6:16 They 1 are dark 2 because of ice;
snow is piled 3 up over them. 4
24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow; 5
so the grave 6 takes away those who have sinned. 7
38:22 Have you entered the storehouse 8 of the snow,
or seen the armory 9 of the hail,
37:6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall 10 to earth,’
and to the torrential rains, 11 ‘Pour down.’ 12
1 tn The article on the participle joins this statement to the preceding noun; it can have the sense of “they” or “which.” The parallel sense then can be continued with a finite verb (see GKC 404 §126.b).
2 tn The participle הַקֹּדְרים (haqqodÿrim), often rendered “which are black,” would better be translated “dark,” for it refers to the turbid waters filled with melting ice or melting snow, or to the frozen surface of the water, but not waters that are muddied. The versions failed to note that this referred to the waters introduced in v. 15.
3 tn The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit’allem) has been translated “is hid” or “hides itself.” But this does not work easily in the sentence with the preposition “upon them.” Torczyner suggested “pile up” from an Aramaic root עֲלַם (’alam), and E. Dhorme (Job, 87) defends it without changing the text, contending that the form we have was chosen for alliterative value with the prepositional phrase before it.
4 tn The LXX paraphrases the whole verse: “They who used to reverence me now come against me like snow or congealed ice.”
5 tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”
6 tn Or “so Sheol.”
7 tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”
9 sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; and Ps 18:12 [13]).
10 tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ’otsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.
13 tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”
14 tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew
15 tn Heb “Be strong.”