2 Tawarikh 20:6

20:6 He prayed: “O Lord God of our ancestors, ¹  you are the God who lives in heaven ²  and rules over all the kingdoms of the nations. You possess strength and power; no one can stand against you.

Ayub 11:8

11:8 It is higher ³  than the heavens – what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol ⁴  – what can you know?

Ayub 16:19

16:19 Even now my witness ⁵  is in heaven;

my advocate ⁶  is on high.

[20:6]  ¹ tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 33).

[20:6]  ² tn Heb “are you not God in heaven?” The rhetorical question expects the answer “yes,” resulting in the positive statement “you are the God who lives in heaven” employed in the translation.

[11:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew says “heights of heaven, what can you do?” A. B. Davidson suggested this was an exclamation and should be left that way. But most commentators will repoint גָּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם (govhe shamayim, “heights of heaven”) to גְּבֹהָה מִשָּׁמַיִם (gÿvohah mishamayim, “higher than the heavens”) to match the parallel expression. The LXX may have rearranged the text: “heaven is high.”

[11:8]  ⁴ tn Or “deeper than hell.” The word “Sheol” always poses problems for translation. Here because it is the opposite of heaven in this merism, “hell” would be a legitimate translation. It refers to the realm of the dead – the grave and beyond. The language is excessive; but the point is that God’s wisdom is immeasurable – and Job is powerless before it.

[16:19]  ⁵ sn The witness in heaven must be God, to whom the cries and prayers come. Job’s dilemma is serious, but common to the human experience: the hostility of God toward him is baffling, but he is conscious of his innocence and can call on God to be his witness.

[16:19]  ⁶ tn The parallelism now uses the Aramaic word “my advocate” – the one who testifies on my behalf. The word again appears in Gen 31:47 for Laban’s naming of the “heap of witness” in Aramaic – “Sahadutha.”