Job 36:30

36:30 See how he scattered ¹  his lightning ²  about him;

he has covered the depths ³  of the sea.

Job 36:32

36:32 With his hands ⁴  he covers ⁵  the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

Isaiah 18:4

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait ⁶  and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ⁷ 

like a cloud of mist ⁸  in the heat ⁹  of harvest.” ¹⁰ 

Matthew 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ¹¹  bright cloud ¹²  overshadowed ¹³  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ¹⁴  “This is my one dear Son, ¹⁵  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ¹⁶ 

[36:30]  ¹ tn The word actually means “to spread,” but with lightning as the object, “to scatter” appears to fit the context better.

[36:30]  ² 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.

[36:30]  ³ tn Heb “roots.”

[36:32]  ⁴ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

[36:32]  ⁵ 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.

[18:4]  ⁶ tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”

[18:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.

[18:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

[18:4]  ⁹ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”

[18:4]  ¹⁰ sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.

[17:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ¹² sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ¹⁶ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.