“The dead ²  tremble ³  – those beneath the waters and all that live in them. ⁴ 

biblegateway Job 26:5

"The departed spirits tremble Under the waters and their inhabitants.

The departed spirits tremble beneath the waters and all that inhabit them.

"The souls of the dead tremble beneath the water, and so do the creatures living there.

biblegateway Job 26:5

"The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them.

The dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.

bibleoremus Job 26:5

The shades below tremble, the waters and their inhabitants.

The shades below writhe in fear, the waters and all that inhabit them are afraid.

biblegateway Job 26:5

"The dead tremble, Those under the waters and those inhabiting them.

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

biblegateway Job 26:5

“The dead ²  tremble ³  – those beneath the waters and all that live in them. ⁴ 

¹ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

² tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

⁴ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.