Ayub 37:12

37:12 The clouds ¹  go round in circles,

wheeling about according to his plans,

to carry out ²  all that he commands them

over the face of the whole inhabited world.

Ayub 39:27

39:27 Is it at your command ³  that the eagle soars,

and builds its nest on high?

Ayub 38:12

38:12 Have you ever in your life ⁴  commanded the morning,

or made the dawn know ⁵  its place,

Ayub 23:12

23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;

I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion. ⁶ 

Ayub 42:9

42:9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. ⁷ 

Ayub 37:15

37:15 Do you know how God commands them, ⁸ 

how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud? ⁹ 

Ayub 38:33

38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,

or can you set up their rule over the earth?

Ayub 34:17

34:17 Do you really think ¹⁰ 

that one who hates justice can govern? ¹¹ 

And will you declare guilty

the supremely righteous ¹²  One,

Ayub 9:7

9:7 he who commands the sun and ¹³  it does not shine ¹⁴ 

and seals up ¹⁵  the stars;

Ayub 38:34-35

38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds

so that a flood of water covers you? ¹⁶ 

38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

Ayub 12:17

12:17 He ¹⁷  leads ¹⁸  counselors away stripped ¹⁹ 

and makes judges ²⁰  into fools. ²¹ 

Ayub 25:2

25:2 “Dominion ²²  and awesome might ²³  belong to ²⁴  God;

he establishes peace in his heights. ²⁵ 

Ayub 34:27

34:27 because they have turned away from following him,

and have not understood ²⁶  any of his ways,

Ayub 36:32

36:32 With his hands ²⁷  he covers ²⁸  the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

Ayub 39:26

39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ²⁹ 

and spreads its wings toward the south?

Ayub 37:5-6

37:5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; ³⁰ 

he does great things beyond our understanding. ³¹ 

37:6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall ³²  to earth,’

and to the torrential rains, ³³  ‘Pour down.’ ³⁴ 

Ayub 6:10

6:10 Then I would yet have my comfort, ³⁵ 

then ³⁶  I would rejoice, ³⁷ 

in spite of pitiless pain, ³⁸ 

for ³⁹  I have not concealed the words ⁴⁰  of the Holy One. ⁴¹ 

Ayub 29:25

29:25 I chose ⁴²  the way for them ⁴³ 

and sat as their chief; ⁴⁴ 

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners. ⁴⁵ 

Ayub 34:29

34:29 But if God ⁴⁶  is quiet, who can condemn ⁴⁷  him?

If he hides his face, then who can see him?

Yet ⁴⁸  he is over the individual and the nation alike, ⁴⁹ 

[37:12]  ¹ tn The words “the clouds” are supplied from v. 11; the sentence itself actually starts: “and it goes round,” referring to the cloud.

[37:12]  ² tn Heb “that it may do.”

[39:27]  ³ tn Heb “your mouth.”

[38:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).

[38:12]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.

[23:12]  ⁶ tc The form in the MT (מֵחֻקִּי, mekhuqqi) means “more than my portion” or “more than my law.” An expanded meaning results in “more than my necessary food” (see Ps 119:11; cf. KJV, NASB, ESV). HALOT 346 s.v. חֹק 1 indicates that חֹק (khoq) has the meaning of “portion” and is here a reference to “what is appointed for me.” The LXX and the Latin versions, along with many commentators, have בְּחֵקִי (bÿkheqi, “in my bosom”).

[42:9]  ⁷ tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.

[37:15]  ⁸ tn The verb is בְּשׂוּם (bÿsum, from שִׂים [sim, “set”]), so the idea is how God lays [or sets] [a command] for them. The suffix is proleptic, to be clarified in the second colon.

[37:15]  ⁹ tn Dhorme reads this “and how his stormcloud makes lightning to flash forth?”

[34:17]  ¹⁰ tn The force of הַאַף (ha’af) is “Is it truly the case?” The point is being made that if Job were right God could not be judging the world.

[34:17]  ¹¹ tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) has the basic idea of “to bind,” as in binding on the yoke, and then in the sense of subduing people under authority (cf. Assyrian absanu). The imperfect verb here is best expressed with the potential nuance.

