The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; ¹  its features ²  are dyed ³  like a garment.

biblegateway Job 38:14

"It is changed like clay under the seal; And they stand forth like a garment.

The earth is changed as clay is by a seal; its hills stand out like the folds of a garment.

The earth changes like clay stamped by a seal, and parts of it stand out like folds in clothing.

biblegateway Job 38:14

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.

It is changed like clay under the seal, and its features stand out like a garment.

bibleoremus Job 38:14

It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.

to bring up the horizon in relief as clay under a seal, until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak,

biblegateway Job 38:14

It takes on form like clay under a seal, And stands out like a garment.

It is turned as clay [to] the seal; and they stand as a garment.

biblegateway Job 38:14

The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; ¹  its features ²  are dyed ³  like a garment.

¹ sn The verse needs to be understood in the context: as the light shines in the dawn, the features of the earth take on a recognizable shape or form. The language is phenomenological.

² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the objects or features on the earth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tc The MT reads “they stand up like a garment” (NASB, NIV) or “its features stand out like a garment” (ESV). The reference could be either to embroidered decoration on a garment or to the folds of a garment (REB: “until all things stand out like the folds of a cloak”; cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 497, “the early light of day makes the earth appear as a beautiful garment, exquisite in design and glorious in color”). Since this is thought to be an odd statement, some suggest with Ehrlich that the text be changed to תִּצָּבַּע (titsabba’, “is dyed [like a garment]”). This reference would be to the colors appearing on the earth’s surface under daylight. The present translation follows the emendation.