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Job

About this book
Chapter 26

1 Then Job replied: 2 “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the person who has no strength! 3 How you have advised the one without wisdom, and abundantly revealed your insight! 4 To whom did you utter these words? And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? 5 “The dead tremble—those beneath the waters and all that live in them.⁠ 6 The underworld is naked before God; the place of destruction lies uncovered. 7 He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth on nothing. 8 He locks the waters in his clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them. 9 He conceals the face of the full moon, shrouding it with his clouds. 10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters as a boundary between light and darkness. 11 The pillars of the heavens tremble⁠ and are amazed at his rebuke.⁠ 12 By his power he stills the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces.⁠ 13 By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! How faint is the whisper we hear of him! But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Samuel 22:8 and Job 26:11

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Summary

In 2 Samuel 22 and Job 26, all of creation shakes and trembles in response to divine power, echoing ancient Near Eastern storm god traditions that describe the heavens and earth shaking at a deity’s presence.

Passages

2 Samuel 22:8

Hebrew Bible
6 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me; the snares of death trapped me. 7 In my distress I called to the Lord; I called to my God. From his heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my cry for help. 8 The earth heaved and shook; the foundations of the sky trembled. They heaved because he was angry. 9 Smoke ascended from his nose; fire devoured as it came from his mouth; he hurled down fiery coals. 10 He made the sky sink as he descended; a thick cloud was under his feet.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Samuel

Job 26:11

Hebrew Bible
9 He conceals the face of the full moon, shrouding it with his clouds. 10 He marks out the horizon on the surface of the waters as a boundary between light and darkness. 11 The pillars of the heavens tremble and are amazed at his rebuke. 12 By his power he stills the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster to pieces. 13 By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Job

References

"... Isaiah uses language similar to that which is used in the “storm god” theophany common in the Ugaritic Baal Epic cycle. The divine warrior manifests himself by convulsions of nature, strong winds and a booming within the heavens that nearly tear the very fabric of earth apart. A similar example is found in David’s song of praise in 2 Samuel 22:8-16 ..."
John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews, and Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2000), 602.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Samuel 22:8 and Job 26:11

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