Job 26:9 Komentář

This is Job's short reply to Bildad's short discourse, in which he is so far from contradicting him that he confirms what he had said, and out-does him in magnifying God and setting forth his power, to show what reason he had still to say, as he did (Job 13:2), "What you know, the same do I know also." I. He shows that Bildad's discourse was foreign to the matter he was discoursing of - though very true and good, yet not to the purpose (Job 26:2-4). II. That it was needless to the person he was discoursing with; for he knew it, and believed it, and could speak of it as well as he and better, and could add to the proofs which he had produced of God's power and greatness, which he does in the rest of his discourse (Job 26:5-13), concluding that, when they had both said what they could, all came short of the merit of the subject and it was still far from being exhausted (Job 26:14).

INTRODUCTION TO JOB 26 In this chapter Job, in a very sarcastic manner, rallies Bildad on the weakness and impertinence of his reply, and sets it in a very ridiculous light; showing it to be quite foolish and stupid, and not at all to the purpose, and besides was none of his own, but what he had borrowed from another, Job 26:1; and if it was of any avail in the controversy to speak of the greatness and majesty of God, of his perfections and attributes, of his ways and works, he could say greater and more glorious things of God than he had done, and as he does, Job 26:5; beginning at the lower parts of the creation, and gradually ascending to the superior and celestial ones; and concludes with observing, that, after all, it was but little that was known of God and his ways, by himself, by Bildad, or by any mortal creature, Job 26:14.

He holdeth back the face of his throne,.... His throne is the heaven of heavens; the face of it, or what is before it, is the starry and airy heavens; this face of his throne is sometimes held back, or covered with clouds, that so his throne is so far from being visible, that even the face of it, or the outside or external appearance of it, is not to be seen, as follows: and spreadeth his cloud upon it; and both he and his throne are invisible; clouds and darkness are round about him, and his pavilion round about are dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies, Psa 18:11; and even the light in which he dwells, and with which he clothes himself, is impervious to us, and is so dazzling, that itself covers and keeps back himself and throne from being seen by mortals. The Targum suggests, that what is here said to be done is done that the angels may not see it; but these always stand before the throne of God, and always behold the face of God himself.

He holdeth back the face of His Throne, and spreadeth His cloud upon it. [LITERAL INTERPRETATION] In the face there is wont to be shewn forth acquaintanceship. Thus 'the face of His Throne is held back,' in that by us in this life the gloriousness of His kingdom is not perceived, so great as it is had within; 'upon which the cloud' is rightly said 'to be stretched;' because that glory of the heavenly kingdom is not seen such as it is. For the corruptible body presseth down the soul; and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things. And so against seeing it we are besprinkled with a mist, for we are darkened by the mere cloudiness of our ignorance. Whence it is rightly said by the Psalmist, And darkness was under His feet; and He rode above the Cherubim, and did fly; He did fly above the wings of the wind: He made darkness His secret place. For there is 'darkness to Him under His feet,' in that by those beneath He is not seen in that brightness, wherewith He exercises dominion among those above. For He 'rode above the Cherubim, and did fly;' since the 'Cherubim' is a term used for the fulness of knowledge. By consequence he is said above the fulness of knowledge to have 'ridden, and to have flown,' because the loftiness of His Majesty there is no knowledge doth compass. 'He did fly,' because He transported Himself on high, far from the reach of our understanding. 'He did fly above the wings of the wind,' because He transcended the knowledge of souls. He made darkness too His secret place, because whereas we are dimmed with the mists of our infirmity, by virtue of our ignorance He is hidden from us, that He should not be seen by us now in eternal and interior Brightness. Hence in the Song of Songs also it is said to Him by the Spouse, Escape, my Beloved, escape. 'It escapes us,' we say, as often as that does not occur to our minds which we wish to remember. 'It escapes us,' we say, when that which we wish we do not retain in our recollection. So Holy Church, after that she sets forth the Death and Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord, cries out to Him, full of the Spirit of Prophecy, Escape, my Beloved, escape. As though she said; 'Thou That art made by the flesh comprehensible, do Thou by Thy Divine Nature transcend the comprehension of our perception, and in Thine own Self remain to us Incomprehensible.' And so He 'holdeth back the face of His throne,' because He hideth the power of His Majesty from mortal beings. But if we render His 'throne' the Angelical Powers, for on these same Powers He sitteth enthroned as on a royal seat, 'He keeps back the face of His Throne' from us, because so long as we have our subsistence in this mortal flesh, what and how wonderful those ministrations of the Angels are, we do not perceive. 'And He spreadeth His cloud upon it' assuredly because He both lifts up our heart for making search, and yet it is brought to pass by a secret mode of control, that by the very endlessness of its searching it is kept back. Whence it is written, The deep uttered its voice at the loftiness of its imagining. For the mind of man is forced to cry out in admiration, when, in loftiness of survey, it is straitened in its searchings by the very act by which it is enlarged. Or, surely, because we are ourselves the 'throne' of God, He is said not unjustly to 'keep back the face of His throne,' when our knowledge is prevented advancing to things of a higher range. Upon which same throne God is said 'to spread His cloud,' because remaining Himself invisible, He puts forth secret judgments upon us, that at once a thing should be done in prominency, that we should be able to see, and yet the origin of the deed be hidden in concealment, so that the reason wherefore it be done, we should needs not know.

"He constrains the elements with his purposes hidden, stretching out his cloud upon them." Heaven is often called "the throne of God" in holy Scripture. Air is placed before the face of heaven. Therefore, he says that God, by containing the air and expanding the clouds, does not allow them to release rain, if not in the measure that he knows to be convenient and useful.

After rain falls from the clouds, some remnants of the vapors remain behind, from which the clouds are formed. These conceal heaven from our point of view which is like the throne of God, according to the last chapter of Isaiah, "Heaven is my throne." (66:1) Expressing this he continues, "He keeps hidden the face of his throne," for he holds back as though hiding the face of heaven, which is his throne. He does this by the clouds, which prohibit us from seeing heaven, and so he says, "and he expands his cloud over it," a cloud produced by his power.

Honor is not seemly in a fool. The correction and treatment suitable to such. Of the slothful man. Of him who interferes with matters which do not concern him. Contentions to be avoided. Of the dissembler and the lying tongue.

He holdeth back the face of his throne - Though all these are most elegant effects of an omniscient and almighty power, yet the great Agent is not personally discoverable; he dwelleth in light unapproachable, and in mercy hides himself from the view of his creatures. The words, however may refer to those obscurations of the face of heaven, and the hiding of the body of the sun, when the atmosphere is laden with dense vapours, and the rain begins to be poured down on the earth.

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.

Rather, He encompasseth or closeth. God makes the clouds a veil to screen the glory not only of His person, but even of the exterior of His throne from profane eyes. His agency is everywhere, yet He Himself is invisible (Psa 18:11; Psa 104:3).