The Meaning of Job 26:14 Explained

Job 26:14

KJV: 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?

YLT: Lo, these are the borders of His way, And how little a matter is heard of Him, And the thunder of His might Who doth understand?

Darby: Lo, these are the borders of his ways; but what a whisper of a word do we hear of him! And the thunder of his power, who can understand?

ASV: Lo, these are but the outskirts of his ways: And how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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? 

What does Job 26:14 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 26:14 mean?

Indeed these [are] the [mere] edges of His ways and how small a whisper we hear of Him but the thunder of His power who can understand -
הֶן־ אֵ֤לֶּה ׀ קְצ֬וֹת [דרכו] (דְּרָכָ֗יו) וּמַה־ שֵּׁ֣מֶץ דָּ֭בָר נִשְׁמַע־ בּ֑וֹ וְרַ֥עַם [גבורתו] (גְּ֝בוּרוֹתָ֗יו‪‬) מִ֣י ؟ יִתְבּוֹנָֽן ס

הֶן־  Indeed 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הֵן  
Sense: behold, lo, though hypothetical part.
אֵ֤לֶּה ׀  these  [are] 
Parse: Pronoun, common plural
Root: אֵהֶל 
Sense: these.
קְצ֬וֹת  the  [mere]  edges 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct
Root: קָצָה 
Sense: end, extremity.
(דְּרָכָ֗יו)  His  ways 
Parse: Noun, common plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: דֶּרֶךְ  
Sense: way, road, distance, journey, manner.
וּמַה־  and  how 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.
שֵּׁ֣מֶץ  small 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֵׁמֶץ  
Sense: whisper, little.
דָּ֭בָר  a  whisper 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
נִשְׁמַע־  we  hear 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common plural
Root: שָׁמַע 
Sense: to hear, listen to, obey.
בּ֑וֹ  of  Him 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
וְרַ֥עַם  but  the  thunder 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רַעַם  
Sense: thunder.
(גְּ֝בוּרוֹתָ֗יו‪‬)  His  power 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: גְּבוּרָה  
Sense: strength, might.
؟ יִתְבּוֹנָֽן  can  understand 
Parse: Verb, Hitpael, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בִּין  
Sense: to discern, understand, consider.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation