37:12 The clouds 1 go round in circles,
wheeling about according to his plans,
to carry out 2 all that he commands them
over the face of the whole inhabited world.
37:13 Whether it is for punishment 3 for his land,
or whether it is for mercy,
he causes it to find its mark. 4
37:14 “Pay attention to this, Job!
Stand still and consider the wonders God works.
37:15 Do you know how God commands them, 5
how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud? 6
37:16 Do you know about the balancing 7 of the clouds,
that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?
37:17 You, whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind,
37:18 will you, with him, spread out 8 the clouds,
solid as a mirror of molten metal?
1 tn The words “the clouds” are supplied from v. 11; the sentence itself actually starts: “and it goes round,” referring to the cloud.
2 tn Heb “that it may do.”
3 tn Heb “rod,” i.e., a rod used for punishment.
4 tn This is interpretive; Heb “he makes find it.” The lightning could be what is intended here, for it finds its mark. But R. Gordis (Job, 429) suggests man is the subject – let him find what it is for, i.e., the fate appropriate for him.
5 tn The verb is בְּשׂוּם (bÿsum, from שִׂים [sim, “set”]), so the idea is how God lays [or sets] [a command] for them. The suffix is proleptic, to be clarified in the second colon.
6 tn Dhorme reads this “and how his stormcloud makes lightning to flash forth?”
7 tn As indicated by HALOT 618 s.v. מִפְלָשׂ, the concept of “balancing” probably refers to “floating” or “suspension” (cf. NIV’s “how the clouds hang poised” and J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 481-82, n. 2).
9 tn The verb means “to beat out; to flatten,” and the analogy in the next line will use molten metal. From this verb is derived the word for the “firmament” in Gen 1:6-8, that canopy-like pressure area separating water above and water below.