33 Its noise tells about him, and the livestock also concerning the storm that comes up.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The noise thereof showeth concerning it - The word "noise" here has been inserted by our translators as a version of the Hebrew word (רעו rê‛ô), and if the translators attached any idea to the language which they have used, it seems to have been that the noise attending the lightning, that is, the thunder, furnished an illustration of the power and majesty of God. But it is not possible to educe this idea from the original, and perhaps it is not possible to determine the sense of the passage. Herder renders it, "He pointeth out to them the wicked." Prof. Lee, "By it he announceth his will." Umbreit, "He makes known to it his friend;" that is, he points out his friend to the light, so that it may serve for the happiness of that friend. Noyes, "He uttereth to him his voice; to the herds and the plants." Rosenmuller," He announces what he has decreed against people, and the flocks which the earth has produced."
Many other expositions have been proposed, and there is no reasonable ground of hope that an interpretation will be arrived at which will be free from all difficulty. The principal difficulty in this part of the verse arises from the word רעו rê‛ô, rendered in our version, "The noise thereof." This may be from רוע rûa‛, and may mean a noise, or outcry, and so it is rendered here by Gesenius, "He makes known to him his thunder, that is, to man, or to his enemies." Or the word may mean "his friend," as the word רע rêa‛ is often used; Job 2:11; Job 19:21; Proverbs 27:17; Song 5:16; Hosea 3:1. Or it may denote "will, thought, desire;" Psalm 139:2, Psalm 139:17. A choice must be made between these different meanings according to the view entertained of the scope of the passage. To me it seems that the word ""friend"" will better suit the connection than anyone of the other interpretations proposed. According to this, the idea is, that God points out "his friends" to the lightning which he holds in his hand, and bids it spare them. He has entire control of it, and can direct it where he pleases, and instead of sending it forth to work indiscriminate destruction, he carefully designates those on whom he wishes it to strike, but bids it spare his friends.
The cattle also concerning the vapour - Margin, "that which goeth up." What idea the translators attached to this phrase it is impossible now to know, and the probability is, that being conscious of utter inability to give any meaning to the passage, they endeavored to translate the "words" of the original as literally as possible. Coverdale evidently felt the same perplexity, for he renders it, "The rising up thereof showeth he to his friends and to the cattle." Indeed almost every translator and expositor has had the same difficulty, and each one has proposed a version of his own. Aa examination of the "words" employed is the only hope of arriving at any satisfactory view of the passage. The word rendered "cattle" (מקנה miqneh), means properly:
(1) expectation, hope, confidence; Ezekiel 28:26; Ezra 10:2;
(2) a gathering together, a collection, as
(a) of waters, Genesis 1:10; Exodus 7:19,
(b) a gathering together, a collection, or company of people, horses, etc. - a caravan. So it may possibly mean in 1-Kings 10:28, where interpreters have greatly differed.
The word "cattle," therefore, by no means expresses its usual signification. That would be better expressed by "gathering, collecting," or "assembling." The word rendered also (אף 'aph), denotes:
(1) also, even, more, besides, etc., and
(2) "the nose," and then "anger" - from the effect of anger in producing hard breathing, Proverbs 22:24; Deuteronomy 32:22; Deuteronomy 29:20.
Here it may be rendered, without impropriety, "anger," and then the phrase will mean, "the collecting, or gathering together of anger." The word rendered "vapour" (עולה ‛ovelâh - if from עלה ‛âlâh), means that which "ascends," and would then mean anything that ascends - as smoke, vapor; or as Rosenmuller supposes, what "ascends" or "grows" from the ground - that is, plants and vegetables, And so Umbreit, "das Gewachs" - "plants of any kind." Note. But with a slight variation in the pointing עולה ‛ovelâh - instead of עולה ‛oleh), the word means "evil, wickedness, iniquity" - from our word "evil;" Job 24:20; Job 6:29; Job 11:14; Job 13:7; and it may, without impropriety, be regarded as having this signification here, as the points have no authority. The meaning of the whole phrase then will be, "the gathering, or collecting of his wrath is upon evil, that is, upon the wicked;" and the sense is, that while, on the one hand, God, who holds the lightning in his hands, points out to it his friends, so that they are spared; on the other hand the gathering together, or the condensation, of his wrath is upon the evil. That is, the lightnings - so vivid, so mighty, and apparently so wholly beyond law or control, are under his direction, and he makes them the means of executing his pleasure. His friends are spared; and the condensation of his wrath is on his foes. This exposition of the passage accords with the general scope of the remarks of Elihu, and this view of the manner in which God controls even the lightning, was one that was adapted to fill the mind with exalted conceptions of the majesty and power of the Most High.
