Job 38:22

38:22 Have you entered the storehouse ¹  of the snow,

or seen the armory ²  of the hail,

Psalms 147:16-18

147:16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;

he spreads the frost that is white like ashes. ³ 

147:17 He throws his hailstones ⁴  like crumbs.

Who can withstand the cold wind he sends? ⁵ 

147:18 He then orders it all to melt; ⁶ 

he breathes on it, ⁷  and the water flows.

Psalms 148:8

148:8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, ⁸ 

O stormy wind that carries out his orders, ⁹ 

[38:22]  ¹ sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; and Ps 18:12 [13]).

[38:22]  ² tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ’otsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.

[147:16]  ³ tn Heb “the one who gives snow like wool, frost like ashes he scatters.”

[147:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “his ice.”

[147:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “Before his cold, who can stand?”

[147:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he sends his word and melts them.”

[147:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “he blows his breath.”

[148:8]  ⁸ tn In Ps 119:83 the noun refers to “smoke,” but here, where the elements of nature are addressed, the clouds, which resemble smoke, are probably in view.

[148:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “[that] does his word.”