enormous luminaries of the northern hemisphere are supported in the air (the expression “stretched out” is applied only to the firmament - Job 9.8; Ps. 103.2; Isa. 40:22, 44:24, but never to the earth, and therefore “north” cannot mean the northern hemisphere - parts of the earth) and the entire globe. Job 26:8. He shuts up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not disperse under them. From Him the laws that determine the phenomenon of rain originated (cf. Ps 103.3; Jer 10.13). Job 26:9. He set up His throne, He spread His cloud over it. Almighty God “set up His throne,” or rather, “covers the face of His throne.” The throne of God is heaven (Isaiah 66.1); the front, facing the earth, side of it (“face”) is covered with clouds, as if with a veil (cf. Job 22.14; Ps 17.12; Am 9.6), due to which it is invisible (cf. Job 22.14). Its reflection reaching to the earth is the azure of heaven free from clouds (Ex. 24.10). Job 26:10. He drew a line over the surface of the water, to the boundaries of light and darkness. By the power of His omnipotence, the Lord “drew a line over the surface of the water” (cf. Proverbs 8.27). According to the view of ancient peoples, the earth is washed (surrounded) on all sides by the ocean, above which the vault of heaven rises in the form of a hemisphere (cf. “heavenly circle” - Job 22.14). Inside this space there is a region of light flowing from the sun and stars, outside it there is a region of darkness: “to the borders of light and darkness.” Job 26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble and are terrified by His thunder. Job 26:12. With His power He stirs the sea and with His mind overcomes its insolence. Divine omnipotence is reflected in earthquakes, from which the mountains tremble (cf. Job 9.5-6; Ps 28.5-6; Nahum 1.5), with their peaks as if supporting the sky and therefore called the “pillars” of the sky, as well as in sea storms and taming them: “his insolence is humbled by reason” (v. 12; cf. Ps 88.10). Synodal reading “his (sea’s) insolence”, conveying the Hebrew expression “Rachav”, cannot be accepted because there is no pronominal suffix “o” with the “given” word - “Rachab” is something independent in relation to the sea, although it is in connection with it. The same is confirmed by Ps 88.10-11 and Is 51, in which “Rachav” is mentioned simultaneously with the sea. There are sufficient reasons to understand “Rachav” in the sense of a sea monster. The Lord “slays it” so that it does not harm people. Job 26:13. From His spirit comes the splendor of heaven; His hand formed a swift scorpion. The omnipotence of God is evidenced by the “splendor of the sky” - all the luminaries, and the “fast scorpion” created by the divine hand, Heb. “nahash bariah.” What should be understood by this expression, found in Isa. 27:1, it’s hard to say. Judging by the connection, we are talking about some kind of constellation, but which one is unknown. It is believed that it lies between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, wrapping halfway around the Arctic Circle. Hebrew is also understood differently. the expression “holla” (synodal “formed”). Some derive it from “khul” - “to form” (Deut. 22.18; Ps. 89.2), others, including the LXX and Peshito translations, from “hapal” - “to pierce.” Job 26:14. Behold, these are the parts of His ways; and how little we have heard of Him! And who can understand the thunder of His power? What Job said constitutes only an insignificant, brief outline of the manifestations of divine omnipotence, an outline of what is accessible to human understanding. Its complete, unimpaired revelation is unbearable, unbearable for a weak person: “who can comprehend the thunder of His power?” You might be interested in: