Therefore you say, ‘What does God know?: the quotation in Revised Standard Version closes after verse 14b. Job has not said this, but in 7.19 he recognized that God sees him and so begged God to look away from him. Eliphaz is putting words into Job’s mouth, based on the inference drawn from God being high in the heavens and far away. In this way Eliphaz places Job with the godless, as expressed in Psalm 73.11, “And they say, ‘How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?’ ” See also Psalm 94.7. This line may continue verse 12b by saying, for example, “and so you conclude ‘What can God know?’ ” or “and therefore you say, ‘God can’t know what is happening.’ ”

Can he judge through the deep darkness?: deep darkness translates the word rendered “dark cloud” by Good News Translation in Exodus 20.21, in which God was present when he spoke to Moses after the people stood back (see also Deut 4.11). This line may also be expressed “How can he judge people when he is hidden by dark clouds?” or “He can’t judge anyone because he is cut off by dark clouds.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .