Job 15:9

15:9 What do you know that we don’t know?

What do you understand that we don’t understand? ¹ 

Job 37:5

37:5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; ² 

he does great things beyond our understanding. ³ 

Job 8:9

8:9 For we were born yesterday ⁴  and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow. ⁵ 

Job 36:26

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! ⁶ 

The number of his years is unsearchable.

[15:9]  ¹ tn The last clause simply has “and it is not with us.” It means that one possesses something through knowledge. Note the parallelism of “know” and “with me” in Ps 50:11.

[37:5]  ² tn The form is the Niphal participle, “wonders,” from the verb פָּלָא (pala’, “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary”). Some commentators suppress the repeated verb “thunders,” and supply other verbs like “shows” or “works,” enabling them to make “wonders” the object of the verb rather than leaving it in an adverbial role. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 236) notes, no change is needed, for one is not surprised to find repetition in Elihu’s words.

[37:5]  ³ tn Heb “and we do not know.”

[8:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).

[36:26]  ⁴ tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”