He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud upon it.
Parallel translations
- WEB He encloses the face of his throne, and spreads his cloud on it.
- BSB He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud.
- NKJV He covers the face of His throne, And spreads His cloud over it.
- NASB “He obscures the face of the full moon And spreads His cloud over it.
- NLT He covers the face of the moon, shrouding it with his clouds.
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 veils His throne by spreading clouds over it. It matters because it pictures God's majesty as both present and hidden.
Overview
Job describes God covering the face of His throne, screening it with cloud. God's full glory is concealed from mortal eyes, accessible only as He chooses to reveal it. This hiddenness anticipates the moment when God draws near in Christ, the visible image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 97:2Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
- Job 22:14Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.
- Hab 3:3–5God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise.
- Exod 33:20–23And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
- Exod 20:21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
- 1 Kgs 8:12Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
- Exod 34:3And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before that mount.
- 1 Tim 6:16Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
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 26:9 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.