Ayub 38:4-5

God’s questions to Job

38:4 “Where were you

when I laid the foundation ¹  of the earth?

Tell me, ²  if you possess understanding!

38:5 Who set its measurements – if ³  you know –

or who stretched a measuring line across it?

[38:4]  ¹ tn The construction is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, using the preposition and the subjective genitive suffix.

[38:4]  ² tn The verb is the imperative; it has no object “me” in the text.

[38:5]  ³ tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.