Discovery BoxJob 9:10
Context9:10 he does great and unsearchable things, 1
and wonderful things without number.
Job 14:5
Context14:5 Since man’s days 2 are determined, 3
the number of his months is under your control; 4
you have set his limit 5 and he cannot pass it.
Job 21:33
Context21:33 The clods of the torrent valley 6 are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
Job 36:26
Context36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! 7
The number of his years is unsearchable.
[9:10] 1 tn Only slight differences exist between this verse and 5:9 which employs the simple ו (vav) conjunction before אֵין (’eyn) in the first colon and omits the ו (vav) conjunction before נִפְלָאוֹת (nifla’ot, “wonderful things”) in the second colon.
[14:5] 3 tn The passive participle is from חָרַץ (kharats), which means “determined.” The word literally means “cut” (Lev 22:22, “mutilated”). E. Dhorme, (Job, 197) takes it to mean “engraved” as on stone; from a custom of inscribing decrees on tablets of stone he derives the meaning here of “decreed.” This, he argues, is parallel to the way חָקַק (khaqaq, “engrave”) is used. The word חֹק (khoq) is an “ordinance” or “statute”; the idea is connected to the verb “to engrave.” The LXX has “if his life should be but one day on the earth, and his months are numbered by him, you have appointed him for a time and he shall by no means exceed it.”
[14:5] 4 tn Heb “[is] with you.” This clearly means under God’s control.
[14:5] 5 tn The word חֹק (khoq) has the meanings of “decree, decision, and limit” (cf. Job 28:26; 38:10).
[21:33] 3 tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.
[36:26] 4 tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”
