26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
26:9 He conceals 1 the face of the full moon, 2
shrouding it with his clouds.
26:10 He marks out the horizon 3 on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
26:11 The pillars 4 of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke. 5
26:12 By his power he stills 6 the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster 7 to pieces. 8
1 tn The verb means “to hold; to seize,” here in the sense of shutting up, enshrouding, or concealing.
2 tc The MT has כִסֵּה (khisseh), which is a problematic vocalization. Most certainly כֵּסֶה (keseh), alternative for כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”) is intended here. The MT is close to the form of “throne,” which would be כִּסֵּא (kisse’, cf. NLT “he shrouds his throne with his clouds”). But here God is covering the face of the moon by hiding it behind clouds.
3 tn The expression חֹק־חָג (khoq-khag) means “he has drawn a limit as a circle.” According to some the form should have been חָק־חוּג (khaq-khug, “He has traced a circle”). But others argues that the text is acceptable as is, and can be interpreted as “a limit he has circled.” The Hebrew verbal roots are חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to sketch out; to trace”) and חוּג (khug, “describe a circle”) respectively.
4 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 173) says these are the great mountains, perceived to hold up the sky.
5 sn The idea here is that when the earth quakes, or when there is thunder in the heavens, these all represent God’s rebuke, for they create terror.
6 tn The verb רָגַע (raga’) has developed a Semitic polarity, i.e., having totally opposite meanings. It can mean “to disturb; to stir up” or “to calm; to still.” Gordis thinks both meanings have been invoked here. But it seems more likely that “calm” fits the context better.
7 tn Heb “Rahab” (רָהַב), the mythical sea monster that represents the forces of chaos in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the translation the words “the great sea monster” have been supplied appositionally in order to clarify “Rahab.”
8 sn Here again there are possible mythological allusions or polemics. The god Yam, “Sea,” was important in Ugaritic as a god of chaos. And Rahab is another name for the monster of the deep (see Job 9:13).