38:7 when the morning stars 1 sang 2 in chorus, 3
and all the sons of God 4 shouted for joy?
38:8 “Who shut up 5 the sea with doors
when it burst forth, 6 coming out of the womb,
38:9 when I made 7 the storm clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band, 8
38:10 when I prescribed 9 its limits,
and set 10 in place its bolts and doors,
1 sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).
2 tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.
3 tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.
4 tn See Job 1:6.
5 tn The MT has “and he shut up.” The Vulgate has “Who?” and so many commentaries and editions adopt this reading, if not from the Vulgate, then from the sense of the sequence in the text itself.
6 tn The line uses two expressions, first the temporal clause with גִּיחַ (giakh, “when it burst forth”) and then the finite verb יֵצֵא (yetse’, “go out”) to mark the concomitance of the two actions.
7 tn The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.
8 tn This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.
9 tc The MT has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The LXX and the Vulgate have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).
10 tn Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.