Proverbs 8:27

27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass^[a] upon the face of the depth:

Proverbs 8:27 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 8:27

When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there
Made, beautified, and adorned them; when he gave them their form, figure, magnitude, and motion; when he garnished them with the sun, moon, and stars; then was Christ present, not as a mere spectator, but as a co-worker; see ( Hebrews 1:10 ) ; and even the third heaven, the place and state of glorified saints, prepared for them from the foundation of the world, ( Matthew 25:34 ) ; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
or "compassed the waters with bounds", as Job says, ( Proverbs 26:10 ) ; or made the earth with the sea globular, which make one terraqueous globe: or "made a circle" {p}; all around it, called the circle of the earth, on which he sits, ( Isaiah 40:22 ) ; this compass may design the vast expanse or firmament of heaven, which is stretched and drawn around the terraqueous globe as a canopy or curtain. Christ was with his Father on the first day's creation of the heavens; and on the second day, when the firmament was made, and was before them both.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (gwx wqxb) "describendo circulum", Montanus, Mercerus, Cocceius, Michaelis, Schultens.

Proverbs 8:27 In-Context

25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

26 While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

27 When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

28 When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

29 When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

Footnotes

• [a]. a compass: or, a circle