Job 23:8

New English Translation

⁸“If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

Job 23:9

New English Translation

⁹In the north^[a] when he is at work,^[b]
I do not see him;^[c]
when he turns^[d] to the south,
I see no trace of him.

Job 23:9 sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.
Job 23:9 tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (baʿasoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (yaʿtof, “covers himself”).
Job 23:9 tn The verb is the apocopated form of the imperfect. The object is supplied.
Job 23:9 tn The MT has “he turns,” but the Syriac and Vulgate have “I turn.”

New English Translation (NET)