Job 38:4

Hebrew Bible

3 Get ready for a difficult task like a man; I will question you, and you will inform me. 4Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you possess understanding. 5 Who set its measurements—if you know—or who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its bases set, or who laid its cornerstone 7 when the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

1 Enoch 18:1

Pseudepigrapha

1 I saw the treasuries of all the winds: I saw how He had furnished with them the whole creation and the firm foundations of the earth. 2 And I saw the corner-stone of the earth: I saw the four winds which bear [the earth and] the firmament of the heaven. 3 ⌈⌈And I saw how the winds stretch out the vaults of heaven⌉⌉, and have their station between heaven and earth: ⌈⌈these are the pillars of the heaven⌉⌉.

 Notes and References

"... Next Enoch encounters the cornerstone of the earth and sees the four winds that support the earth and firmament of heaven. The text reads as follows: “I saw the cornerstone of the earth. I saw four winds supporting the earth and the firmament of heaven.” The imagery of the cornerstone, the largest stone in the foundation that is positioned in the primary corner of a building, is recalled also in biblical texts. For example, in Job 38:6 God lays the cornerstone upon which he constructs the world. There are no indications in Job or in the Enochic text that the authors have any specific site in mind; rather it appears that the motif has been merely appropriated. The reference in 1 Enoch 18:2 to the cornerstone of the earth is intriguing, for on the surface a specific locale might seem to be inferred. Yet one is unable from the context of 1 Enoch 18 and Job 38 to adduce any setting for this interesting detail. Following the cornerstone of the earth, Enoch sees the four winds. The relationship of the cornerstone to the winds supporting the earth and firmament of heaven is not entirely clear. Nickelsburg proposes that the cosmos is depicted in this chapter as a building: the earth sits atop a foundation with a cornerstone, while the firmament rests on the ends of the earth and is supported by winds. One might surmise that the winds correspond to the four directions and blow from the four quarters of the earth.11 Martin understands ‘the four winds’ to be a Babylonian expression, although he notes within Babylonian cosmology that the winds of the four cardinal points did not support the earth or firmament. Homer also distinguishes the quarters of heaven by the four winds ..."

Bautch, Kelley Coblentz A Study of the Geography of 1 Enoch 17-19: “No One Has Seen What I Have Seen.” (p. 101) Brill, 2003

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.