Job 26:9

He holdeth back the face of his throne,.... His throne is the heaven of heavens; the face of it, or what is before it, is the starry and airy heavens; this face of his throne is sometimes held back,

Dead things are formed from under the waters, and the inhabitants thereof.

He holdeth back, i.e. to wit, from our view, that its lustre and glory should not reach us, and so dazzle our sight; he covereth it with a cloud, as the next words explain it. Or, he holdeth fast, or binds together, or strengthens it, that it may be able to bear that burden. The face of his throne; either, 1. This lower air, which is as the face or open part of the heavens, which is often called God’ s throne, as . Or, 2. The appearance or manifestation of the heaven of heavens, where he dwelleth, whose light and glory is too great for mortal eyes, which therefore by clouds and other ways he hides from us.

Job 26:9 He holdeth back the face of his throne, [and] spreadeth his cloud upon it.Ver. 9. He holdeth back the face of his throne] i.e. Of heaven, Isaiah 66:1, which he soon overcloudeth and muffleth up, or masketh, with a veil. Mystically, by the face of his throne, we may understand the knowledge of his glory; for this is held from us so in this world, that we cannot perfectly know him as he is, but must content ourselves with a learned ignorance, 1 John 3:3. Here darkness is, and will be, under his feet, Psalms 18:9. And spreadeth his cloud upon it] It is fitly called his cloud, because, 1. It is his handiwork, Psalms 18:11; Genesis 9:14; Job 28:26-27; Job 37:15-16; Job 38:9; Psalms 104:5. His sun draweth up those vapours, which, being thickened in the middle region of the air by the cold encompassing and driving them together, become a cloud. 2. He used it of old as a sign of his glorious power and gracious presence with his people, Exodus 13:21; Exodus 16:10 2 Chronicles 5:13-14; and as a figure of Christ’ s guiding and protecting his Church through the wilderness of this world, Isaiah 4:5-6 3. He still rideth in state upon the clouds, Isaiah 19:1. Christ was by a cloud coached up to heaven, Acts 1:9, and shall come in like manner, Revelation 1:7; Revelation 10:1. We also shall then be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 4:17. - O mora! Christe, veni.

(9) He holdeth back the face.—Or, covereth the face of his throne in the heavens, spreading his rack of cloud upon it.

Verse 9. He holdeth back the face of his throne] Though all these are most elegant effects of an omniscient and almighty power, yet the great Agent is not personally discoverable; he dwelleth in light unapproachable, and in mercy hides himself from the view of his creatures. The words, however may refer to those obscurations of the face of heaven, and the hiding of the body of the sun, when the atmosphere is laden with dense vapours, and the rain begins to be poured down on the earth.

9. he holdeth back] Or, he shutteth up, or, enshrouds. The “face of his throne” is perhaps the outside of it, or that view which it would present if seen; and the meaning is that He enshrouds His throne so that it is not seen by those below. The idea cannot be that this is an occasional phenomenon, as if sometimes His throne could be seen, for though He has set His glory on the heavens, Psalms 8:2 (comp. Exodus 24:10; Psalms 18:12), this is but a reflection of the inner glory. The conception rather is that clouds are ever about Him, in His lofty abode, and even accompany and enshroud Him in all His movements; ch. Job 38:1; Amos 9:6; Psalms 104:3-13.

He holdeth back the face of his throne - That is, he does not exhibit it - he covers it with clouds.

9. Holdeth back — Who veileth. The word àçæ, used in Nehemiah 7:3 in the sense of barring (the gate,) also signifies “hold fast,” (see Job 23:11,) or “fasten together.” 2 Chronicles 9:18.