[34:17]  ¹² tn The two words could be taken separately, but they seem to form a fine nominal hendiadys, because the issue is God’s justice. So the word for power becomes the modifier.

[9:7]  ¹³ tn The form could also be subordinated, “that it shine not” (see further GKC 323 §109.g).

[9:7]  ¹⁴ tn The verb זָרַח (zarakh) means “rise.” This is the ordinary word for the sunrise. But here it probably has the idea of “shine; glisten,” which is also attested in Hebrew and Aramaic.

[9:7]  sn There are various views on the meaning of this line in this verse. Some think it refers to some mysterious darkness like the judgment in Egypt (Exod 10:21-23), or to clouds building (3:5), often in accompaniment of earthquakes (see Joel 2:10, 3:15-16; Isa 13:10-13). It could also refer to an eclipse. All this assumes that the phenomenon here is limited to the morning or the day; but it could simply be saying that God controls light and darkness.

[9:7]  ¹⁵ tn The verb חָתַם (khatam) with בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) before its complement, means “to seal; to wall up; to enclose.” This is a poetic way of saying that God prevents the stars from showing their light.

[38:34]  ¹⁶ tc The LXX has “answer you,” and some editors have adopted this. However, the reading of the MT makes better sense in the verse.

[12:17]  ¹⁷ tn The personal pronoun normally present as the subject of the participle is frequently omitted (see GKC 381 §119.s).

[12:17]  ¹⁸ tn GKC 361-62 §116.x notes that almost as a rule a participle beginning a sentence is continued with a finite verb with or without a ו (vav). Here the participle (“leads”) is followed by an imperfect (“makes fools”) after a ו (vav).

[12:17]  ¹⁹ tn The word שׁוֹלָל (sholal), from the root שָׁלַל (shalal, “to plunder; to strip”), is an adjective expressing the state (and is in the singular, as if to say, “in the state of one naked” [GKC 375 §118.o]). The word is found in military contexts (see Mic 1:8). It refers to the carrying away of people in nakedness and shame by enemies who plunder (see also Isa 8:1-4). They will go away as slaves and captives, deprived of their outer garments. Some (cf. NAB) suggest “barefoot,” based on the LXX of Mic 1:8; but the meaning of that is uncertain. G. R. Driver wanted to derive the word from an Arabic root “to be mad; to be giddy,” forming a better parallel.

[12:17]  ²⁰ sn The judges, like the counselors, are nobles in the cities. God may reverse their lot, either by captivity or by shame, and they cannot resist his power.

[12:17]  ²¹ tn Some translate this “makes mad” as in Isa 44:25, but this gives the wrong connotation today; more likely God shows them to be fools.

[25:2]  ²² tn The word הַמְשֵׁל (hamshel) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute used as a noun. It describes the rulership or dominion that God has, that which gives power and authority.

[25:2]  ²³ tn The word פָּחַד (pakhad) literally means “fear; dread,” but in the sense of what causes the fear or the dread.

[25:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[are] with him.”

[25:2]  ²⁵ sn The line says that God “makes peace in his heights.” The “heights” are usually interpreted to mean the highest heaven. There may be a reference here to combat in the spiritual world between angels and Satan. The context will show that God has a heavenly host at his disposal, and nothing in heaven or on earth can shatter his peace. “Peace” here could also signify the whole order he establishes.

[34:27]  ²⁶ tn The verb הִשְׂכִּילוּ (hiskilu) means “to be prudent; to be wise.” From this is derived the idea of “be wise in understanding God’s will,” and “be successful because of prudence” – i.e., successful with God.

[36:32]  ²⁷ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

[36:32]  ²⁸ tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissa’] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.

[39:26]  ²⁹ tn This word occurs only here. It is connected to “pinions” in v. 13. Dhorme suggests “clad with feathers,” but the line suggests more the use of the wings.

[37:5]  ³⁰ tn The form is the Niphal participle, “wonders,” from the verb פָּלָא (pala’, “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary”). Some commentators suppress the repeated verb “thunders,” and supply other verbs like “shows” or “works,” enabling them to make “wonders” the object of the verb rather than leaving it in an adverbial role. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 236) notes, no change is needed, for one is not surprised to find repetition in Elihu’s words.

