36:32 With his hands 1 he covers 2 the lightning,
and directs it against its target.
38:12 Have you ever in your life 3 commanded the morning,
or made the dawn know 4 its place,
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 Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).
4 tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.