Job 37:1-5

37:1 At this also my heart pounds

and leaps from its place.

37:2 Listen carefully ¹  to the thunder of his voice,

to the rumbling ²  that proceeds from his mouth.

37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

even his lightning to the far corners ³  of the earth.

37:4 After that a voice roars;

he thunders with an exalted voice,

and he does not hold back his lightning bolts ⁴ 

when his voice is heard.

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

he does great things beyond our understanding. ⁶ 

Job 37:22

37:22 From the north he comes in golden splendor; ⁷ 

around God is awesome majesty.

[37:2]  ¹ tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.

[37:2]  ² tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).

[37:3]  ³ tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.

[37:4]  ⁴ tn The verb simply has the pronominal suffix, “them.” The idea must be that when God brings in all the thunderings he does not hold back his lightning bolts either.

[37:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “and we do not know.”

[37:22]  ⁷ tn The MT has “out of the north comes gold.” Left in that sense the line seems irrelevant. The translation “golden splendor” (with RV, RSV, NRSV, NIV) depends upon the context of theophany. Others suggest “golden rays” (Dhorme), the aurora borealis (Graetz, Gray), or some mythological allusion (Pope), such as Baal’s palace. Golden rays or splendor is what is intended, although the reference is not to a natural phenomenon – it is something that would suggest the glory of God.