Job 26:13

26:13 By his breath ¹  the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ² 

Job 29:15

29:15 I was eyes for the blind

and feet for the lame;

Job 37:5

37:5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; ³ 

he does great things beyond our understanding. ⁴ 

Job 40:9

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, ⁵ 

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

[26:13]  ¹ tn Or “wind”; or perhaps “Spirit.” The same Hebrew word, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context.

[26:13]  ² sn Here too is a reference to pagan views indirectly. The fleeing serpent was a designation for Leviathan, whom the book will simply describe as an animal, but the pagans thought to be a monster of the deep. God’s power over nature is associated with defeat of pagan gods (see further W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan; idem, BASOR 53 [1941]: 39).

[37:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “and we do not know.”

[40:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.