Job 12:8

Or speak ¹  to the earth ²  and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea declare to you.

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.

"Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; And let the fish of the sea declare to you.

Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Let the fish of the sea speak to you.

Put your ear to the earth--learn the basics. Listen--the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.

Or to the things which go flat on the earth, and they will give you wisdom; and the fishes of the sea will give you news of it.

ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you.

Or speak ¹  to the earth ²  and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea declare to you.

¹ tn The word in the MT means “to complain,” not simply “to speak,” and one would expect animals as the object here in parallel to the last verse. So several commentators have replaced the word with words for animals or reptiles – totally different words (cf. NAB, “reptiles”). The RSV and NRSV have here the word “plants” (see 30:4, 7; and Gen 21:15).

² tn A. B. Davidson (Job, 90) offers a solution by taking “earth” to mean all the lower forms of life that teem in the earth (a metonymy of subject).