Job 20:6

20:6 Even though his stature ¹  reaches to the heavens

and his head touches the clouds,

Job 22:14

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, ² 

as he goes back and forth

in the vault ³  of heaven.’ ⁴ 

Job 26:8

26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,

and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

Job 36:29

36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion? ⁵ 

Job 37:11

37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; ⁶ 

he scatters his lightning through the clouds.

Job 37:16

37:16 Do you know about the balancing ⁷  of the clouds,

that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

[20:6]  ¹ tn The word שִׂיא (si’) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.

[22:14]  ² tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”

[22:14]  ³ sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.

[22:14]  ⁴ sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.

[36:29]  ³ tn Heb “his booth.”

[37:11]  ⁴ tn The word “moisture” is drawn from רִי (ri) as a contraction for רְוִי (rÿvi). Others emended the text to get “hail” (NAB) or “lightning,” or even “the Creator.” For these, see the various commentaries. There is no reason to change the reading of the MT when it makes perfectly good sense.

[37:16]  ⁵ tn As indicated by HALOT 618 s.v. מִפְלָשׂ, the concept of “balancing” probably refers to “floating” or “suspension” (cf. NIV’s “how the clouds hang poised” and J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 481-82, n. 2).