Matthew Poole and continuators on Job 26:5

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

Iob having censured Bildad's discourse concerning God's Dominion and Power as insignificant and impertinent to their question, he here proceedeth to shew how little he needed his information in that Point, and that he was able to instruct him in that Doctrine, of which accordingly he gives divers Proofs or Instances. Here he sheweth tha[illegible: 1+ letters] the Power and Pro[illegible: 1+ letters]dence of God reacheth not onely to the things which we see, but also to the invisible parts of the World, not onely to the Heavens above and their Inhabitants, and to Men upon Earth, of which Bildad discoursed Chap. 25. 2, 3. but also to such persons or things as are under the Earth, or under the Waters, which are under the Earth, which are out of our sight and reach, and might be thought to be out of the ken or care of Divine Providence. This Hebrew word sometimes signifies Giants, as Deut. 2. 11, 20. & 3. 13. and 1 Chron. 20. 8. Whence it may be translated to other great, and as it were, gigantick Creatures, and more commonly dead men, as Psalm 88. 11. Prov. 2. 18. & 9. 18. & 21. 16. Isa. 14. 9. & 26. 14. 19. Whence it is supposed metaphorically to signifie also dead or lifeless things; though there be no example of that use of the word elsewhere; and it may seem improper to call those things dead, which never had no[illegible: 1+ letters] were capable of life. The next Hebrew Word, or the Verb is primarily used of Women with Child, and signifies their bringing forth their young Ones with travel or grievous pains; as Iob 39. 3. Psalm 29. 9. Isa. 23. 4. & 45. 10. and thence it signifies either to [illegible: 1+ letters]orm or bring forth, as below, verse 13. Prov. 26. 10. Or to grieve or mourn, or to be in pain. Accordingly these words are diversly understood; either 1. of dead, or lifeless things, such as Amber, Pearl, Coral, Metals, or other Minerals. which are formed or brought forth; to wit, by the Almighty power of God, from under the waters; i. e. either in the bottom of the Sea, or within the Earth, which is the lowest Element, and in the Scripture and other Authors spoken of as under the Waters; this being observed as a remarkable Work of God's Providence, that the Waters of the Sea which are higher than the earth do not overwhelm it, and from under (which may be repeated out of the former Clause of the Verse, after the manner of the Hebrews) the inhabitants thereof; i. e. either of the Waters, which are Fishes, or of the Earth, which are Men. Or rather 2. of the Giants of the old World, which were men of great Renown whilest they lived, Gen. 6. 3. and the remembrance of them and of their exemplary destruction was now in some sort fresh and famous; who once carried themselves insolently towards God and men, but were quickly subdued by the Divine Power, and dr[illegible: 1+ letters]ned with a Deluge, and now mourn or gr[illegible: 1+ letters]an from [illegible: 1 word] the waters where they were buried, and from under the present Inhabitants thereof, as before. Or 3. of vast and gigantick Fishes or Monsters of the Sea, who by God's infinite power were formed or brought forth under the waters, with the other inhabitants thereof; to wit, of the Waters, the lesser Fishes. Or 4. of dead man, and of the worst sort of them, such as died in their sins, and after death were condemned to further miseries; for of such this very word seems to be used, Prov. 2. 18. & 9. 18. who are here said to mourn or groan from under the waters; i. e. from the lower parts of the earth, or from under those sub[illegible: 1+ letters]erranean Seas of Waters, which are by Scripture and by Philosophers supposed to be within and under the Earth; of which see Deut. 8. 7. Iob 28. 4▪ 10. Psalm 33. 7. and from under the inhabitants thereof,; i. e. either of the Waters or of the Earth, under which these Waters are, or with the other inhabitants thereof; i. e. of that place under the Waters, to wit, the Apostate Spirits. So the sense is, that Gods dominion is over all men, yea even the dead, and the worst of them, who though they would not own God, nor his Providence, whilest they lived, yet now are forced to acknowledge and feel that power which they despised, and bitterly mourn under the sad effects of it in their subterraneal and infernal Habitations, of which the next Verse speaks more plainly. And this sense seems to be favoured by the Context and scope of the place, wherein Iob begins his discourse of Gods Power and Providence at the lowermost and hidden parts of the World, and thence proceeds to those parts which are higher and visible. Nor is it strange that Iob speaks of these matters, seeing it is evident that Iob, and others of the holy Patriarchs and Prophets of old, did know and believe the Doctrine of the future Life, and of its several Recompences to good and bad men. Others understand this of the Resurrection of the dead; The dead shall be born (as this word is used, Psal. 2. 7. Prov. 8. 24, 25. i. e. shall be raised, which is a kind of Regeneration, or second Birth, and is so called, Mat. 19. 28. Act. 13. 33.) from under the waters (i. e. even those of them that lie in the waters, Rev. 20. 13. that were drowned and buried in the Sea, and devoured by Fishes, &c. whose case may seem to be most desperate, and therefore they only are here mentioned) and (or, e[illegible: 1+ letters]en, this particle being oft used expositively) the Inhabiants thereof, i. e. those dead corps which lie or have long lain there.

Marginal references: Or, shall the dead be born under the waters? So Gr.; Or, will the i[illegible: 1+ letters]itants?