Text -- Job 36:12-33 (NET)

36:12 But if they refuse to listen, they pass over the river of death, and expire without knowledge. 36:13 The godless at heart nourish anger, they do not cry out even when he binds them. 36:14 They die in their youth, and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes. 36:15 He delivers the afflicted by their afflictions, he reveals himself to them by their suffering. 36:16 And surely, he drew you from the mouth of distress, to a wide place, unrestricted, and to the comfort of your table filled with rich food. 36:17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked, judgment and justice take hold of you. 36:18 Be careful that no one entices you with riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside. 36:19 Would your wealth sustain you, so that you would not be in distress, even all your mighty efforts? 36:20 Do not long for the cover of night to drag people away from their homes. 36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil, for because of this you have been tested by affliction. 36:22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power; who is a teacher like him? 36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’? 36:24 Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song. 36:25 All humanity has seen it; people gaze on it from afar.

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great– beyond our knowledge! The number of his years is unsearchable. 36:27 He draws up drops of water; they distill the rain into its mist, 36:28 which the clouds pour down and shower on humankind abundantly. 36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds, the thunderings of his pavilion? 36:30 See how he scattered his lightning about him; he has covered the depths of the sea. 36:31 It is by these that he judges the nations and supplies food in abundance. 36:32 With his hands he covers the lightning, and directs it against its target. 36:33 His thunder announces the coming storm, the cattle also, concerning the storm’s approach.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Job 36:12

¹ tn This is a similar expression to the one in Job 33:18, where the suggestion was made by many that it means crossing over the canal or river of death. Some retain the earlier interpretation of “perish by the sword” (cf. NIV).

NET Notes: Job 36:13

¹ tn The expression “godless [or hypocrite] in heart” is an intensification of the description. It conveys that they are intentionally godless. See Matt 23:28.

² tn Heb “they put anger.” This is usually interpreted to mean they lay up anger, or put anger in their hearts.

NET Notes: Job 36:14

¹ tn The text expresses this with “their soul dies.”

² tn Heb “among the male prostitutes” who were at the temple – the “holy ones,” with “holy” being used in that sense of “separated to that form of temple service.” So uncleanness and shame are some of the connotations of the reference. Some modern translations give the general sense only: “their life ends in shame” (NRSV); “and perish among the reprobate” (NAB); “die…after wasting their lives in immoral living” (NLT).

NET Notes: Job 36:15

¹ tn The preposition בּ (bet) in these two lines is not location but instrument, not “in” but “by means of.” The affliction and the oppression serve as a warning for sin, and therefore a means of salvation.

² tn Heb “his.”

³ tn Heb “he uncovers their ear.”

NET Notes: Job 36:16

¹ tn The Hebrew verb means “to entice; to lure; to allure; to seduce,” but these have negative connotations. The English “to persuade; to draw” might work better. The verb is the Hiphil perfect of סוּת (sut). But the nuance of the verb is difficult. It can be equivalent to an English present expressing what God is doing (Peake). But the subject is contested as well. Since the verb usually has an evil connotation, there have been attempts to make the “plaza” the subject – “the wide place has led you astray” (Ewald).

² tn Heb “a broad place where there is no cramping beneath [or under] it.”

³ tn The word נַחַת (nakhat) could be translated “set” if it is connected with the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest,” but then “to lay to rest, to set”). Kissane translates it “comfort.” Dhorme thinks it could come from נוּחַ (nuakh, “to rest”) or נָחַת (nakhat, “to descend”). But his conclusion is that it is a dittography after “under it” (p. 545).

⁴ tn Heb “filled with fat.”

NET Notes: Job 36:18

¹ tn The first expression is idiomatic: the text says, “because wrath lest it entice you” – thus, beware.

² tn The word is כֹּפֶר (kofer), often translated “ransom,” but frequently in the sense of a bribe.

NET Notes: Job 36:19

¹ tn The form in the MT is “your cry (for help).” See J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 472-73) and E. Dhorme (Job, 547-48) on the difficulties.

² tn This part has only two words לֹא בְצָר (lo’ bÿtsar, “not in distress”). The negated phrase serves to explain the first colon.

³ tc For the many suggestions and the reasoning here, see the commentaries.

NET Notes: Job 36:20

¹ tn The meaning of this line is difficult. There are numerous suggestions for emending the text. Kissane takes the first verb in the sense of “oppress,” and for “the night” he has “belonging to you,” meaning “your people.” This reads: “Oppress not them that belong not to you, that your kinsmen may mount up in their place.”

NET Notes: Job 36:21

¹ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”

NET Notes: Job 36:22

¹ tn The word מוֹרֶה (moreh) is the Hiphil participle from יָרַה (yarah). It is related to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “what is taught” i.e., the law).

NET Notes: Job 36:24

¹ tn The expression is “that you extol,” serving as an object of the verb.

NET Notes: Job 36:26

¹ tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”

NET Notes: Job 36:27

¹ tn The verb means “to filter; to refine,” and so a plural subject with the drops of water as the subject will not work. So many read the singular, “he distills.”

² tn This word עֵד (’ed) occurs also in Gen 2:6. The suggestion has been that instead of a mist it represents an underground watercourse that wells up to water the ground.

NET Notes: Job 36:29

¹ tn Heb “his booth.”

NET Notes: Job 36:30

¹ tn The word actually means “to spread,” but with lightning as the object, “to scatter” appears to fit the context better.

² tn The word is “light,” but taken to mean “lightning.” Theodotion had “mist” here, and so most commentators follow that because it is more appropriate to the verb and the context.

³ tn Heb “roots.”

NET Notes: Job 36:31

¹ tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposedיָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).

NET Notes: Job 36:32

¹ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

² 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.

NET Notes: Job 36:33

¹ tn Peake knew of over thirty interpretations for this verse. The MT literally says, “He declares his purpose [or his shout] concerning it; cattle also concerning what rises.” Dhorme has it: “The flock which sniffs the coming storm has warned the shepherd.” Kissane: “The thunder declares concerning him, as he excites wrath against iniquity.” Gordis translates it: “His thunderclap proclaims his presence, and the storm his mighty wrath.” Many more could be added to the list.