Job 6:16

6:16 They ¹  are dark ²  because of ice;

snow is piled ³  up over them. ⁴ 

Job 28:21

28:21 For ⁵  it has been hidden

from the eyes of every living creature,

and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.

Job 42:3

42:3 you asked, ⁶ 

‘Who is this who darkens counsel

without knowledge?’

But ⁷  I have declared without understanding ⁸ 

things too wonderful for me to know. ⁹ 

[6:16]  ¹ tn The article on the participle joins this statement to the preceding noun; it can have the sense of “they” or “which.” The parallel sense then can be continued with a finite verb (see GKC 404 §126.b).

[6:16]  ² tn The participle הַקֹּדְרים (haqqodÿrim), often rendered “which are black,” would better be translated “dark,” for it refers to the turbid waters filled with melting ice or melting snow, or to the frozen surface of the water, but not waters that are muddied. The versions failed to note that this referred to the waters introduced in v. 15.

[6:16]  ³ tn The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit’allem) has been translated “is hid” or “hides itself.” But this does not work easily in the sentence with the preposition “upon them.” Torczyner suggested “pile up” from an Aramaic root עֲלַם (’alam), and E. Dhorme (Job, 87) defends it without changing the text, contending that the form we have was chosen for alliterative value with the prepositional phrase before it.

[6:16]  ⁴ tn The LXX paraphrases the whole verse: “They who used to reverence me now come against me like snow or congealed ice.”

[28:21]  ⁵ tn The vav on the verb is unexpressed in the LXX. It should not be overlooked, for it introduces a subordinate clause of condition (R. Gordis, Job, 310).

[42:3]  ⁹ tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.

[42:3]  ¹⁰ tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.

[42:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”

[42:3]  ¹² tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.