Job 26:8-11

8. in . . . clouds—as if in airy vessels, which, though light, do not burst with the weight of water in them (Pr 30:4).

9. Rather, He encompasseth or closeth. God makes the clouds a veil to screen the glory not only of His person, but even of the exterior of His throne from profane eyes. His agency is everywhere, yet He Himself is invisible (Ps 18:11; 104:3).

10. Rather, "He hath drawn a circular bound round the waters" (Pr 8:27; Ps 104:9). The horizon seems a circle. Indication is given of the globular form of the earth.

until the day, &c.—to the confines of light and darkness. When the light falls on our horizon, the other hemisphere is dark. UMBREIT and MAURER translate "He has most perfectly (literally, to perfection) drawn the bound (taken from the first clause) between light and darkness" (compare Ge 1:4, 6, 9): where the bounding of the light from darkness is similarly brought into proximity with the bounding of the waters.

11. pillars—poetically for the mountains which seem to bear up the sky (Ps 104:32).

astonished—namely, from terror. Personification.

his reproof— (Ps 104:7). The thunder, reverberating from cliff to cliff (Hab 3:10; Na 1:5).