Job 26 · Verse 10

Job 26:10

He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
Job 26:10, King James Version

Job 26:10 in other translations

BSBHe has inscribed a horizon on the face of the waters at the boundary between light and darkness.
WEBHe has described a boundary on the surface of the waters, and to the confines of light and darkness.
ASVHe hath described a boundary upon the face of the waters, Unto the confines of light and darkness.
YLTA limit He hath placed on the waters, Unto the boundary of light with darkness.
DARBYHe hath traced a fixed circle over the waters, unto the confines of light and darkness.
BBEBy him a circle is marked out on the face of the waters, to the limits of the light and the dark.
WebsterHe hath encompassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

What does Job 26:10 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Job 26:5-14

5-14. As before in the ninth and twelfth chapters, Job had shown himself not inferior to the friends' inability to describe God's greatness, so now he describes it as manifested in hell (the world of the dead), Job 26:5, 6; on earth, Job 26:7; in the sky, Job 26:8-11; the sea, Job 26:12; the heavens, Job 26:13. Dead things are formed--Rather, "The souls of the dead (Rephaim) tremble." Not only does God's power…

Read the full comment on Job 26:5-14 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds - Perhaps this refers merely to the circle of the horizon, the line that terminates light and commences darkness, called here עד תכלית אור עם חשך ad tachlith or im chosech, "until the completion of light with darkness." Or, if we take תכלית tachlith here to be the same with תכלת techeleth, Exo 25:4, and elsewhere, which we translate blue, it may mean that sombre sky-blue appearance of the horizon at the time of twilight, i.e., between light and darkness; the line where the one is terminating and the other commencing. Or, He so circumscribes the waters, retaining them in their own place, that they shall not be able to overflow the earth until day and night, that is, time itself, come to an end.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Job 26:5-14

Many striking instances are here given of the wisdom and power of God, in the creation and preservation of the world. If we look about us, to the earth and waters here below, we see his almighty power. If we consider hell beneath, though out of our sight, yet we may conceive the discoveries of God's power there. If we look up to heaven above, we see displays of God's almighty power. By his Spirit, the eternal Spirit…

Read the full comment on Job 26:5-14 →

Job 26:10 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

חֹֽק\־chok-a limitH2706
חָ֭גchaghe has drawn a circleH2328
עַל\־'al-onH5921
פְּנֵי\־pe.nei-[the] surface ofH6440
מָ֑יִםMa.yim[the] watersH4325
עַד\־'ad-toH5704
תַּכְלִ֖יתtakh.Lit[the] end ofH8503
א֣וֹר'orlightH216
עִם\־'im-withH5973
חֹֽשֶׁךְ\׃Cho.shekhdarknessH2822

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Job 26:10

  • Proverbs 8:29

    When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

  • Job 38:8-11

    Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?

  • Jeremiah 5:22

    Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?

  • Psalms 33:7

    He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.

  • Isaiah 54:9-10

    For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

  • Genesis 8:22

    While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

  • Psalms 104:6-9

    Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
compassed.
38:8-11; Ps 33:7; 104:6-9; Pr 8:29; Jer 5:22
until.
Ge 8:22; Isa 54:9,10
day and night come to an end. Heb. end of light withdarkness.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Job 26:9

    He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.

  • Job 26:10

    He hath compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.

  • Job 26:11

    The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

Read all of Job 26

Job 26:10 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		El cercó con término la superficie de las aguas, hasta el fin de la luz y las tinieblas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Il a tracé un cercle fixe sur la face des eaux, jusqu’à la limite extrême où la lumière confine aux ténèbres.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Er rundete eine Schranke ab über der Fläche der Wasser bis zum äußersten Ende, wo Licht und Finsternis zusammentreffen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Terminum circumdedit aquis, usque dum finiantur lux et tenebræ.