The Meaning of Job 26:11 Explained

Job 26:11

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

YLT: Pillars of the heavens do tremble, And they wonder because of His rebuke.

Darby: The pillars of the heavens tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.

ASV: The pillars of heaven tremble And are astonished at his rebuke.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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

What does Job 26:11 Mean?

Context Summary

Job 26:1-14 - "the Outskirts Of His Ways"
Job taunts Bildad with his reply as having imparted no help or thought. He then proceeds, Job 26:5-14, to give a description of God's power as manifested in Hades, in space, in the clouds, in the ocean, and throughout the universe. The spirits of the dead tremble before Him; the grave and destruction that veil themselves in night are stripped before His gaze; the world itself is suspended in space by invisible threads (a wonderful foreshadowing of the true theory of the earth); the waters are held in the clouds, which do not burst under their weight but act as the veil of God's throne; the sea owns His authority, hushing under His word or rising in its might; His breath brings the dawn; His hand strangles the dragon, as representing a well-known constellation, Draco. But these are only the outskirts of His ways. Great as is their acclaim as they circle His throne in thunder and splendor, they are but as a whisper compared with His divine power and Godhead. All that the scientist has known of God is, when compared with His essential nature, what the quiver of a leaf in the breeze is to the crash of the thunder-peal. This, O child of God, is thy Father, and His power is for thy defense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Job 26

1  Job, reproving the uncharitable spirit of Bildad
5  acknowledges the power of God to be infinite and unsearchable

What do the individual words in Job 26:11 mean?

The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His rebuke
עַמּוּדֵ֣י שָׁמַ֣יִם יְרוֹפָ֑פוּ וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּ מִגַּעֲרָתֽוֹ

עַמּוּדֵ֣י  The  pillars 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עַמּוּד  
Sense: pillar, column.
שָׁמַ֣יִם  of  heaven 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁמַיִם  
Sense: heaven, heavens, sky.
יְרוֹפָ֑פוּ  tremble 
Parse: Verb, Pual, Imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: רָפַף  
Sense: (Polel) to shake, rock.
וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּ  and  are  astonished 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: תָּמַהּ  
Sense: to be astounded, be stunned, be amazed, be dumbfounded.
מִגַּעֲרָתֽוֹ  at  His  rebuke 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, third person masculine singular
Root: גְּעָרָה  
Sense: a rebuke, reproof.