The noise thereof showeth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapor - I think this translation very unhappy. I shall give each hemistich in the original: -
יגיד עליו רעו
Yaggid alaiv reo
מקנה אף על עולה
Mikneh aph al oleh.
I think this may be translated without any violence to any word in the text: -
Its loud noise (or his thunder) shall proclaim concerning him;
A magazine of wrath against iniquity.
This is literal, and gives, in my opinion, a proper meaning of the passage, and one in strict connection with the context. And it is worthy of remark that every wicked man trembles at the noise of thunder and the flash of lightning, and considers this a treasury of Divine wrath, emphatically called among us the artillery of the skies; and whenever the noise is heard, it is considered the voice of God. Thus the thunder declares concerning him. The next chapter, which is a continuation of the subject here, confirms and illustrates this meaning. For יגיד yaggid, Houbigant reads יניד yanid; and for מקנה mikneh, מקנאת mikkinath; and translates thus: "He agitates with himself his thunder, from the indignation of his wrath against iniquity."
(a) The noise thereof sheweth concerning it, the cattle also concerning the vapour.
(a) The cold vapour shows him: that is, the cloud of the hot exhalation, which being taken in the cold cloud mounts up toward the place where the fire is, and so anger is engendered; that is, noise and thunderclaps.
The noise thereof showeth concerning it,.... The rain, that it is coming; it is a presage and prognostic of it, namely, the noise of the clouds in the air, the sound of abundance of rain there; or the noise of the winds, which is often a forerunner of it: or the noise of thunder when rain frequently follows, Jeremiah 10:13;
the cattle also concerning the vapour; that is, the cattle likewise show signs of rain, being sensible of the vapours which rise up out of the earth, and are drawn up into the air and form clouds there; these, through their sharp sight, discern the vapours rising out of the earth insensible by men; or by their quick smell (p) or taste discern them, these leaving some tincture upon the grass they are feeding on; and which occasion some motions and gestures in them by which husbandmen, and those that are accustomed to them, know that the rain is at hand: and there are various things observable in brutes, fowls, and cattle, and other creatures, which are signs of approaching rain; as the cawing of crows, the croaking of frogs, the flying about of cranes and swallows, the motion of ants, the retire of cattle to places of shelter, and the like; Aben Ezra observes that sheep lying on their right side portends rain; the above things with others are most beautifully expressed by Virgil (q) and which with many others are collected together by Pliny (r); and though there are various interpretations given of this passage, this seems to be the most agreeable, and which suits with our version; unless the following, which I only propose, should be more eligible, "he", that is, God, "by it", the rain, "declares his good will" to men, likewise to "the cattle, and also towards what rises up" out of the earth, the herbs and plants; all which receive much benefit by the clouds and rain.
(p) Vid. Democrit. Fragment. & Rendtorf. Not. in ib. apud Fabritii Bibliothec. Gr. l. 4. c. 29. p. 338, 362. (q) "Aut illum surgentem vallibus imis", c. Georgic, l. 1. v. 374, &c. Bacon's Nat. Hist. cent. 9. p. 208. (r) Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 35. Vid. Democrit. Fragm. ut supra, p. 335, 358, 362, 366.
noise--rather, He revealeth it (literally, "announceth concerning it") to His friend (antithesis to adversary, Job 36:32, so the Hebrew is translated, Job 2:11); also to cattle and plants (literally, "that which shooteth up"; Genesis 40:10; Genesis 41:22). As the genial effect of "water" in the growth of food, is mentioned, Job 36:31, so here that of "light" in cherishing cattle and plants [UMBREIT]. If English Version, "noise" be retained, translate, "His noise (thunder) announces concerning Him (His coming in the tempest), the cattle (to announce) concerning Him when He is in the act of rising up" (in the storm). Some animals give various intimations that they are sensible of the approach of a storm [VIRGIL, Georgics, I.373, &c.].
