Isaiah 40:22

40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; ¹ 

its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. ² 

He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, ³ 

and spreads it out ⁴  like a pitched tent. ⁵ 

Job 37:18

37:18 will you, with him, spread out ⁶  the clouds,

solid as a mirror of molten metal?

[40:22]  ¹ tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[40:22]  ² tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[40:22]  ³ tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).

[40:22]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.

[40:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”

[37:18]  ⁶ 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.