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 

But if he remains silent, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him? Yet he is over man and nation alike,

When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him, That is, in regard to both nation and man?—

When he is quiet, who can make trouble? But when he hides his face, who can find him?

"If God is silent, what's that to you? If he turns his face away, what can you do about it? But whether silent or hidden, he's there, ruling,

…

When he is quiet, who can condemn? When he hides his face, who can behold him, whether it be a nation or an individual? —

When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, Whether it is against a nation or a man alone? ––

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 

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.”