8:1 But God remembered 6 Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over 7 the earth and the waters receded.
VI. The Divine Speeches (38:1-42:6)
The Lord’s First Speech 838:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: 9
38:2 “Who is this 10 who darkens counsel 11
with words without knowledge?
38:3 Get ready for a difficult task 12 like a man;
I will question you
and you will inform me!
38:4 “Where were you
when I laid the foundation 13 of the earth?
Tell me, 14 if you possess understanding!
38:5 Who set its measurements – if 15 you know –
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
38:6 On what 16 were its bases 17 set,
or who laid its cornerstone –
38:7 when the morning stars 18 sang 19 in chorus, 20
and all the sons of God 21 shouted for joy?
38:8 “Who shut up 22 the sea with doors
when it burst forth, 23 coming out of the womb,
38:9 when I made 24 the storm clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band, 25
38:10 when I prescribed 26 its limits,
and set 27 in place its bolts and doors,
38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come 28
and no farther, 29
here your proud waves will be confined’? 30
38:12 Have you ever in your life 31 commanded the morning,
or made the dawn know 32 its place,
38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, 33
and shake the wicked out of it?
38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; 34
its features 35 are dyed 36 like a garment.
38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,
and the arm raised in violence 37 is broken. 38
38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, 39
or walked about in the recesses of the deep?
38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? 40
Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? 41
38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all!
38:19 “In what direction 42 does light reside,
and darkness, where is its place,
38:20 that you may take them to their borders
and perceive the pathways to their homes? 43
38:21 You know, for you were born before them; 44
and the number of your days is great!
38:22 Have you entered the storehouse 45 of the snow,
or seen the armory 46 of the hail,
38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,
for the day of war and battle? 47
38:24 In what direction is lightning 48 dispersed,
or the east winds scattered over the earth?
38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,
and a path for the rumble of thunder,
38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, 49
a desert where there are no human beings, 50
38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? 51
38:28 Does the rain have a father,
or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
38:29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,
and the frost from the sky, 52 who gives birth to it,
38:30 when the waters become hard 53 like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?
38:31 Can you tie the bands 54 of the Pleiades,
or release the cords of Orion?
38:32 Can you lead out
the constellations 55 in their seasons,
or guide the Bear with its cubs? 56
38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,
or can you set up their rule over the earth?
38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you? 57
38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?
Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?
38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, 58
or has imparted understanding to the mind?
38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,
and who can tip over 59 the water jars of heaven,
38:38 when the dust hardens 60 into a mass,
and the clumps of earth stick together?
38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,
and satisfy the appetite 61 of the lions,
38:40 when they crouch in their dens,
when they wait in ambush in the thicket?
38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,
when its young cry out to God
and wander about 62 for lack of food?
41:1 (40:25) 63 “Can you pull in 64 Leviathan with a hook,
and tie down 65 its tongue with a rope?
41:2 Can you put a cord through its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, 66
will it speak to you with tender words? 67
41:4 Will it make a pact 68 with you,
so you could take it 69 as your slave for life?
41:5 Can you play 70 with it, like a bird,
or tie it on a leash 71 for your girls?
41:6 Will partners 72 bargain 73 for it?
Will they divide it up 74 among the merchants?
41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons
or its head with fishing spears?
41:8 If you lay your hand on it,
you will remember 75 the fight,
and you will never do it again!
41:9 (41:1) 76 See, his expectation is wrong, 77
he is laid low even at the sight of it. 78
41:10 Is it not fierce 79 when it is awakened?
Who is he, then, who can stand before it? 80
41:11 (Who has confronted 81 me that I should repay? 82
Everything under heaven belongs to me!) 83
41:12 I will not keep silent about its limbs,
and the extent of its might,
and the grace of its arrangement. 84
41:13 Who can uncover its outer covering? 85
Who can penetrate to the inside of its armor? 86
41:14 Who can open the doors of its mouth? 87
Its teeth all around are fearsome.
