13:11 Would not his splendor 1 terrify 2 you
and the fear he inspires 3 fall on you?
37:22 From the north he comes in golden splendor; 4
around God is awesome majesty.
1 sn The word translated “his majesty” or “his splendor” (שְׂאֵתוֹ, sÿ’eto) forms a play on the word “show partiality” (תִּשָּׂאוּן, tissa’un) in the last verse. They are both from the verb נָשַׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”).
2 tn On this verb in the Piel, see 7:14.
3 tn Heb “His dread”; the suffix is a subjective genitive.
4 tn The MT has “out of the north comes gold.” Left in that sense the line seems irrelevant. The translation “golden splendor” (with RV, RSV, NRSV, NIV) depends upon the context of theophany. Others suggest “golden rays” (Dhorme), the aurora borealis (Graetz, Gray), or some mythological allusion (Pope), such as Baal’s palace. Golden rays or splendor is what is intended, although the reference is not to a natural phenomenon – it is something that would suggest the glory of God.