Job 37:21

But now, the sun ¹  cannot be looked at ²  – it is bright in the skies – after a wind passed and swept the clouds away. ³ 

Now no-one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean.

"Now men do not see the light which is bright in the skies; But the wind has passed and cleared them.

We cannot look at the sun, for it shines brightly in the sky when the wind clears away the clouds.

No one in his right mind stares straight at the sun on a clear and cloudless day.

And now the light is not seen, for it is dark because of the clouds; but a wind comes, clearing them away.

Now, no one can look on the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them.

Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, When the wind has passed and cleared them.

But now, the sun ¹  cannot be looked at ²  – it is bright in the skies – after a wind passed and swept the clouds away. ³ 

¹ tn The light here must refer to the sun in the skies that had been veiled by the storm. Then, when the winds blew the clouds away, it could not be looked at because it was so dazzling. Elihu’s analogy will be that God is the same – in his glory one cannot look at him or challenge him.

² tn The verb has an indefinite subject, and so should be a passive here.

³ tn Heb “and cleaned them.” The referent is the clouds (v. 18), which has been supplied in the translation for clarity. There is another way of reading this verse: the word translated “bright” means “dark; obscured” in Syriac. In this interpretation the first line would mean that they could not see the sun, because it was darkened by the clouds, but then the wind came and blew the clouds away. Dhorme, Gray, and several others take it this way, as does the NAB.