Targ., Syr., Symm., Theod. (from which Job 36:32 is supplied in the lxx),
(Note: Vid., Bickel, De indole ac ratione versionis Alex. in interpretando l. Iobi, p. 50. Cod. Sinait. has, like Cod. Vat.: αναγγελει περι αυτου φιλον (corr. φιλος) αυτου κς κτησις και περι αδικαις.)
Jeremiah., Luther, and others destroy the idea, since they translate רעו = רעהוּ, "his friend (companion)." Among moderns, only Umbr. and Schlottm. adopt this signification; Bttch. and Welte, after the example of Cocceius, Tingstad, and others, attempt it with the signification "thought = determination;" but most expositors, from Ew. to Hahn, decide in favour of the rendering as simple as it is consistent with the usage of the language and the connection: His noise (רעו as Exodus 32:17) gives tidings concerning Him (announces Him). In Job 36:33 Theod. (lxx), Syr., and Jeremiah. point מקנה like our text, but translate possessio, with which we can do nothing. It seems that in the three attempts of the Targ. to translate Job 36:33, the translators had קנאה and קנּא before their mind, according to which Hahn translates: the arousing of anger (announces) the comer, which assumes מקנה instead of מקנה; and Schlottm.: fierce wrath (goes forth) over evil (according to Symm. ζῆλον περὶ ἀδικίας), which assumes the reading עולה (עולה), ἀδικία, adopted also by Syr., Theod. (lxx). Schultens even renders similarly: rubedinem flammantem nasi contra elatum, and Tingstad: zelum irae in iniquitatem. But it is not probable that the language was acquainted with a subst. מקנה, exciting, although in Ezekiel 8:3 המּקנה is equivalent to המּקניא, so that one might more readily be tempted (vid., Hitz. in loc.) to read מקנה אף, "one who excites anger against evil," it one is not willing to decide with Berg, and recently Bleek, in favour of (מקנּה) מקנּא אף בּעולה, excandescens (zelans) ira= contra iniquitatem. But does the text as it stands really not give an appropriate idea? Aben-Ezra and Duran have understood it of the foreboding of an approaching thunder-storm which is manifested by cattle, מקנה. Accordingly Ew. translates: His thunder announces Him, the cattle even, that He is approaching; and peculiarly new (understanding יגיד not of a foreboding but of a thankful lowing) is Ebrard's rendering; also the cattle at fresh sprouting grass. But such a change of the position of אף is without precedent. Hirz. and Ges.: His rumble (rumble of thunder) announces Him to the herds, Him, and indeed as Him who rises up (approaches). But this new interpunction destroys the division of the verse and the syntax. Better Rosenm. like Duran: pecus non tantum pluviam proximam, sed et antequam nubes in sublime adscenderint adscensuras praesagit, according to Virgil, Georg. i. 374f.:
illum (imbrem) surgentem vallibus imis
Aeriae fugere grues.
But עליו refers to God, and therefore על־עולה also, viz., Him who leads forth the storm-clouds (Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16; Psalm 135:7), and Himself rising up in them; or, what עלה frequently signifies, coming on as to battle. It is to be interpreted: His thunder-clap announces Him (who is about to reveal Himself as a merciful judge), the cattle even (announce) Him at His first rising up, since at the approach of a storm they herd together affrighted and seek shelter. The speakers are Arabian, and the scene is laid in the country: Elihu also refers to the animal world in Job 35:11; this feature of the picture, therefore, cannot be surprising.
The noise - The thunder gives notice of the approaching rain. Also - And as the thunder, so also the cattle sheweth, concerning the vapour, concerning the coming of the rain, by a strange instinct, seeking for shelter, when a change of weather is near.
*More commentary available at chapter level.