“The pillars of heaven tremble And are amazed at His rebuke.
Parallel translations
- WEB The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his rebuke.
- KJV The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.
- BSB The foundations of heaven quake, astounded at His rebuke.
- NKJV The pillars of heaven tremble, And are astonished at His rebuke.
- NLT The foundations of heaven tremble; they shudder at his rebuke.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The pillars of heaven shake and are stunned at God's rebuke. It matters because even the firmest structures of creation tremble before Him.
Overview
Job pictures the heavens themselves, imagined as supported on pillars, quaking at God's mere rebuke. The poetic image conveys creation's utter dependence on and reverence before its Maker. If the foundations of the sky tremble at His word, how much more should mortals bow before Him in worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Sam 2:8He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the needy from the dunghill, To make them sit with princes, and inherit the throne of glory. For the pillars of the earth are Yahweh’s. He has set the world on them.
- Ps 18:7Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- Hag 2:21“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth.
- Job 15:15Behold, he puts no trust in his holy ones. Yes, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
- Heb 12:26–27whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”
- Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Job's cry for a mediator who can lay his hand on both God and man, and his confidence that 'my Redeemer lives' and will stand on the earth, reaches forward to Jesus the living Redeemer.
How Job 26:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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