The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke.
Job answers Bildad with a sweeping picture of God's power, from the world of the dead below to the vault of heaven above. Here heaven's own pillars shake — what are they, and what rebuke makes them tremble?
Job's Answer to Bildad
Bildad had just spoken about God's greatness. Job answers by showing he can say it better, and this verse belongs to that answer.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBut let me, Bildad, tell you something about the greatness of God, before which your words fade into nothing. And so he gives a description of God's greatness that is indeed greater than Bildad's.
What the Pillars Are
The verse speaks of pillars, but not of columns propping up the sky. What are they, then?
Leslie M. GrantThe phrase "the pillars of heaven" evidently refers to the earth with its great mountains reaching toward heaven. These pillars often tremble when an earthquake strikes, with its awesome display of the power of God.
Shaken by a Rebuke
The verse names two reactions to God's rebuke: the pillars tremble, and they are astounded. One writer keeps both words, and sets Job's account of the world against what the nations taught about it.
William KellyThis description of the world is far nobler and more accurate than anything in the mythology or philosophy of the nations! Job speaks of God as spreading the north over empty space, holding up the vault of heaven Himself, and hanging the earth on nothing... but God makes the mightiest of earth's pillars, towering on high, tremble and wonder at His rebuke. He stills the restless sea at His pleasure, and His knowledge strikes down the proud enemy.
No Place Outside His Rule
The trembling pillars are one item in a list that starts far lower down. Job begins with the realm of the dead, long before he reaches the sky.
Samuel RidoutBildad had dwelt on the glories of God shown in the heavens; Job declares His rule in the depths... It is folly to think of the home of the lost as independent of God. Whether it is "the spirits [now] in prison" (1 Peter 3:19), or the bottomless pit, or the lake of fire, God — not Satan — reigns. In the end, all must obey His will. "If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!" (Ps. 139:8).
Only the Fringe of His Ways
Job does not treat this list as the whole story. He calls all of it the outer edge of God's ways.
William Kelly"Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways" — they are only the fringes of His ways, which gives the idea. "And how small a whisper do we hear of him!" It is only the whisper that we hear now. "But the thunder of his power" — ah, that is kept for the day of judgment — "who can understand?"
That is not the end of the story. God has spoken much more since Job caught only a whisper.
F. B. HoleHe had only a "whisper of a word" about God. Israel knew something of "the thunder of His power" when God gave the law at Sinai through Moses. We have the high privilege of knowing and enjoying the "grace and truth" that came through Jesus Christ. We also walk in "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). We may well bless God, who has brought us out of darkness into His marvellous light.
Summary
- Pillars — Heaven's pillars are the earth's great mountains. They look like props under the sky, and an earthquake sets them shaking.
- Rebuke — What shakes them is a word. The mountains tremble and wonder; that same voice stills a raging sea and strikes down a proud enemy.
- Reach — The trembling belongs to a list that begins in the world of the dead. No place sits outside God's rule, not even the home of the lost.
- Accuracy — Job says God stretched the north over empty space and hung the earth on nothing. That account stands far above the myths and philosophies of the nations.
- Whisper — Job calls all of it the outer edge of God's ways, a whisper only. The thunder waits for the day of judgment. Since then God has spoken more fully in Jesus Christ.