Job 26:11-12 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble ] This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake:- "He shakes creation with his nod; Earth, sea, and heaven, confess him God." But there may be an allusion to the high mountains , which were anciently esteemed by the common people as the pillars on which the heavens rested ; and when these were shaken with earthquakes, it might be said the pillars of heaven tremble . Mount Atlas was supposed to be one of those pillars, and this gave rise to the fable of Atlas being a man who bore the heavens on his shoulders. The Greek and Roman poets frequently use this image. Thus SILIUS ITALICUS, lib. i., ver. 202:- Atlas subducto tracturus vertice coelum: Sidera nubiferum fulcit caput, aethereasque Erigit aeternum compages ardua cervix: Canet barba gelu, frontemque immanibus umbris Pinea silva premit; vastant cava tempora venti Nimbosoque ruunt spumantia flumina rictu. "Atlas' broad shoulders prop th' incumbent skies : Around his cloud-girt head the stars arise. His towering neck supports th' ethereal way ; And o'er his brow black woods their gloom display. Hoar is his beard; winds round his temples roar; And from his jaws the rushing torrents pour." J. B. C.

‏ Job 26:11-12

Verse 11. The pillars of heaven tremble] This is probably a poetical description either of thunder, or of an earthquake:-

"He shakes creation with his nod;

Earth, sea, and heaven, confess him God."

But there may be an allusion to the high mountains, which were anciently esteemed by the common people as the pillars on which the heavens rested; and when these were shaken with earthquakes, it might be said the pillars of heaven tremble. Mount Atlas was supposed to be one of those pillars, and this gave rise to the fable of Atlas being a man who bore the heavens on his shoulders. The Greek and Roman poets frequently use this image. Thus SILIUS ITALICUS, lib. i., ver. 202:-

Atlas subducto tracturus vertice coelum:

Sidera nubiferum fulcit caput, aethereasque

Erigit aeternum compages ardua cervix:

Canet barba gelu, frontemque immanibus umbris

Pinea silva premit; vastant cava tempora venti

Nimbosoque ruunt spumantia flumina rictu.

"Atlas' broad shoulders prop th' incumbent skies:

Around his cloud-girt head the stars arise.

His towering neck supports th' ethereal way;

And o'er his brow black woods their gloom display.

Hoar is his beard; winds round his temples roar;

And from his jaws the rushing torrents pour."

J. B. C.

Verse 12. He divideth the sea with his power] Here is a manifest allusion to the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites, and the overthrow of Pharaoh and his host, according to the opinion of the most eminent critics.

He smiteth through the proud.] Rahab, the very name by which Egypt is called Isa 51:9, and elsewhere. Calmet remarks: "This appears to refer only to the passage of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh. Were we not prepossessed with the opinion that Job died before Moses, every person at the first view of the subject must consider it in this light." I am not thus prepossessed. Let Job live when he might, I am satisfied the Book of Job was written long after the death of Moses, and not earlier than the days of Solomon, if not later. The farther I go in the work, the more this conviction is deepened; and the opposite sentiment appears to be perfectly gratuitous.