41:15 Its back 88 has rows of shields,
shut up closely 89 together as with a seal;
41:16 each one is so close to the next 90
that no air can come between them.
41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; 91
they cling together and cannot be separated.
41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the red glow 92 of dawn.
41:19 Out of its mouth go flames, 93
sparks of fire shoot forth!
41:20 Smoke streams from its nostrils
as from a boiling pot over burning 94 rushes.
41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze
and a flame shoots from its mouth.
41:22 Strength lodges in its neck,
and despair 95 runs before it.
41:23 The folds 96 of its flesh are tightly joined;
they are firm on it, immovable. 97
41:24 Its heart 98 is hard as rock,
hard as a lower millstone.
41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,
at its thrashing about they withdraw. 99
41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword 100
will have no effect, 101
nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.
41:27 It regards iron as straw
and bronze as rotten wood.
41:28 Arrows 102 do not make it flee;
slingstones become like chaff to it.
41:29 A club is counted 103 as a piece of straw;
it laughs at the rattling of the lance.
41:30 Its underparts 104 are the sharp points of potsherds,
it leaves its mark in the mud
like a threshing sledge. 105
41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron
and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment, 106
41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;
one would think the deep had a head of white hair.
41:33 The likes of it is not on earth,
a creature 107 without fear.
41:34 It looks on every haughty being;
it is king over all that are proud.” 108
36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; 109
your faithfulness to the clouds. 110
36:6 Your justice is like the highest mountains, 111
your fairness like the deepest sea;
you preserve 112 mankind and the animal kingdom. 113
145:9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made. 114
1 tn Heb “which [is] between me and between you.”
2 tn Heb “all flesh.”
3 tn Heb “to destroy.”
4 tn Heb “all flesh.”
5 tn The translation assumes that the infinitive לִזְכֹּר (lizkor, “to remember”) here expresses the result of seeing the rainbow. Another option is to understand it as indicating purpose, in which case it could be translated, “I will look at it so that I may remember.”
6 tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).
7 tn Heb “to pass over.”
8 sn This is the culmination of it all, the revelation of the
9 sn This is not the storm described by Elihu – in fact, the
10 tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here to emphasize the interrogative pronoun (see GKC 442 §136.c).
11 sn The referent of “counsel” here is not the debate between Job and the friends, but the purposes of God (see Ps 33:10; Prov 19:21; Isa 19:17). Dhorme translates it “Providence.”
12 tn Heb “Gird up your loins.” This idiom basically describes taking the hem of the long garment or robe and pulling it up between the legs and tucking it into the front of the belt, allowing easier and freer movement of the legs. “Girding the loins” meant the preparation for some difficult task (Jer 1:17), or for battle (Isa 5:27), or for running (1 Kgs 18:46). C. Gordon suggests that it includes belt-wrestling, a form of hand-to-hand mortal combat (“Belt-wrestling in the Bible World,” HUCA 23 [1950/51]: 136).
13 tn The construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, using the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix.
14 tn The verb is the imperative; it has no object “me” in the text.
15 tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.
16 tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.
17 sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).
18 sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).
19 tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.
20 tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.
21 tn See Job 1:6.
22 tn The MT has “and he shut up.” The Vulgate has “Who?” and so many commentaries and editions adopt this reading, if not from the Vulgate, then from the sense of the sequence in the text itself.
23 tn The line uses two expressions, first the temporal clause with גִּיחַ (giakh, “when it burst forth”) and then the finite verb יֵצֵא (yetse’, “go out”) to mark the concomitance of the two actions.
24 tn The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.
25 tn This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.
26 tc The MT has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The LXX and the Vulgate have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).
27 tn Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.
28 tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.
29 tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).
30 tn The MT literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The LXX has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused – but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.
31 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).
32 tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.
33 sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.
34 sn The verse needs to be understood in the context: as the light shines in the dawn, the features of the earth take on a recognizable shape or form. The language is phenomenological.
