Albert Barnes Commentary Job 36:33

"The noise thereof telleth concerning him, The cattle also concerning [the storm] that cometh up." — Job 36:33 (ASV)

Its noise testifies 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 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 derive this idea from the original, and perhaps it is not possible to determine the meaning of the passage. Herder renders it, “He points out the wicked to them.” Professor Lee, “By it He announces 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 utters His voice to him; 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 for hope that an interpretation will be reached that is 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 Gesenius renders it here, “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 of Solomon 5:16; Hosea 3:1). Or it may denote “will, thought, desire” (Psalms 139:2; Psalms 139:17). A choice must be made between these different meanings according to the view held of the passage’s scope.

It seems to me that the word “friend” will better suit the connection than any one 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 commands it to spare them. He has complete control of it and can direct it where He pleases; and instead of sending it out to cause indiscriminate destruction, He carefully designates those on whom He wishes it to strike, but commands it to spare His friends.

The cattle also concerning the vapour.—Margin, “that which goes up.” It is impossible now to know what idea the translators attached to this phrase, and the probability is that, being conscious of their complete 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, “Its rising up he shows 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. An examination of the “words” employed is the only hope of arriving at a satisfactory view of the passage.

The word rendered “cattle” (מקנה (miqneh)) properly means:

1. Expectation, hope, confidence (Ezekiel 28:26; Ezekiel 28:26; Ezra 10:2).
2. A gathering together, a collection, such as:
   1. Of waters (Genesis 1:10; Exodus 7:19).
   2. 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 meaning. 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, vapour; or as Rosenmuller supposes, what “ascends” or “grows” from the ground—that is, plants and vegetables. And so Umbreit, “das Gewächs”—“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 meaning 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 meaning is that while, on the one hand, God, who holds the lightning in His hands, points out His friends to it, 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 completely 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.