Job 34:29

But if God ¹  is quiet, who can condemn ²  him? If he hides his face, then who can see him? Yet ³  he is over the individual and the nation alike, ⁴ 

2Sa 7:1; 2Ki 18:9-12; 2Ch 36:14-17; Job 12:14; Job 23:8,9; Job 23:13; Job 29:1-3; Ps 13:1; Ps 27:9; Ps 30:7; Ps 143:7; Isa 14:3-8; Isa 26:3; Isa 32:17; Jer 27:8; Joh 14:27; Ro 8:31-34; Php 4:7

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The verb in this position is somewhat difficult, although it does make good sense in the sentence – it is just not what the parallelism would suggest. So several emendations have been put forward, for which see the commentaries.

³ tn The line simply reads “and over a nation and over a man together.” But it must be the qualification for the points being made in the previous lines, namely, that even if God hides himself so no one can see, yet he is still watching over them all (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 222).

⁴ tn The word translated “alike” (Heb “together”) has bothered some interpreters. In the reading taken here it is acceptable. But others have emended it to gain a verb, such as “he visits” (Beer), “he watches over” (Duhm), “he is compassionate” (Kissane), etc. But it is sufficient to say “he is over.”