35 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the objects or features on the earth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
36 tc The MT reads “they stand up like a garment” (NASB, NIV) or “its features stand out like a garment” (ESV). The reference could be either to embroidered decoration on a garment or to the folds of a garment (REB: “until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak”; cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 497, “the early light of day makes the earth appear as a beautiful garment, exquisite in design and glorious in color”). Since this is thought to be an odd statement, some suggest with Ehrlich that the text be changed to תִּצָּבַּע (titsabba’, “is dyed [like a garment]”). This reference would be to the colors appearing on the earth’s surface under daylight. The present translation follows the emendation.
37 tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.
38 sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).
39 tn Heb “the springs of the sea.” The words “that fill” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the phrase.
40 tn Heb “uncovered to you.”
41 tn Some still retain the traditional phrase “shadow of death” in the English translation (cf. NIV). The reference is to the entrance to Sheol (see Job 10:21).
42 tn The interrogative with דֶרֶךְ (derekh) means “in what road” or “in what direction.”
43 tn The suffixes are singular (“that you may take it to its border…to its home”), referring to either the light or the darkness. Because either is referred to, the translation has employed plurals, since singulars would imply that only the second item, “darkness,” was the referent. Plurals are also employed by NAB and NIV.
44 tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.
45 sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; and Ps 18:12 [13]).
46 tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ’otsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.
47 sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.
48 tn Because the parallel with “light” and “east wind” is not tight, Hoffmann proposed ‘ed instead, “mist.” This has been adopted by many. G. R. Driver suggests “parching heat” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 91-92).
49 tn Heb “on a land, no man.”
50 tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”
51 tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).
52 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
53 tn Several suggest that the verb is not from חָבָא (khava’, “to hide”) but from a homonym, “to congeal.” This may be too difficult to support, however.
54 tn This word is found here and in 1 Sam 15:32. Dhorme suggests, with others, that there has been a metathesis (a reversal of consonants), and it is the same word found in Job 31:36 (“bind”). G. R. Driver takes it as “cluster” without changing the text (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 7 [1956] :3).
55 tn The word מַזָּרוֹת (mazzarot) is taken by some to refer to the constellations (see 2 Kgs 23:5), and by others as connected to the word for “crown,” and so “corona.”
56 sn See Job 9:9.
57 tc The LXX has “answer you,” and some editors have adopted this. However, the reading of the MT makes better sense in the verse.
58 tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature – clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.
59 tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”
60 tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.
61 tn Heb “fill up the life of.”
62 tn The verse is difficult, making some suspect that a line has dropped out. The little birds in the nest hardly go wandering about looking for food. Dhorme suggest “and stagger for lack of food.”
63 sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
64 tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.
65 tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.
66 tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.
67 tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.
68 tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”
69 tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”
70 tn The Hebrew verb is שָׂחַק (sakhaq, “to sport; to trifle; to play,” Ps 104:26).
71 tn The idea may include putting Leviathan on a leash. D. W. Thomas suggested on the basis of an Arabic cognate that it could be rendered “tie him with a string like a young sparrow” (VT 14 [1964]: 114ff.).
72 tn The word חָבַּר (khabbar) is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is “to associate” since it is etymologically related to the verb “to join together.” The idea is that fishermen usually work in companies or groups, and then divide up the catch when they come ashore – which involves bargaining.
73 tn The word כָּרַה (karah) means “to sell.” With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it has the sense “to bargain over something.”
74 tn The verb means “to cut up; to divide up” in the sense of selling the dead body (see Exod 21:35). This will be between them and the merchants (כְּנַעֲנִים, kÿna’anim).
75 tn The verse uses two imperatives which can be interpreted in sequence: do this, and then this will happen.
76 sn Job 41:9 in the English Bible is 41:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). From here to the end of the chapter the Hebrew verse numbers differ from those in the English Bible, with 41:10 ET = 41:2 HT, 41:11 ET = 41:3 HT, etc. See also the note on 41:1.
