Ayub 36:32

36:32 With his hands ¹  he covers ²  the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

Ayub 37:3

37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

even his lightning to the far corners ³  of the earth.

Ayub 38:18

38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know it all!

Ayub 38:24

38:24 In what direction is lightning ⁴  dispersed,

or the east winds scattered over the earth?

Ayub 38:35

38:35 Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

[36:32]  ¹ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

[36:32]  ² tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissa’] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.

[37:3]  ³ tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.

[38:24]  ⁴ 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).