Discovery BoxJob 9:8-9
Context9:8 he alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads 1 on the waves of the sea; 2
9:9 he makes the Bear, 3 Orion, 4 and the Pleiades, 5
and the constellations of the southern sky; 6
Genesis 1:6-8
Context1:6 God said, “Let there be an expanse 7 in the midst of the waters and let it separate water 8 from water. 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. 9 It was so. 10 1:8 God called the expanse “sky.” 11 There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
Psalms 104:2
Context104:2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
Psalms 148:4-6
Context148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky! 12
148:5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he gave the command and they came into existence.
148:6 He established them so they would endure; 13
he issued a decree that will not be revoked. 14
Psalms 150:1
Context150:1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary!
Praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength! 16
Proverbs 8:27
Context8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he marked out the horizon 17 over the face of the deep,
Isaiah 40:12
Context40:12 Who has measured out the waters 18 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully 19 measured the sky, 20
or carefully weighed 21 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales? 22
Isaiah 40:22
Context40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 23
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 24
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 25
and spreads it out 26 like a pitched tent. 27
Isaiah 44:24
Context44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, 28 says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself, 29
[9:8] 1 tn Or “marches forth.”
[9:8] 2 tn The reference is probably to the waves of the sea. This is the reading preserved in NIV and NAB, as well as by J. Crenshaw, “Wÿdorek `al-bamote ‘ares,” CBQ 34 (1972): 39-53. But many see here a reference to Canaanite mythology. The marginal note in the RSV has “the back of the sea dragon.” The view would also see in “sea” the Ugaritic god Yammu.
[9:9] 3 sn The Hebrew has עָשׁ (’ash), although in 38:32 it is עַיִשׁ (’ayish). This has been suggested to be Aldebaran, a star in the constellation Taurus, but there have been many other suggestions put forward by the commentaries.
[9:9] 4 sn There is more certainty for the understanding of this word as Orion, even though there is some overlap of the usage of the words in the Bible. In classical literature we have the same stereotypical reference to these three (see E. Dhorme, Job, 131).
[9:9] 5 sn The identification of this as the Pleiades is accepted by most (the Vulgate has “Hyades”). In classical Greek mythology, the seven Pleiades were seven sisters of the Hyades who were pursued by Orion until they were changed into stars by Zeus. The Greek myth is probably derived from an older Semitic myth.
[9:9] 6 tn Heb “and the chambers of the south.”
[1:6] 7 tn The Hebrew word refers to an expanse of air pressure between the surface of the sea and the clouds, separating water below from water above. In v. 8 it is called “sky.”
[1:6] 8 tn Heb “the waters from the waters.”
[1:7] 10 tn This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.
[1:8] 11 tn Though the Hebrew word can mean “heaven,” it refers in this context to “the sky.”
[148:4] 12 sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.
[148:6] 13 tn Or “forever and ever.”
[148:6] 14 tn Heb “and it will not pass away.”
[150:1] 15 sn Psalm 150. The Psalter concludes with a resounding call for praise from everything that has breath.
[150:1] 16 tn Heb “the sky of his strength.”
[8:27] 17 sn The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bÿkhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and the noun חוּג (khug, “horizon; circle”) form a paronomasia in the line.
[40:12] 18 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.
[40:12] 19 tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).
[40:12] 20 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[40:12] 21 tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”
[40:12] 22 sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.
[40:22] 23 tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[40:22] 24 tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:22] 25 tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).
[40:22] 26 tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.
[40:22] 27 tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”
[44:24] 28 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[44:24] 29 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.
