He Hangeth the Earth upon Nothing

"How hast thou helped him that is without power?… To whom hast thou uttered words?"

"Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them… He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end."

"The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof. He divideth the sea with his power, and by his understanding he smiteth through the proud (Rahab). By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand?"

The storm god and the sea

At Ugarit, Baal (pictured above on a stele from the Louvre) defeats Yam, the Sea, and the serpent Lotan. Job 26:12–13 uses the same picture for Israel's God: he stills the sea, strikes Rahab, pierces the "fleeing serpent" (nahash bariah), exactly the phrase Isaiah 27:1 uses for Leviathan and the Ugaritic texts use for Lotan (btn brh). See the Echo on sea-monsters.

The north over emptiness

Zaphon, "the north," is also Mount Zaphon (Jebel Aqra), Baal's holy mountain in Syria; Psalm 48:2 places Zion "on the sides of the north." God stretching Zaphon over the void may claim the gods' mountain for him.

"Hangeth the earth upon nothing"

This line is often cited as advanced scientific knowledge. Within the poem it sits beside other images: pillars of heaven that tremble, a circle on the waters, waters bound in clouds, Sheol beneath. The poet is praising God's power to hold up the world, using the cosmic picture of the time. Elsewhere Job speaks of the earth's foundations and pillars (9:6; 38:4–6). The site does not treat the line as a modern astronomical statement.

Whose speech?

26:5–14 is often reassigned to Bildad as the rest of his short speech in chapter 25. The received text gives it to Job. The site keeps the received speaker in the reader and the lessons.

Greek gaps

The library's Sahidic Coptic lacks 26:5–11 and 13–14; much of this hymn may have been absent from the Old Greek and restored by Origen. Check against Ziegler (JOB-C03).