Job 38:36-38
New English Translation
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?
Footnotes
- 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.
- Job 38:37 tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”
- 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.
Job 38:36-38
Expanded Bible
36 Who put wisdom ·inside the mind [or in the ibis; C an animal associated with wisdom and representing Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom]
or understanding ·in the heart [or to the rooster]?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can ·pour water from the jars [L tilt the wineskins] of the ·sky [heavens]
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clumps of dirt stick together?
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