28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; 1
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness. 2
38:5 Who set its measurements – if 3 you know –
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
1 sn The text appears at first to be saying that by opening up a mine shaft, or by taking lights down below, the miner dispels the darkness. But the clause might be more general, meaning that man goes deep into the earth as if it were day.
2 tn The verse ends with “the stone of darkness and deep darkness.” The genitive would be location, describing the place where the stones are found.
3 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.