23:13 But he is unchangeable, 1 and who can change 2 him?
Whatever he 3 has desired, he does.
34:13 Who entrusted 4 to him the earth?
And who put him over 5 the whole world?
36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?
Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?
1 tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).
2 tn Heb “cause him to return.”
3 tn Or “his soul.”
4 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit; to appoint; to number.” Here it means “to entrust” for care and governing. The implication would be that there would be someone higher than God – which is what Elihu is repudiating by the rhetorical question. No one entrusted God with this.
5 tn The preposition is implied from the first half of the verse.