He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
Parallel translations
- WEB He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
- BSB He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- NKJV He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
- NASB “He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.
- NLT God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
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
God stretches the heavens over emptiness and hangs the earth on nothing. It matters because it marvels at God's creative power sustaining the cosmos.
Overview
Job declares that God spreads the northern sky over empty space and suspends the earth upon nothing. This striking statement reflects awe at God's effortless upholding of creation. Scripture elsewhere affirms that Christ upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3), the same Creator at work here.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Job 9:8Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea.
- Ps 104:2–5Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
- Isa 40:22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
- Isa 42:5Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
- Prov 8:23–27I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
- Gen 1:1–2In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- Ps 24:2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
- Isa 40:26Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
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 26:7 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.