77 tn The line is difficult. “His hope [= expectation]” must refer to any assailant who hopes or expects to capture the creature. Because there is no antecedent, Dhorme and others transpose it with the next verse. The point is that the man who thought he was sufficient to confront Leviathan soon finds his hope – his expectation – false (a derivative from the verb כָּזַב [kazab, “lie”] is used for a mirage).
78 tn There is an interrogative particle in this line, which most commentators ignore. But others freely emend the MT. Gunkel, following the mythological approach, has “his appearance casts down even a god.” Cheyne likewise has: “even divine beings the fear of him brings low” (JQR 9 [1896/97]: 579). Pope has, “Were not the gods cast down at the sight of him?” There is no need to bring in this mythological element.
79 sn The description is of the animal, not the hunter (or fisherman). Leviathan is so fierce that no one can take him on alone.
80 tc MT has “before me” and can best be rendered as “Who then is he that can stand before me?” (ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT, NJPS). The following verse (11) favors the MT since both express the lesson to be learned from Leviathan: If a man cannot stand up to Leviathan, how can he stand up to its creator? The translation above has chosen to read the text as “before him” (cf. NRSV, NJB).
81 tn The verb קָדַם (qadam) means “to come to meet; to come before; to confront” to the face.
82 sn The verse seems an intrusion (and so E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and many others change the pronouns to make it refer to the animal). But what the text is saying is that it is more dangerous to confront God than to confront this animal.
83 tn This line also focuses on the sovereign God rather than Leviathan. H. H. Rowley, however, wants to change לִי־חוּא (li-hu’, “it [belongs] to me”) into לֹא הוּא (lo’ hu’, “there is no one”). So it would say that there is no one under the whole heaven who could challenge Leviathan and live, rather than saying it is more dangerous to challenge God to make him repay.
84 tn Dhorme changes the noun into a verb, “I will tell,” and the last two words into אֵין עֶרֶךְ (’en ’erekh, “there is no comparison”). The result is “I will tell of his incomparable might.”
85 tn Heb “the face of his garment,” referring to the outer garment or covering. Some take it to be the front as opposed to the back.
86 tc The word רֶסֶן (resen) has often been rendered “bridle” (cf. ESV), but that leaves a number of unanswered questions. The LXX reads סִרְיוֹן (siryon), with the transposition of letters, but that means “coat of armor.” If the metathesis stands, there is also support from the cognate Akkadian.
87 tn Heb “his face.”
88 tc The MT has גַּאֲוָה (ga’avah, “his pride”), but the LXX, Aquila, and the Vulgate all read גַּוּוֹ (gavvo, “his back”). Almost all the modern English versions follow the variant reading, speaking about “his [or its] back.”
89 tn Instead of צָר (tsar, “closely”) the LXX has צֹר (tsor, “stone”) to say that the seal was rock hard.
90 tn The expression “each one…to the next” is literally “one with one.”
91 tn Heb “a man with his brother.”
92 tn Heb “the eyelids,” but it represents the early beams of the dawn as the cover of night lifts.
93 sn For the animal, the image is that of pent-up breath with water in a hot steam jet coming from its mouth, like a stream of fire in the rays of the sun. The language is hyperbolic, probably to reflect the pagan ideas of the dragon of the deep in a polemical way – they feared it as a fire breathing monster, but in reality it might have been a steamy crocodile.
94 tn The word “burning” is supplied. The Syriac and Vulgate have “a seething and boiling pot” (reading אֹגֵם [’ogem] for אַגְמֹן [’agmon]). This view is widely accepted.
95 tn This word, דְּאָבָה (dÿ’avah) is a hapax legomenon. But the verbal root means “to languish; to pine.” A related noun talks of dejection and despair in Deut 28:65. So here “despair” as a translation is preferable to “terror.”
96 tn Heb “fallings.”
97 tn The last clause says “it cannot be moved.” But this part will function adverbially in the sentence.
98 tn The description of his heart being “hard” means that he is cruel and fearless. The word for “hard” is the word encountered before for molten or cast metal.
