By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent.
Parallel translations
- WEB By his Spirit the heavens are garnished. His hand has pierced the swift serpent.
- BSB By His breath the skies were cleared; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
- NKJV By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
- NASB “By His breath the heavens are cleared; His hand has pierced the fleeing serpent.
- NLT His Spirit made the heavens beautiful, and his power pierced the gliding serpent.
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
By His Spirit God adorns the heavens and pierces the fleeing serpent. It matters because it celebrates God's beautifying and conquering work.
Overview
Job affirms that God's breath garnishes the skies and His hand slays the gliding serpent, another image of chaotic evil. God both adorns creation with beauty and triumphs over the forces of disorder. This victory over the serpent ultimately points to Christ, who crushes the ancient serpent and brings creation to its glorious end (Rom. 16:20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 27:1In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
- Ps 104:30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
- Ps 74:13–14Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.
- Ps 33:6–7By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
- Gen 1:2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
- Rev 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
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 26:13 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.