[37:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “and we do not know.”

[37:6]  ³² tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”

[37:6]  ³³ tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew mss delete the second pair, and so many editors do. But the repetition may have served to stress the idea that the rains were heavy.

[37:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Be strong.”

[6:10]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and it will/may be yet my comfort.” The comfort or consolation that he seeks, that he wishes for, is death. The next colon in the verse simply intensifies this thought, for he affirms if that should happen he would rejoice, in spite of what death involves. The LXX, apparently confusing letters (reading עִיר [’ir, “city”] instead of עוֹד [’od, “yet”], which then led to the mistake in the next colon, חֵילָה [khelah, “its wall”] for חִילָה [khilah, “suffering”]), has “Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of which I have leaped.”

[6:10]  ³⁶ tn In the apodosis of conditional clauses (which must be supplied from the context preceding), the cohortative expresses the consequence (see GKC 320 §108.d).

[6:10]  ³⁷ tn The Piel verb סִלֵּד (silled) is a hapax legomenon. BDB 698 s.v. סָלַד gives the meaning “to spring [i.e., jump] for joy,” which would certainly fit the passage. Others have emended the text, but unnecessarily. The LXX “I jumped” and Targum Job’s “exult” support the sense in the dictionaries, although the jumping is for joy and not over a wall (as the LXX has). D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 159) follows Driver in thinking this is untenable, choosing a meaning “recoiled in pain” for the line.

[6:10]  ³⁸ tn The word חִילָה (khilah) also occurs only here, but is connected to the verb חִיל / חוּל (khil / khul, “to writhe in pain”). E. Dhorme says that by extension the meaning denotes the cause of this trembling or writhing – terrifying pain. The final clause, לֹא יַחְמוֹל (lo’ yakhmol, “it has no pity”), serves as a kind of epithet, modifying “pain” in general. If that pain has no pity or compassion, it is a ruthless pain (E. Dhorme, Job, 82).

[6:10]  ³⁹ tn The כִּי (ki, “for”) functions here to explain “my comfort” in the first colon; the second colon simply strengthens the first.

[6:10]  ⁴⁰ sn The “words” are the divine decrees of God’s providence, the decisions that he makes in his dealings with people. Job cannot conceal these – he knows what they are. What Job seems to mean by this clause in this verse is that there is nothing that would hinder his joy of dying for he has not denied or disobeyed God’s plan.

[6:10]  ⁴¹ tn Several commentators delete the colon as having no meaning in the verse, and because (in their view) it is probably the addition of an interpolator who wants to make Job sound more pious. But Job is at least consoling himself that he is innocent, and at the most anticipating a worth-while afterlife (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 60).

[29:25]  ⁴² tn All of these imperfects describe what Job used to do, and so they all fit the category of customary imperfect.

[29:25]  ⁴³ tn Heb “their way.”

[29:25]  ⁴⁴ tn The text simply has “and I sat [as their] head.” The adverbial accusative explains his role, especially under the image of being seated. He directed the deliberations as a king directs an army.

[29:25]  ⁴⁵ tc Most commentators think this last phrase is odd here, and so they either delete it altogether, or emend it to fit the idea of the verse. Ewald, however, thought it appropriate as a transition to the next section, reminding his friends that unlike him, they were miserable comforters. Herz made the few changes in the text to get the reading “where I led them, they were willing to go” (ZAW 20 [1900]: 163). The two key words in the MT are אֲבֵלִים יְנַחֵם (’avelim yÿnakhem, “he [one who] comforts mourners”). Following Herz, E. Dhorme (Job, 422) has these changed to אוֹבִילֵם יִנַּחוּ (’ovilem yinnakhu). R. Gordis has “like one leading a camel train” (Job, 324). But Kissane also retains the line as a summary of the chapter, noting its presence in the versions.

[34:29]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:29]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.

[34:29]  ⁴⁸ tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).

[34:29]  ⁴⁹ tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”