Job 36:32

36:32 With his hands ¹  he covers ²  the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

Job 38:12

38:12 Have you ever in your life ³  commanded the morning,

or made the dawn know ⁴  its place,

[36:32]  ¹ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

[36:32]  ² 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.

[38:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew idiom is “have you from your days?” It means “never in your life” (see 1 Sam 25:28; 1 Kgs 1:6).

[38:12]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Piel of יָדַע (yada’, “to know”) with a double accusative.