Discovery BoxJob 36:24-33
Context36:24 Remember to extol 1 his work,
which people have praised in song.
36:25 All humanity has seen it;
people gaze on it from afar.
36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! 2
The number of his years is unsearchable.
36:27 He draws up drops of water;
they distill 3 the rain into its mist, 4
36:28 which the clouds pour down
and shower on humankind abundantly.
36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion? 5
36:30 See how he scattered 6 his lightning 7 about him;
he has covered the depths 8 of the sea.
36:31 It is by these that he judges 9 the nations
and supplies food in abundance.
36:32 With his hands 10 he covers 11 the lightning,
and directs it against its target.
36:33 12 His thunder announces the coming storm,
the cattle also, concerning the storm’s approach.
[36:24] 1 tn The expression is “that you extol,” serving as an object of the verb.
[36:26] 2 tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”
[36:27] 3 tn The verb means “to filter; to refine,” and so a plural subject with the drops of water as the subject will not work. So many read the singular, “he distills.”
[36:27] 4 tn This word עֵד (’ed) occurs also in Gen 2:6. The suggestion has been that instead of a mist it represents an underground watercourse that wells up to water the ground.
[36:30] 6 tn The word actually means “to spread,” but with lightning as the object, “to scatter” appears to fit the context better.
[36:30] 7 tn The word is “light,” but taken to mean “lightning.” Theodotion had “mist” here, and so most commentators follow that because it is more appropriate to the verb and the context.
[36:31] 9 tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposedיָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).
[36:32] 10 tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”
[36:32] 11 tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissa’] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.
[36:33] 12 tn Peake knew of over thirty interpretations for this verse. The MT literally says, “He declares his purpose [or his shout] concerning it; cattle also concerning what rises.” Dhorme has it: “The flock which sniffs the coming storm has warned the shepherd.” Kissane: “The thunder declares concerning him, as he excites wrath against iniquity.” Gordis translates it: “His thunderclap proclaims his presence, and the storm his mighty wrath.” Many more could be added to the list.
