Job 26:8
New International Version
He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.

New Living Translation
He wraps the rain in his thick clouds, and the clouds don’t burst with the weight.

English Standard Version
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not split open under them.

Berean Standard Bible
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.

King James Bible
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

New King James Version
He binds up the water in His thick clouds, Yet the clouds are not broken under it.

New American Standard Bible
“He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.

NASB 1995
“He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.

NASB 1977
“He wraps up the waters in His clouds; And the cloud does not burst under them.

Legacy Standard Bible
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not break out under them.

Amplified Bible
“He wraps the waters in His clouds [which otherwise would spill on earth all at once], And the cloud does not burst under them.

Christian Standard Bible
He wraps up the water in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath its weight.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight.

American Standard Version
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; And the cloud is not rent under them.

Contemporary English Version
God stores water in clouds, but they don't burst,

English Revised Version
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He holds the water in his thick clouds, and the clouds don't [even] split under its [weight].

Good News Translation
It is God who fills the clouds with water and keeps them from bursting with the weight.

International Standard Version
"He restricts the waters within clouds and the clouds don't burst open under them.

Majority Standard Bible
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.

NET Bible
He locks the waters in his clouds, and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

New Heart English Bible
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.

Webster's Bible Translation
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

World English Bible
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not burst under them.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Binding up the waters in His thick clouds, "" And the cloud is not burst under them.

Young's Literal Translation
Binding up the waters in His thick clouds, And the cloud is not rent under them.

Smith's Literal Translation
He bound up the waters in his clouds, and the cloud was not rent under them.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not out and fall down together.

Catholic Public Domain Version
He secures the waters in his clouds, so that they do not burst forth downward all at once.

New American Bible
He binds up the waters in his clouds, yet the cloud is not split by their weight;

New Revised Standard Version
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not torn open by them.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
He binds up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
He has bound the waters in his clouds and a cloud does not burst under them
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
He bindeth up the waters in His thick clouds; And the cloud is not rent under them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
binding water in his clouds, and the cloud is not rent under it.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Job: Who Can Understand God's Majesty?
7He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing. 8He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight. 9He covers the face of the full moon, spreading over it His cloud.…

Cross References
Psalm 104:3
laying the beams of His chambers in the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind.

Isaiah 40:22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

Proverbs 8:28
when He established the clouds above, when the fountains of the deep gushed forth,

Jeremiah 10:13
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

Genesis 1:6-7
And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” / So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so.

Psalm 147:8
who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the hills.

Isaiah 44:22
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.

Jeremiah 51:16
When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He generates the lightning with the rain and brings forth the wind from His storehouses.

Psalm 33:7
He piles up the waters of the sea; He puts the depths into storehouses.

Isaiah 45:8
Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.

Nahum 1:3
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

Matthew 8:26-27
“You of little faith,” Jesus replied, “why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was perfectly calm. / The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

Mark 4:39-41
Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm. / “Why are you so afraid?” He asked. “Do you still have no faith?” / Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

Luke 8:24-25
The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm. / “Where is your faith?” He asked. Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!”

Hebrews 1:3
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.


Treasury of Scripture

He binds up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.

bindeth up

Job 36:29
Also can any understand the spreadings of the clouds, or the noise of his tabernacle?

Job 38:9,37
When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, …

Genesis 1:6,7
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters…

thick clouds

Job 37:11-16
Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: …

Psalm 18:10,11
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind…

and the cloud

Isaiah 5:6
And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

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Job 26
1. Job, reproving the uncharitable spirit of Bildad
5. acknowledges the power of God to be infinite and unsearchable














He wraps up the waters
This phrase highlights God's sovereign control over creation. The Hebrew word for "wraps up" is "tsarar," which conveys the idea of binding or enclosing securely. This imagery suggests God's meticulous care and order in the natural world. In the ancient Near Eastern context, water was often seen as chaotic and uncontrollable, yet here, God is depicted as having complete mastery over it. This reflects the broader biblical theme of God bringing order out of chaos, as seen in the creation narrative in Genesis.

in His clouds
The clouds are described as belonging to God, emphasizing His ownership and authority over the elements of nature. In Hebrew, "clouds" is "ʿāb," which can also refer to a covering or veil. This imagery is significant in the biblical narrative, where clouds often symbolize God's presence and majesty, such as the pillar of cloud that guided the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 13:21). The clouds serve as a testament to God's power and the mystery of His ways, which are beyond human comprehension.

yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight
This phrase underscores the miraculous nature of God's creation. The Hebrew word for "burst" is "bāqaʿ," meaning to split or break open. Despite the immense weight of the water they carry, the clouds do not fail or collapse. This defies natural expectations and highlights God's sustaining power. Historically, this would have been a profound observation, as ancient peoples were keenly aware of the unpredictability of weather. The verse invites believers to trust in God's providence, recognizing that He upholds the universe with precision and care.

(8) He bindeth up the waters.--The idea of the waters being bound up in the clouds, so that the clouds are not rent thereby, is similar to that in Genesis 1:7. The conception is that of a vast treasury of water above the visible sky, which is kept there in apparent defiance of what we know as the laws of gravitation, and which all experience would show was liable to fall of itself.

Verse 8. - He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; i.e. he makes the clouds, that we see floating in the atmosphere, contain and hold the waters on which the productiveness of the earth depends, and which he restrains, or allows to fall in fertilizing rain, at his pleasure (comp. 1 Kings 17:1). And the cloud is not rent under them. The metaphor is, no doubt, drawn from those water-skins, so well known in the East, and especially in Arabia, in which men stored the water for their journeys and other needs, which were liable to be "rent" by the weight of the liquid within them.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
He wraps up
צֹרֵֽר־ (ṣō·rêr-)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 6887: To bind, tie up, be restricted, narrow, scant, or cramped

the waters
מַ֥יִם (ma·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 4325: Water, juice, urine, semen

in His clouds,
בְּעָבָ֑יו (bə·‘ā·ḇāw)
Preposition-b | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5645: An envelope, darkness, a, cloud, a copse

yet the clouds
עָנָ֣ן (‘ā·nān)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6051: A cloud, the nimbus, thunder-cloud

do not
וְלֹא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

burst
נִבְקַ֖ע (niḇ·qa‘)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1234: To cleave, to rend, break, rip, open

under their own weight.
תַּחְתָּֽם׃ (taḥ·tām)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 8478: The bottom, below, in lieu of


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OT Poetry: Job 26:8 He binds up the waters in his (Jb)
Job 26:7
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