42:3 you asked, 4
‘Who is this who darkens counsel
without knowledge?’
But 5 I have declared without understanding 6
things too wonderful for me to know. 7
1 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation to indicate whose friends they were.
2 tn The perfect verb should be given the category of potential perfect here.
3 tc This is one of the eighteen “corrections of the scribes” (tiqqune sopherim); it originally read, “and they declared God [in the wrong].” The thought was that in abandoning the debate they had conceded Job’s point.
4 tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.
5 tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.
6 tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”
7 tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.