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36 Who has put wisdom in the heart,[a]
or has imparted understanding to the mind?
37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,
and who can tip over[b] the water jars of heaven,
38 when the dust hardens[c] into a mass,
and the clumps of earth stick together?

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Footnotes

  1. Job 38:36 tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature—clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.
  2. Job 38:37 tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”
  3. Job 38:38 tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.

36 Who put wisdom in remote places,
    or who gave understanding to a rooster?[a]
37 Who is wise enough to count the clouds,
        and who can tilt heaven’s water containers
38     so that dust becomes mud
        and clods of dirt adhere?

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Footnotes

  1. Job 38:36 Heb uncertain