Job 16:16

16:16 my face is reddened ¹  because of weeping, ² 

and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, ³ 

Job 41:18

41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

its eyes are like the red glow ⁴  of dawn.

[16:16]  ¹ tn An intensive form, a Qetaltal form of the root חָמַר (khamar, “red”) is used here. This word has as probable derivatives חֹמֶר (khomer, “[red] clay”) and חֲמוֹר (khamor, “[red] ass”) and the like. Because of the weeping, his whole complexion has been reddened (the LXX reads “my belly”).

[16:16]  ² sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 122) notes that spontaneous and repeated weeping is one of the symptoms of elephantiasis.

[16:16]  ³ sn See Job 3:5. Just as joy brings light and life to the eyes, sorrow and suffering bring darkness. The “eyelids” here would be synecdoche, reflecting the whole facial expression as sad and sullen.

[41:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the eyelids,” but it represents the early beams of the dawn as the cover of night lifts.