8:26 before he made the earth and its fields, 1
or the beginning 2 of the dust of the world.
8:27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he marked out the horizon 3 over the face of the deep,
8:28 when he established the clouds above,
when the fountains of the deep grew strong, 4
1 tn Heb “open places.”
2 tn Here רֹאשׁ (ro’sh) means “beginning” with reference to time (BDB 911 s.v. 4.b).
3 sn The infinitive construct בְּחוּקוֹ (bÿkhuqo, “to cut; to engrave; to mark”) and the noun חוּג (khug, “horizon; circle”) form a paronomasia in the line.
4 tn To form a better parallel some commentators read this infinitive בַּעֲזוֹז (ba’azoz), “when [they] grew strong,” as a Piel causative, “when he made firm, fixed fast” (cf. NIV “fixed securely”; NLT “established”). But the following verse (“should not pass over”) implies the meaning “grew strong” here.