Ayub 27:20

27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; ¹ 

at night a whirlwind carries him off.

Ayub 30:15

30:15 Terrors are turned loose ²  on me;

they drive away ³  my honor like the wind,

and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.

Ayub 30:31

30:31 My harp is used for ⁴  mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.

Ayub 37:10

37:10 The breath of God produces ice,

and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.

Ayub 37:16

37:16 Do you know about the balancing ⁵  of the clouds,

that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

Ayub 37:21

37:21 But now, the sun ⁶  cannot be looked at ⁷  –

it is bright in the skies –

after a wind passed and swept the clouds away. ⁸ 

Ayub 38:24

38:24 In what direction is lightning ⁹  dispersed,

or the east winds scattered over the earth?

[27:20]  ¹ tn Many commentators want a word parallel to “in the night.” And so we are offered בַּיּוֹם (bayyom, “in the day”) for כַמַּיִם (khammayim, “like waters”) as well as a number of others. But “waters” sometimes stand for major calamities, and so may be retained here. Besides, not all parallel structures are synonymous.

[30:15]  ² tn The passive singular verb (Hophal) is used with a plural subject (see GKC 388 §121.b).

[30:15]  ³ tc This translation assumes that “terrors” (in the plural) is the subject. Others emend the text in accordance with the LXX, which has, “my hope is gone like the wind.”

[30:31]  ⁴ tn The verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to serve the purpose of” (see Gen 1:14ff., 17:7, etc.).

[37:16]  ⁵ tn As indicated by HALOT 618 s.v. מִפְלָשׂ, the concept of “balancing” probably refers to “floating” or “suspension” (cf. NIV’s “how the clouds hang poised” and J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 481-82, n. 2).

[37:21]  ⁶ 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.

[37:21]  ⁷ tn The verb has an indefinite subject, and so should be a passive here.

[37:21]  ⁸ 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.

[38:24]  ⁹ tn Because the parallel with “light” and “east wind” is not tight, Hoffmann proposed ‘ed 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).