Podcast 40, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 26”

Podcast 40, Stories of the Bible, “The Book of Job, Ch 26”

Of course, chapters 25 & 26 need to be read together. Chapter 26 is Job’s answer to Bildad in Chapter 25.

As is common in Job, the first verse introduces the speaker. Chapter 25 introduces Bildad as the speaker. 

Job 25:1 

Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said,

Chapter 26 introduces Job as the speaker. 

Job 36:1 But Job answered and said, 

Obviously it is an ongoing dialogue. The rest of the text of Chapter 26 should be read as a whole. It is governed by chiastic parallelism. Verse 2 is in antithetical parallelism to Verse 14. Job is speaking.

Job 26:2

How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength?

Job 26:14

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?

Notice that the contrast is between the weakness of Job and the Almighty power of God. Years later this is echoed by Isaiah.

Isaiah 55:6-9

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

In effect Job is agreeing with certain parts of Bildad’s argument. For example, Bildad said, 

Job 25:2-3

Dominion and fear are with him, he maketh peace in his high places. Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise?

6 RON

However, Job challenges Bildad’s conclusions, for while describing the almighty power of God, Bildad denies the Son, and denies his power to cleanse us from our sins. In the following Bildad is speaking.

Job 25:4-6

How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, which is a worm?

In Chapter 26, Job challenges Bildad’s opinion. He uses the parallel format A1 B1—B2 A2. Again B1 & B2 share an antithetical relationship. B1, for example, emphasizes the weaknesses of man, B2 emphasizes the power of God. Let’s look first at B1. The verses are tied together by step parallelism, that is to say they have the same rhetorical pattern. Each verse is formed as a question. 

Job 26:2-4

How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength? How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? and how hast thou plentifully declared the thing as it is? To whom hast thou uttered words? and whose spirit came from thee?

It is Job who is without power. It is Job whose arm ‘hath no strength. It is Job who has no wisdom. Job is Everyman. He symbolizes all mankind who suffer. When Job asks Bildad, “To whom hast thou uttered words? And whose spirit came from thee? He is accusing Bildad of two things: (1) Bildad doesn’t know who he is talking to. He has no comprehension of who Job truly is and why he is suffering or why he believes in a redeemer. (2) He accuses Bildad of being possessed or perhaps better, governed by Satan, and doesn’t know it.  In fact, Job answers his own question.

Job 26:5-6

Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.

That is quite a condemnation of Bildad. Now Let’s examine B2. Remember the chapter is following the chiastic order. That means that B2, the most important part of the chapter, carries the theme.