99 tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”
100 tn This is the clearest reading, following A. B. Davidson, Job, 285. The versions took different readings of the construction.
101 tn The verb קוּם (qum, “stand”) with בְּלִי (bÿli, “not”) has the sense of “does not hold firm,” or “gives way.”
102 tn Heb “the son of the bow.”
103 tn The verb is plural, but since there is no expressed subject it is translated as a passive here.
104 tn Heb “under him.”
105 tn Here only the word “sharp” is present, but in passages like Isa 41:15 it is joined with “threshing sledge.” Here and in Amos 1:3 and Isa 28:27 the word stands alone, but represents the “sledge.”
106 sn The idea is either that the sea is stirred up like the foam from beating the ingredients together, or it is the musk-smell that is the point of comparison.
107 tn Heb “one who was made.”
108 tn Heb “the sons of pride.” Dhorme repoints the last word to get “all the wild beasts,” but this misses the point of the verse. This animal looks over every proud creature – but he is king of them all in that department.
109 tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”
110 sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).
111 tn Heb “mountains of God.” The divine name אֵל (’el, “God”) is here used in an idiomatic manner to indicate the superlative.
112 tn Or “deliver.”
113 sn God’s justice/fairness is firm and reliable like the highest mountains and as abundant as the water in the deepest sea. The psalmist uses a legal metaphor to describe God’s preservation of his creation. Like a just judge who vindicates the innocent, God protects his creation from destructive forces.
114 tn Heb “and his compassion is over all his works.”
115 tn The emphatic use of the independent pronouns “you” and “I” (אַתָּה, ’attah, and אֲנִי, ’ani) in vv. 10 and 11 creates an ironic comparison and emphasizes the strong contrast between the attitudes of Jonah and the
116 tn Heb “You…Should I not spare…?” This is an a fortiori argument from lesser to greater. Since Jonah was “upset” (חוּס, khus) about such a trivial matter as the death of a little plant (the lesser), God had every right to “spare” (חוּס) the enormously populated city of Nineveh (the greater). The phrase “even more” does not appear in Hebrew but is implied by this a fortiori argument.
117 tn Heb “Should I not spare?”; or “Should I not show compassion?” The verb חוּס (khus) has a basic three-fold range of meanings: (1) “to be troubled about,” (2) “to look with compassion upon,” and (3) “to show pity, to spare (someone from death/judgment)” (HALOT 298 s.v. חוס; BDB 299 s.v. חוּס). In v. 10 it refers to Jonah’s lament over the death of his plant, meaning “to be upset about” or “to be troubled about” (HALOT 298 s.v. 1.c). However, here in v. 11 it means “to show pity, spare” from judgment (BDB 298 s.v. b; HALOT 298 s.v. 1.a; e.g., 1 Sam 24:11; Jer 21:7; Ezek 24:14). It is often used in contexts which contemplate whether God will or will not spare a sinful people from judgment (Ezek 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:19; 9:5, 10; 20:17). So this repetition of the same verb but in a different sense creates a polysemantic wordplay in vv. 10-11. However, the wordplay is obscured by the appropriate translation for each usage – “be upset about” in v. 10 and “to spare” in v. 11 – therefore, the translation above attempts to bring out the wordplay in English: “to be [even more] concerned about.”
118 tn Heb “the great city.”
119 tn Heb “their right from their left.” Interpreters wonder exactly what deficiency is meant by the phrase “do not know their right from their left.” The expression does not appear elsewhere in biblical Hebrew. It probably does not mean, as sometimes suggested, that Nineveh had 120,000 small children (the term אָדָם, ’adam, “people,” does not seem to be used of children alone). In any case, it refers to a deficiency in discernment that Jonah and the initial readers of Jonah would no doubt have considered themselves free of. For partial parallels see 2 Sam 19:35; Eccl 10:2; Ezek 22:26; 44:23.
120 tn Heb “and many animals.”