The Meaning of Job 26:13 Explained

Job 26:13

KJV: By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.

YLT: By His Spirit the heavens He beautified, Formed hath His hand the fleeing serpent.

Darby: By his Spirit the heavens are adorned; his hand hath formed the fleeing serpent.

ASV: By his Spirit the heavens are garnished; His hand hath pierced the swift serpent.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

By his spirit  he hath garnished  the heavens;  his hand  hath formed  the crooked  serpent. 

What does Job 26:13 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 26:1-14 - "the Outskirts Of His Ways"
Job taunts Bildad with his reply as having imparted no help or thought. He then proceeds, Job 26:5-14, to give a description of God's power as manifested in Hades, in space, in the clouds, in the ocean, and throughout the universe. The spirits of the dead tremble before Him; the grave and destruction that veil themselves in night are stripped before His gaze; the world itself is suspended in space by invisible threads (a wonderful foreshadowing of the true theory of the earth); the waters are held in the clouds, which do not burst under their weight but act as the veil of God's throne; the sea owns His authority, hushing under His word or rising in its might; His breath brings the dawn; His hand strangles the dragon, as representing a well-known constellation, Draco. But these are only the outskirts of His ways. Great as is their acclaim as they circle His throne in thunder and splendor, they are but as a whisper compared with His divine power and Godhead. All that the scientist has known of God is, when compared with His essential nature, what the quiver of a leaf in the breeze is to the crash of the thunder-peal. This, O child of God, is thy Father, and His power is for thy defense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 26

1  Job, reproving the uncharitable spirit of Bildad
5  acknowledges the power of God to be infinite and unsearchable

What do the individual words in Job 26:13 mean?

By His Spirit the heavens He adorned pierced His hand the serpent fleeing
בְּ֭רוּחוֹ שָׁמַ֣יִם שִׁפְרָ֑ה חֹֽלֲלָ֥ה יָ֝ד֗וֹ נָחָ֥שׁ בָּרִֽיחַ

בְּ֭רוּחוֹ  By  His  Spirit 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, common singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: רוּחַ  
Sense: wind, breath, mind, spirit.
שָׁמַ֣יִם  the  heavens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
שִׁפְרָ֑ה  He  adorned 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׁפְרָה  
Sense: (Piel) fairness, clearness.
חֹֽלֲלָ֥ה  pierced 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָלַל 
Sense: to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin.
יָ֝ד֗וֹ  His  hand 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
נָחָ֥שׁ  the  serpent 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נָחָשׁ  
Sense: serpent, snake.
בָּרִֽיחַ  fleeing 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: בָּרִחַ  
Sense: fleeing subst.