Job 33

Most Bibles translate the first line as something like this, “the spirit of God created me.” The Hebrew word translated “spirit” is ruah. It can mean the “spirit of God.” But more common meanings include: “breath” and “wind.” The context here seems more focused on the words “breath,” and “breathe.” God brought Elihu to life, putting air in his lungs. That seems clear because the next line in the poem uses another Hebrew word for breath, nsama. One characteristic of ancient Hebrew poetry is repetition, much like a common characteristic of English poetry today is rhyme.

Job 13:27.

Prophets in the Bible sometimes called vivid dreams “visions of the night.” Many people in ancient times—Jews, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, and others—seemed to believe that dreams were clues to the future. Many taught that God or gods often communicated to people in dreams. Dream interpreters even wrote handbooks about how to interpret dreams. Parts of one Egyptian dream book from the 1200’s BC, roughly the time some scholars say Moses lived, showed up in the cemetery at Deir el-Medina. That’s at Thebes, a little more than 300 miles (480 km) upriver from Cairo, as the crow flies along the Nile. Written on papyrus, it lists bad dreams (written in red ink) and good dreams. Example of a bad dream: bed catches on fire. It means you’re driving your wife away. Good dream: burial of an old man. It means you’re coming into money. Or, perhaps, sheep—possibly from inheritance.

“A million served him, one hundred million stood beside him” (Daniel 7:10).

More literally, “I found a ransom.” It’s unclear what that means. Scholars debate this. Most seem to agree that Elihu wasn’t talking about paying money as ransom to save a person. But the effect is clear: Don’t kill the person.

The phrase is more literally just, “He says.” It’s not clear who is talking to who. The context suggests that in this hypothetical example Elihu has created for Job, Elihu imagines the protecting angel addressing God, perhaps more like someone praying than some prosecutor attacking in court.