Job 26:14 (KJV)

What does Job 26:14 mean?

Job 26:14 says that the things people can observe are only a small part of God’s ways. Job compares what can be heard of God with the greater force of his power, which is beyond human understanding.

Job is speaking to his friend Bildad. After describing God’s power over the natural world, Job ends with a question: if people hear only a little, who can understand the full thunder of that power?

The Hebrew behind Job 26:14

• “parts” — קָצֶה (qatséh): The word can mean an edge or an outermost part. Job pictures the things he has described as lying at the edge of God’s ways.
• “little” — שֵׁמֶץ (shémets): The word can carry the sense of a faint trace or a whisper. Together with “heard,” it suggests a sound barely caught by the ear.

Why Job 26:14 matters

• Job’s account of God’s power is deliberately incomplete. The phrase “these are parts of his ways” refers back to the great sights he has just described, including the stirring of the sea in verse 12.
• Job uses sound to express the difference between human hearing and God’s power. The “little” that is heard stands against the overwhelming “thunder” in the final question.
• The final question also brings Job’s speech to a striking close. Rather than ending with an explanation of God’s power, Job asks who can understand it.