13:28 So I 1 waste away like something rotten, 2
like a garment eaten by moths.
38:9 when I made 3 the storm clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band, 4
38:14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; 5
its features 6 are dyed 7 like a garment.
1 tn Heb “and he.” Some of the commentators move the verse and put it after Job 14:2, 3 or 6.
2 tn The word רָקָב (raqav) is used elsewhere in the Bible of dry rot in a house, or rotting bones in a grave. It is used in parallelism with “moth” both here and in Hos 5:12. The LXX has “like a wineskin.” This would be from רֹקֶב (roqev, “wineskin”). This word does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, but is attested in Sir 43:20 and in Aramaic. The change is not necessary.
3 tn The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.
4 tn This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.
5 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.
6 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the objects or features on the earth) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 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.