16:16 my face is reddened 1 because of weeping, 2
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, 3
41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;
its eyes are like the red glow 4 of dawn.
1 tn An intensive form, a Qetaltal form of the root חָמַר (khamar, “red”) is used here. This word has as probable derivatives חֹמֶר (khomer, “[red] clay”) and חֲמוֹר (khamor, “[red] ass”) and the like. Because of the weeping, his whole complexion has been reddened (the LXX reads “my belly”).
2 sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 122) notes that spontaneous and repeated weeping is one of the symptoms of elephantiasis.
3 sn See Job 3:5. Just as joy brings light and life to the eyes, sorrow and suffering bring darkness. The “eyelids” here would be synecdoche, reflecting the whole facial expression as sad and sullen.
4 tn Heb “the eyelids,” but it represents the early beams of the dawn as the cover of night lifts.