Bible Strands
Job 26:8
He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their own weight.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Job continues his discourse on cosmic order, describing God's sovereign control over the atmosphere immediately after noting how He hangs the earth upon nothing in Job 26:7.
The words — צֹרֵֽר (tzo.rer) translates as "[he] binds up" and נִבְקַע (niv.Ka') means "it is split open," capturing the verse's focus on contained waters that resist rupture.
The thread — The motif of God managing atmospheric waters runs through Job 37:11, Proverbs 30:4, and Jeremiah 10:13.
Why it lands — The text states that God loads clouds with water yet prevents them from bursting under their own weight, requiring the reader to acknowledge the exact boundary God sets on natural forces.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
He bindeth up the waters in his thick clouds; and the cloud is not rent under them.
Cross-references
- Job 37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters His lightning through them.
- Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
- 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.
- Isaiah 5:6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and thorns and briers will grow up. I will command the clouds that rain shall not fall on it.”
- Job 38:9 when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket,
- Job 38:37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of the heavens
- Psalms 18:10 He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
- Psalms 135:7 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 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”
- Job 36:29 Furthermore, who can understand how the clouds spread out, how the thunder roars from His pavilion?