Job 38:4

God’s questions to Job

38:4 “Where were you

when I laid the foundation ¹  of the earth?

Tell me, ²  if you possess understanding!

Job 38:12

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

or made the dawn know ⁴  its place,

[38:4]  ¹ tn The construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, using the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix.

[38:4]  ² tn The verb is the imperative; it has no object “me” in the text.

[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.