John Gill Commentary Proverbs 8:27

"When he established the heavens, I was there: When he set a circle upon the face of the deep," — Proverbs 8:27 (ASV)

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"^F16; 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.