Job 8:11

8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall ¹  where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish ²  without water?

Job 14:9

14:9 at the scent ³  of water it will flourish ⁴ 

and put forth ⁵  shoots like a new plant.

Job 14:11

14:11 As ⁶  water disappears from the sea, ⁷ 

or a river drains away and dries up,

Job 22:7

22:7 You gave the weary ⁸  no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

Job 22:11

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, ⁹ 

and why a flood ¹⁰  of water covers you.

Job 26:8

26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,

and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.

Job 29:19

29:19 My roots reach the water,

and the dew lies on my branches all night long.

Job 36:27

36:27 He draws up drops of water;

they distill ¹¹  the rain into its mist, ¹² 

Job 37:10

37:10 The breath of God produces ice,

and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.

[8:11]  ¹ sn H. H. Rowley observes the use of the words for plants that grow in Egypt and suspects that Bildad either knew Egypt or knew that much wisdom came from Egypt. The first word refers to papyrus, which grows to a height of six feet (so the verb means “to grow tall; to grow high”). The second word refers to the reed grass that grows on the banks of the river (see Gen 41:2, 18).

[8:11]  ² tn The two verbs, גָּאָה (ga’ah) and שָׂגָה (sagah), have almost the same meanings of “flourish, grow, become tall.”

[14:9]  ³ tn The personification adds to the comparison with people – the tree is credited with the sense of smell to detect the water.

[14:9]  ⁴ tn The sense of “flourish” for this verb is found in Ps 92:12,13[13,14], and Prov 14:11. It makes an appropriate parallel with “bring forth boughs” in the second half.

[14:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “and will make.”

[14:11]  ⁵ tn The comparative clause may be signaled simply by the context, especially when facts of a moral nature are compared with the physical world (see GKC 499 §161.a).

[14:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word יָם (yam) can mean “sea” or “lake.”

[22:7]  ⁷ tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.

[22:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.

[22:11]  ¹⁰ tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.

[36:27]  ¹¹ tn The verb means “to filter; to refine,” and so a plural subject with the drops of water as the subject will not work. So many read the singular, “he distills.”

[36:27]  ¹² tn This word עֵד (’ed) occurs also in Gen 2:6. The suggestion has been that instead of a mist it represents an underground watercourse that wells up to water the ground.