31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 1 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 2
I guided the widow! 3
38:32 Can you lead out
the constellations 4 in their seasons,
or guide the Bear with its cubs? 5
1 tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.
2 tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”
3 tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.
4 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.”
5 sn See Job 9:9.