The Meaning of Job 26:7 Explained

Job 26:7

KJV: He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.

YLT: Stretching out the north over desolation, Hanging the earth upon nothing,

Darby: He stretcheth out the north over empty space, he hangeth the earth upon nothing;

ASV: He stretcheth out the north over empty space, And hangeth the earth upon nothing.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

He stretcheth out  the north  over the empty place,  [and] hangeth  the earth  upon nothing. 

What does Job 26:7 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 26:7 mean?

He stretches out the north over the empty space [He] hangs earth on nothing what [is]
נֹטֶ֣ה צָפ֣וֹן עַל־ תֹּ֑הוּ תֹּ֥לֶה אֶ֝֗רֶץ עַל־ בְּלִי־ מָֽה

נֹטֶ֣ה  He  stretches  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָטָה 
Sense: to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, pervert, incline, bend, bow.
צָפ֣וֹן  the  north 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: צָפֹון  
Sense: north (of direction), northward.
עַל־  over 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
תֹּ֑הוּ  the  empty  space 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: תֹּהוּ  
Sense: formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness.
תֹּ֥לֶה  [He]  hangs 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: תָּלָה  
Sense: to hang.
אֶ֝֗רֶץ  earth 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
בְּלִי־  nothing 
Parse: Adverb
Root: בְּלִימָה  
Sense: nothingness.
מָֽה  what  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: לָמָּה 
Sense: what, how, of what kind.