Job 37:19-24
New English Translation
19 Tell us what we should[a] say to him.
We cannot prepare a case[b]
because of the darkness.
20 Should he be informed that I want[c] to speak?
If a man speaks, surely he will be swallowed up!
21 But now, the sun[d] cannot be looked at[e]—
it is bright in the skies—
after a wind passed and swept the clouds away.[f]
22 From the north he comes in golden splendor;[g]
around God is awesome majesty.
23 As for the Almighty,[h] we cannot attain to him!
He is great in power,
but justice[i] and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.
24 Therefore people fear him,
for he does not regard all the wise in heart.”[j]
Notas al pie
- Job 37:19 tn The imperfect verb here carries the obligatory nuance, “what we should say?”
- Job 37:19 tn The verb means “to arrange; to set in order.” From the context the idea of a legal case is included.
- Job 37:20 tn This imperfect works well as a desiderative imperfect.
- Job 37:21 tn The light here must refer to the sun in the skies that had been veiled by the storm. Then, when the winds blew the clouds away, it could not be looked at because it was so dazzling. Elihu’s analogy will be that God is the same—in his glory one cannot look at him or challenge him.
- Job 37:21 tn The verb has an indefinite subject, and so should be a passive here.
- Job 37:21 tn Heb “and cleaned them.” The referent is the clouds (v. 18), which has been supplied in the translation for clarity. There is another way of reading this verse: the word translated “bright” means “dark; obscured” in Syriac. In this interpretation the first line would mean that they could not see the sun, because it was darkened by the clouds, but then the wind came and blew the clouds away. Dhorme, Gray, and several others take it this way, as does the NAB.
- Job 37:22 tn The MT has “out of the north comes gold.” Left in that sense the line seems irrelevant. The translation “golden splendor” (with RV, RSV, NRSV, NIV) depends upon the context of theophany. Others suggest “golden rays” (Dhorme), the aurora borealis (Graetz, Gray), or some mythological allusion (Pope), such as Baal’s palace. Golden rays or splendor is what is intended, although the reference is not to a natural phenomenon—it is something that would suggest the glory of God.
- Job 37:23 tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.
- Job 37:23 tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” starts the second half of the verse as a disjunctive clause (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”
- Job 37:24 sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.
Job 37:19-24
Expanded Bible
19 ·Tell [L Teach] us what we should say to him;
we cannot get our arguments ·ready [L in order] because ·we do not have enough understanding [L of the darkness].
20 Should God be told ·that I want to [or when I] speak?
Would a person ask to be swallowed up?
21 No one can look at the ·sun [L light]
when it is bright in the sky
after the wind ·has blown all the clouds away [L passes by and clears it].
22 ·God comes out of the north in golden light [L Gold comes from the north],
·in overwhelming greatness [L an awesome splendor is all around God].
23 ·The Almighty [L Shaddai] ·is too high for us to reach [L —we cannot find him].
He ·has great [is exalted in] strength;
he ·is always right and never punishes unfairly [L will not violate justice and abundant righteousness].
24 That is why people ·honor [fear] him;
·he does not respect those who say they are wise [or all the wise of heart fear him].”
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