Ayub 37:21

37:21 But now, the sun ¹  cannot be looked at ²  –

it is bright in the skies –

after a wind passed and swept the clouds away. ³ 

Ayub 41:18

41:18 Its snorting throws out flashes of light;

its eyes are like the red glow ⁴  of dawn.

[37:21]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The verb has an indefinite subject, and so should be a passive here.

[37:21]  ³ 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.

[41:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the eyelids,” but it represents the early beams of the dawn as the cover of night lifts.