Job Chapter 26

“But Job answered, etc.] In a very sharp and biting manner; one would wonder that a man in such circumstances should have so much keenness of spirit, and deal in so much irony, and be master of so much satire, and be able to laugh at his antagonist in the manner he does: and said; as follows.”

“JOB'S REPLY. (Job 26:1-14) without power . . . no strength . . . no wisdom--The negatives are used instead of the positives, powerlessness, &c., designedly (so Isa 31:8; Deu 32:21). Granting I am, as you say (Job 18:17; Job 15:2), powerlessness itself, &c. "How hast thou helped such a one?" savest--supportest.”

“How hast thou helped him that is without power? - It has been doubted whether this refers to Job himself, the two friends of Bildad, or to the Deity. Rosenmuller. The connection, however, seems to demand that it should be referred to Job himself. It is sarcastical. Bildad had come as a friend and comforter. He had, also, in common with Eliphaz and Zophar, taken upon himself the office of teacher and counsellor. He had regarded Job as manifesting great weakness in his views of God and of his government; as destitute of all strength to bear up aright under trials, and now all that he had done to aid one so weak was…”

“To whom - For whose instruction hast thou uttered these things? For mine? Dost thou think I do not know, that which the meanest persons are not unacquainted with; that God is incomparably greater and better than his creatures? Whose spirit - Who inspired thee with this profound discourse of thine? Job 26:5”

“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).”

“How hast thou: Bildad had produced no argument to refute Job's doctrine; and therefore Job ironically admires the assistance which Bildad had given to his friends in their extremity, and the instruction he had afforded him in his perplexity. Job 12:2; Kg1 18:27 helped: Job 4:3, Job 4:4, Job 6:25, Job 16:4, Job 16:5; Isa 35:3, Isa 35:4, Isa 40:14, Isa 41:5-7 Job 26:3”

“5 - The shades are put to pain Deep under the waters and their inhabitants. 6 Shel is naked before him, And the abyss hath no covering. 7 He stretched the northern sky over the emptiness; He hung the earth upon nothing. Bildad has extolled God's majestic, awe-inspiring rule in the heights of heaven, His immediate surrounding; Job continues the strain, and celebrates the extension of this rule, even to the depths of the lower world. The operation of the majesty of the heavenly Ruler extends even to the realm of shades; the sea with the multitude of its inhabitants forms no barrier between God and the realm of…”