Job 36:27-37:13
Christian Standard Bible
27 For he makes waterdrops evaporate;[a]
they distill the rain into its[b] mist,(A)
28 which the clouds pour out
and shower abundantly on mankind.
29 Can anyone understand how the clouds spread out
or how the thunder roars from God’s pavilion?(B)
30 See how he spreads his lightning(C) around him
and covers the depths of the sea.
31 For he judges the nations with these;
he gives food in abundance.(D)
32 He covers his hands with lightning
and commands it to hit its mark.
33 The[c] thunder declares his presence;[d]
the cattle also, the approaching storm.
37 My heart(E) pounds at this
and leaps from my chest.[e]
2 Just listen to his thunderous voice
and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.
3 He lets it loose beneath the entire sky;
his lightning to the ends(F) of the earth.
4 Then there comes a roaring sound;
God thunders(G) with his majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning
when his rumbling voice is heard.
5 God thunders wondrously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow,(H) “Fall to the earth,”
and the torrential rains, his mighty torrential rains,
7 serve as his sign to all mankind,
so that all men may know his work.
8 The wild animals enter their lairs
and stay in their dens.(I)
9 The windstorm comes from its chamber,
and the cold from the driving north winds.
10 Ice is formed by the breath of God,(J)
and watery expanses are frozen.
11 He saturates clouds with moisture;(K)
he scatters his lightning through them.
12 They swirl about,
turning round and round at his direction,
accomplishing everything he commands them
over the surface of the inhabited world.
13 He causes this to happen for punishment,
for his land, or for his faithful love.
Job 36:27-37:13
New English Translation
27 He draws up drops of water;
they distill[a] the rain into its mist,[b]
28 which the clouds pour down
and shower on humankind abundantly.
29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?[c]
30 See how he scattered[d] his lightning[e] about him;
he has covered the depths[f] of the sea.
31 It is by these that he judges[g] the nations
and supplies food in abundance.
32 With his hands[h] he covers[i] the lightning,
and directs it against its target.
33 [j] His thunder announces the coming storm,
the cattle also, concerning the storm’s approach.[k]
37 At this also my heart pounds
and leaps from its place.
2 Listen carefully[l] to the thunder of his voice,
to the rumbling[m] that proceeds from his mouth.
3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
even his lightning to the far corners[n] of the earth.
4 After that a voice roars;
he thunders with an exalted voice,
and he does not hold back his lightning bolts[o]
when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways;[p]
he does great things beyond our understanding.[q]
6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall[r] to earth,’
and to the torrential rains,[s] ‘Pour down.’[t]
7 He causes everyone to stop working,[u]
so that all people[v] may know[w] his work.
8 The wild animals go to their lairs,
and in their dens they remain.
9 A tempest blows out from its chamber,
icy cold from the driving winds.[x]
10 The breath of God produces ice,
and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.
11 He loads the clouds with moisture;[y]
he scatters his lightning through the clouds.
12 The clouds[z] go round in circles,
wheeling about according to his plans,
to carry out[aa] all that he commands them
over the face of the whole inhabited world.
13 Whether it is for punishment,[ab]
or for his land,
or for mercy,
he causes it to find its mark.[ac]
Notas al pie
- Job 36:27 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.”
- Job 36:27 tn This word עֵד (ʿed) 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.
- Job 36:29 tn Heb “his booth.”
- Job 36:30 tn The word actually means “to spread,” but with lightning as the object, “to scatter” appears to fit the context better.
- Job 36:30 tn The word is “light,” but taken to mean “lightning.” Theodotion had “mist” here, and so most commentators follow that because it is more appropriate to the verb and the context.
- Job 36:30 tn Heb “roots.”
- Job 36:31 tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposed יָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).
- Job 36:32 tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”
- Job 36:32 tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissaʾ] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.
- Job 36:33 tn Peake knew of over thirty interpretations for this verse. The MT literally says, “He declares his purpose [or his shout] concerning it; cattle also concerning what rises.” Dhorme has it: “The flock which sniffs the coming storm has warned the shepherd.” Kissane: “The thunder declares concerning him, as he excites wrath against iniquity.” Gordis translates it: “His thunderclap proclaims his presence, and the storm his mighty wrath.” Many more could be added to the list.
- Job 36:33 tn The meaning of this verse is disputed; it may refer to cattle sensing the approaching storm.
- Job 37:2 tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.
- Job 37:2 tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).
- Job 37:3 tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.
- Job 37:4 tn The verb simply has the pronominal suffix, “them.” The idea must be that when God brings in all the thunderings he does not hold back his lightning bolts either.
- Job 37:5 tn The form is the Niphal participle, “wonders,” from the verb פָּלָא (palaʾ, “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary”). Some commentators suppress the repeated verb “thunders,” and supply other verbs like “shows” or “works,” enabling them to make “wonders” the object of the verb rather than leaving it in an adverbial role. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 236) notes, no change is needed, for one is not surprised to find repetition in Elihu’s words.
- Job 37:5 tn Heb “and we do not know.”
- Job 37:6 tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”
- Job 37:6 tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew mss delete the second pair, and so many editors do. But the repetition may have served to stress the idea that the rains were heavy.
- Job 37:6 tn Heb “Be strong.”
- Job 37:7 tn Heb “by the hand of every man he seals.” This line is intended to mean that with the heavy rains God suspends all agricultural activity.
- Job 37:7 tc This reading involves a change in the text, for in MT “men” is in the construct. It would be translated “all men whom he made” (i.e., “all men of his making”). This is the translation followed by the NIV and NRSV. Olshausen suggested that the word should have been אֲנָשִׁים (ʾanashim) with the final ם (mem) being lost to haplography.
- Job 37:7 tn D. W. Thomas suggested a meaning of “rest” for the verb, based on Arabic. He then reads אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾenosh) for man, and supplies a ם (mem) to “his work” to get “that every man might rest from his work [in the fields].”
- Job 37:9 tn The “driving winds” reflects the Hebrew “from the scatterers.” This refers to the north winds that bring the cold air and the ice and snow and hard rains.
- Job 37:11 tn The word “moisture” is drawn from רִי (ri) as a contraction for רְוִי (revi). Others emended the text to get “hail” (NAB) or “lightning,” or even “the Creator.” For these, see the various commentaries. There is no reason to change the reading of the MT when it makes perfectly good sense.
- Job 37:12 tn The words “the clouds” are supplied from v. 11; the sentence itself actually starts: “and it goes round,” referring to the cloud.
- Job 37:12 tn Heb “that it may do.”
- Job 37:13 tn Heb “rod,” i.e., a rod used for punishment.
- Job 37:13 tn This is interpretive; Heb “he makes find it.” The lightning could be what is intended here, for it finds its mark. But R. Gordis (Job, 429) suggests man is the subject—let him find what it is for, i.e., the fate appropriate for him.
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