Job 38:22-30
New English Translation
22 Have you entered the storehouse[a] of the snow,
or seen the armory[b] of the hail,
23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,
for the day of war and battle?[c]
24 In what direction is lightning[d] dispersed,
or the east winds scattered over the earth?
25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,
and a path for the rumble of thunder,
26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land,[e]
a wilderness where there are no human beings,[f]
27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,
and to cause it to sprout with vegetation?[g]
28 Does the rain have a father,
or who has fathered the drops of the dew?
29 From whose womb does the ice emerge,
and the frost from the sky,[h] who gives birth to it,
30 when the waters become hard[i] like stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen solid?
Footnotes
- Job 38:22 sn Snow and ice are thought of as being in store, brought out by God for specific purposes, such as times of battle (see Josh 10:11; Exod 9:2ff.; Isa 28:17; Isa 30:30; Ps 18:12 [13]).
- Job 38:22 tn The same Hebrew term (אוֹצָר, ʾotsar), has been translated “storehouse” in the first line and “armory” in the second. This has been done for stylistic variation, but also because “hail,” as one of God’s “weapons” (cf. the following verse) suggests military imagery; in this context the word refers to God’s “ammunition dump” where he stockpiles hail.
- Job 38:23 sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.
- Job 38:24 tn Because the parallel with “light” and “east wind” is not tight, Hoffmann proposed עֵד (ʿed) instead, “mist.” This has been adopted by many. G. R. Driver suggests “parching heat” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 91-92).
- Job 38:26 tn Heb “on a land, no man.”
- Job 38:26 tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”
- Job 38:27 tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsaʾ) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsameʾ, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).
- Job 38:29 tn Or “heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.
- Job 38:30 tn Several suggest that the verb is not from חָבָא (khavaʾ, “to hide”) but from a homonym, “to congeal.” This may be too difficult to support, however.
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