Job 5:10

Footnotes

1. 38 Heb “who gives.” The participle continues the doxology here. But the article is necessary because of the distance between this verse and the reference to God. He gives rain. The use of the verb “gives” underscores the idea that rain is a gift from God. This would be more keenly felt in the Middle East where water is scarce.
2. 39 In both halves of the verse the literal rendering would be “upon the face of the earth” and “upon the face of the fields.”
3. 40 The second participle is simply coordinated to the first and therefore does not need the definite article repeated (see §126.b).
4. 41 The Hebrew term חוּצוֹת (khutsot) basically means “outside,” or what is outside. It could refer to streets if what is meant is outside the house; but it refers to fields here (parallel to the more general word) because it is outside the village. See Ps 144:13 for the use of the expression for “countryside.” The gives a much wider interpretation: “what is under heaven.”