36:32 With his hands 1 he covers 2 the lightning,
and directs it against its target.
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 3 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 4 to him?’ 5
1 tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”
2 tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissa’] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.
3 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
4 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
5 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.