📖 Job — Chapter 26 (KJV)
Read the complete King James Version chapter below, then explore the passage sections, check what you remember, and keep your private study notes.
Scripture source: Project Gutenberg KJV, ebook 10.
Job 26:1 But Job answered and said,
Job 26:2 How hast thou Rhelped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?
Job 26:3 How hast thou Rcounselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is?
Job 26:4 To whom hast thou uttered words? and Rwhose spirit came from thee?
Job 26:5 RDead things are formed from under the waters, Tand the inhabitants thereof.
Job 26:6 RHell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
Job 26:7 He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Job 26:8 He Rbindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
Job 26:10 He hath Rcompassed the waters with bounds, Tuntil the day and night come to an end.
Job 26:11 The Rpillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
Job 26:12 He Rdivideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through Tthe proud.
Job 26:13 By Rhis spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Job 26:14 Lo, these are parts of his ways: but Rhow little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?
📚 Study This Chapter
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 26:1–4 — Job asks whether the words help
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job asks what Bildad's speech has done for someone without power or wisdom. He questions the actual benefit and source of the reply. The passage moves evaluation from impressive claims to their usefulness in the conversation. Good counsel should engage the need rather than merely display what the speaker can say.
Key Truth: Ask whether your counsel actually helps the person receiving it.
Check What You Remember
1. Who answers here? (Job 26:1)
Find it in Job 26:1 (KJV).
2. What kind of person does he ask whether Bildad has helped? (Job 26:2)
Find it in Job 26:2 (KJV).
3. What quality does he ask whether the counsel supplies? (Job 26:3)
Find it in Job 26:3 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 26:5–10 — God's reach beyond what is visible
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job describes the unseen depths, earth, clouds, and boundaries of waters under God's power. He too understands divine greatness. The poetic images express God's encompassing rule rather than serving as a complete scientific model. His questions have not arisen because he lacks familiar statements about creation.
Key Truth: Respect both the poetry and the purpose of a passage.
Check What You Remember
1. Upon what does Job say God hangs the earth? (Job 26:7)
Find it in Job 26:7 (KJV).
2. Where does he bind waters? (Job 26:8)
Find it in Job 26:8 (KJV).
3. What does he set around the waters? (Job 26:10)
Find it in Job 26:10 (KJV).
📖 What We’re Reading
Job 26:11–14 — Only the edges of God's ways
🌱 What These Verses Teach Us
Job continues with heaven, sea, and God's spirit, then says these are only parts of his ways. The little people hear cannot contain the thunder of his power. This ending emphasizes limited human understanding. The friends' confidence should therefore be restrained, not strengthened into certainty about the hidden cause of every loss.
Key Truth: Let God's greatness teach the limits of your understanding.
Check What You Remember
1. What trembles at God's reproof in the poem? (Job 26:11)
Find it in Job 26:11 (KJV).
2. What does God divide with his power? (Job 26:12)
Find it in Job 26:12 (KJV).
3. What does Job compare overwhelming power with? (Job 26:14)
Find it in Job 26:14 (KJV).
Related Scripture (KJV)
Romans 11:33 — Paul also speaks of the depth and unsearchability of God's ways.
This related passage is selected for its connection with this chapter. It is separate from the chapter text.
Reflect and Apply
How can awareness of limited knowledge change the way you speak to someone in distress?
Advanced Questions and Answers
Study this chapter’s wording, patterns, contrasts, and meaning in greater depth.
1. What deficiency does Job’s opening challenge identify in Bildad’s counsel?
2. What does the image of earth hanging upon nothing emphasise in the poem?
3. How do waters, clouds, and bounds develop the description?
4. What response do the pillars of heaven make to reproof?
5. How does the closing limit human apprehension of these examples?
Notes
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