Proverbs 8:27

27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,

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.


FOOTNOTES:

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

Proverbs 8:27 In-Context

25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.