Albert Barnes Commentary Job 9:7

"That commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, And sealeth up the stars;" — Job 9:7 (ASV)

Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not—Schultens supposes that all this is a description of the deluge—when the mountains were removed, when the fountains of the deep were broken up, and when the sun was obscured and seemed not to rise. Others have supposed that it refers to the fact that the sun is darkened by clouds and tempests, and appears not to rise and shine upon the earth. Others suppose that the allusion is to an eclipse; and others, that it is to the power of God, and means that the rising of the sun depends on him, and that if he should choose to give the command, the heavenly bodies would rise and give light no more. It seems probable that the meaning is that God has power to do this, that the rising of the sun depends on him, and that he could delay it or prevent it at his pleasure.

His power over the sun was shown in the time of Joshua, when, at his command, it stood still; but it is not necessary to suppose that there is any reference to this fact here. The whole meaning of the language is met by the supposition that it refers to the power of God and affirms what he could do, or if it refers to any fact that has been observed, that the allusion is to the darkening of the sun by an eclipse or a tempest. No argument can be derived, therefore, from the expression regarding the age of the book.

And sealeth up the stars—The word “seal” in the Scriptures (חתם châtham) is used with considerable latitude of meaning. It is employed in the sense of shutting, closing, making fast—as when anything was sealed, it was shut up or made fast.

The Hebrews often used a seal where we would use a lock and depended on the protection derived from the belief that one would not break open what was sealed, while we are obliged to rely on the security of the lock against force. If there were honor and honesty among people everywhere, a seal would be as secure as a lock—as in a virtuous community, a sealed letter is as secure as a merchant’s iron “safe.”

To “seal up the stars” means to shut them up in the heavens in such a way as to prevent their shining and to hide them from view.

They are concealed, hidden, secured—as the contents of a letter, a package, or a room are by a seal, indicating that no one is to examine them and concealing them from view. So God hides from our view the stars by the interposition of clouds.