Job 12:7

Knowledge of God’s Wisdom ¹ 

12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they ²  will teach you,

or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.

Job 27:11

27:11 I will teach you ³  about the power ⁴  of God;

What is on the Almighty’s mind ⁵  I will not conceal.

Job 34:32

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. ⁶ 

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

Job 38:6

38:6 On what ⁷  were its bases ⁸  set,

or who laid its cornerstone –

[12:7]  ¹ sn As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 216) observes, in this section Job argues that respected tradition “must not be accepted uncritically.”

[12:7]  ² tn The singular verb is used here with the plural collective subject (see GKC 464 §145.k).

[27:11]  ³ tn The object suffix is in the plural, which gives some support to the idea Job is speaking to them.

[27:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “the hand of.”

[27:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “[what is] with Shaddai.”

[34:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”

[38:6]  ⁷ tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.

[38:6]  ⁸ sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).