36:27 He draws up drops of water;
they distill 1 the rain into its mist, 2
36:28 which the clouds pour down
and shower on humankind abundantly.
36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion? 3
36:30 See how he scattered 4 his lightning 5 about him;
he has covered the depths 6 of the sea.
36:31 It is by these that he judges 7 the nations
and supplies food in abundance.
1 tn The verb means “to filter; to refine,” and so a plural subject with the drops of water as the subject will not work. So many read the singular, “he distills.”
2 tn This word עֵד (’ed) occurs also in Gen 2:6. The suggestion has been that instead of a mist it represents an underground watercourse that wells up to water the ground.
3 tn Heb “his booth.”
4 tn The word actually means “to spread,” but with lightning as the object, “to scatter” appears to fit the context better.
5 tn The word is “light,” but taken to mean “lightning.” Theodotion had “mist” here, and so most commentators follow that because it is more appropriate to the verb and the context.
6 tn Heb “roots.”
7 tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposedיָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).