Ayub 12:10

12:10 in whose hand ¹  is the life ²  of every creature

and the breath of all the human race. ³ 

Ayub 28:25-26

28:25 When he made ⁴  the force of the wind

and measured ⁵  the waters with a gauge.

28:26 When he imposed a limit ⁶  for the rain,

and a path for the thunderstorm, ⁷ 

Ayub 34:13

34:13 Who entrusted ⁸  to him the earth?

And who put him over ⁹  the whole world?

Ayub 36:23

36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?

Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?

Ayub 37:6

37:6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall ¹⁰  to earth,’

and to the torrential rains, ¹¹  ‘Pour down.’ ¹² 

Ayub 37:15

37:15 Do you know how God commands them, ¹³ 

how he makes lightning flash in his storm cloud? ¹⁴ 

Ayub 37:19

37:19 Tell us what we should ¹⁵  say to him.

We cannot prepare a case ¹⁶ 

because of the darkness.

Ayub 39:26

39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ¹⁷ 

and spreads its wings toward the south?

[12:10]  ¹ tn The construction with the relative clause includes a resumptive pronoun referring to God: “who in his hand” = “in whose hand.”

[12:10]  ² tn The two words נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) and רוּחַ (ruakh) are synonymous in general. They could be translated “soul” and “spirit,” but “soul” is not precise for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), and so “life” is to be preferred. Since that is the case for the first half of the verse, “breath” will be preferable in the second part.

[12:10]  ³ tn Human life is made of “flesh” and “spirit.” So here the line reads “and the spirit of all flesh of man.” If the text had simply said “all flesh,” that would have applied to all flesh in which there is the breath of life (see Gen 6:17; 7:15). But to limit this to human beings requires the qualification with “man.”

[28:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “he gave weight to the wind.” The form is the infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition. Some have emended it to change the preposition to the temporal בּ (bet) on the basis of some of the versions (e.g., Latin and Syriac) that have “who made.” This is workable, for the infinitive would then take on the finite tense of the previous verbs. An infinitive of purpose does not work well, for that would be saying God looked everywhere in order to give wind its proper weight (see R. Gordis, Job, 310).

[28:25]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Piel perfect, meaning “to estimate the measure” of something. In the verse, the perfect verb continues the function of the infinitive preceding it, as if it had a ו (vav) prefixed to it. Whatever usage that infinitive had, this verb is to continue it (see GKC 352 §114.r).

[28:26]  ⁶ tn Or “decree.”

[28:26]  ⁷ tn Or “thunderbolt,” i.e., lightning. Heb “the roaring of voices/sounds,” which describes the nature of the storm.

[34:13]  ⁸ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit; to appoint; to number.” Here it means “to entrust” for care and governing. The implication would be that there would be someone higher than God – which is what Elihu is repudiating by the rhetorical question. No one entrusted God with this.

[34:13]  ⁹ tn The preposition is implied from the first half of the verse.

[37:6]  ¹⁰ tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”

[37:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew mss delete the second pair, and so many editors do. But the repetition may have served to stress the idea that the rains were heavy.

[37:6]  ¹² tn Heb “Be strong.”

[37:15]  ¹³ tn The verb is בְּשׂוּם (bÿsum, from שִׂים [sim, “set”]), so the idea is how God lays [or sets] [a command] for them. The suffix is proleptic, to be clarified in the second colon.

[37:15]  ¹⁴ tn Dhorme reads this “and how his stormcloud makes lightning to flash forth?”

[37:19]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect verb here carries the obligatory nuance, “what we should say?”

[37:19]  ¹⁶ tn The verb means “to arrange; to set in order.” From the context the idea of a legal case is included.

[39:26]  ¹⁷ tn This word occurs only here. It is connected to “pinions” in v. 13. Dhorme suggests “clad with feathers,” but the line suggests more the use of the wings.