Psalms 136:4

136:4 to the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,

for his loyal love endures,

Exodus 11:8

11:8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow down to me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” Then Moses went out from Pharaoh in great anger.

Exodus 15:11

15:11 Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you? – majestic in holiness, fearful in praises, working wonders?

Job 5:9

5:9 He does great and unsearchable things,

marvelous things without number; 10 

Job 9:10

9:10 he does great and unsearchable things, 11 

and wonderful things without number.

Job 26:14

26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! 12 

How faint is the whisper 13  we hear of him!

But who can understand the thunder of his power?”


sn Moses’ anger is expressed forcefully. “He had appeared before Pharaoh a dozen times either as God’s emissary or when summoned by Pharaoh, but he would not come again; now they would have to search him out if they needed help” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 289-90).

tn Heb “that are at your feet.”

tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn The question is of course rhetorical; it is a way of affirming that no one is comparable to God. See C. J. Labuschagne, The Incomparability of Yahweh in the Old Testament, 22, 66-67, and 94-97.

sn Verses 11-17 will now focus on Yahweh as the incomparable one who was able to save Israel from their foes and afterward lead them to the promised land.

tn S. R. Driver suggests “praiseworthy acts” as the translation (Exodus, 137).

tn Heb “who does.” It is common for such doxologies to begin with participles; they follow the pattern of the psalms in this style. Because of the length of the sentence in Hebrew and the conventions of English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

tn The Hebrew has וְאֵין חֵקֶר (vÿen kheqer), literally, “and no investigation.” The use of the conjunction on the expression follows a form of the circumstantial clause construction, and so the entire expression describes the great works as “unsearchable.”

tn The preposition in עַד־אֵין (’aden, “until there was no”) is stereotypical; it conveys the sense of having no number (see Job 9:10; Ps 40:13).

10 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 54) notes that the verse fits Eliphaz’s approach very well, for he has good understanding of the truth, but has difficulty in making the correct conclusions from it.

11 tn Only slight differences exist between this verse and 5:9 which employs the simple ו (vav) conjunction before אֵין (’eyn) in the first colon and omits the ו (vav) conjunction before נִפְלָאוֹת (niflaot, “wonderful things”) in the second colon.

12 tn Heb “the ends of his ways,” meaning “the fringes.”

13 tn Heb “how little is the word.” Here “little” means a “fraction” or an “echo.”