Job 9:8

“Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, etc.] The expanse, or what we commonly translate “firmament”; but has its name in the Hebrew language from its being expanded, spread, and stretched out, over the earth and all around it; and seems chiefly to design the ether or atmosphere, which is a fine thin matter and substance spread around us, and which is sometimes spread with clouds; this is said to be stretched out like a curtain and a tent to dwell in, tents being made of curtains spread out, (<234021>Isaiah 40:21); and the allusion may be to a military tent, the pavilion of a general of an army, as Pineda observes, from whence Jehovah plays his artillery upon his enemies, thunder, lightning,…”

“spreadeth out-- (Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2). But throughout it is not so much God's creating, as His governing, power over nature that is set forth. A storm seems a struggle between Nature and her Lord! Better, therefore, "Who boweth the heavens alone," without help of any other. God descends from the bowed-down heaven to the earth (Psa 18:9). The storm, wherein the clouds descend, suggests this image. In the descent of the vault of heaven, God has come down from His high throne and walks majestically over the mountain waves (Hebrew, "heights"), as a conqueror taming their violence. So "tread upon" (Deu 33:29; Amo 4:13; Mat 14:26). The Egyptian hieroglyphic for impossibility is a man walking on…”

“Which alone spreadeth out the heavens - As an expanse, or a curtain; see the notes at Isaiah 40:22. And treadeth upon the waves of the sea - Margin, “Heights.” So it is in the Hebrew. It means the “high waves;” that is, he walks upon the waves of the ocean when lifted up by a storm. This is spoken of here as a proof of the greatness of God; and the meaning of all is, that he is seen in the storm, in the heaving ocean, when the heavens are black with tempest, and when the earth is convulsed. It may be added here, that the Lord Jesus walked amidst the howling winds on the lake, and thus gave evidence that he was God; Matthew 14:25. “The Egyptian hieroglyphic for what was not possible to be…”

“Who. &c. - A farther description of a black and tempestuous season, wherein the heavens seem to be brought down nearer to the earth. Treadeth - Represseth and ruleth them when they rage and are tempestuous: for treading upon any thing, signifies in scripture using power and dominion over it. Job 9:9”

“Which: Job 37:18; Gen 1:6, Gen 1:7; Psa 33:6, Psa 104:2, Psa 104:3; Isa 40:22, Isa 42:5, Isa 44:24; Jer 10:11; Zac 12:1 treadeth: Job 38:11; Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4; Mat 14:25-30; Joh 6:19 waves: Heb. heights Job 9:9”

“8 Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, And walketh upon the heights of the sea; 9 Who made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; 10 Who doeth great things past finding out, And wondrous things without number. Ewald, Hirzel, and others, understand נטה ( Job 9:8) according to Psa 18:10 : He letteth down the clouds of heaven, and walketh on the heights of the sea of clouds, i.e., high above the towering thunder-clouds. But parallel passages, such as Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2, and especially Isa 44:24, show that Job 9:8 is to be understood as referring to the creation of the firmament of heaven; and consequently נטה is to be taken in the sense of expandere, and is a form…”