Its measure is longer than the earth: the dimension of length is now added and compared to the earth. The Babylonians divided the universe into four zones, each having its own lord: heaven, earth, sea, and underworld. The view in Job is similar, in which Sheol represents the underworld. In verse 9 the two dimensions are length and width. In languages in which the earth is thought of as a sphere, length does not apply well. Accordingly Good News Translation has used “broader than the earth,” which New English Bible uses for the sea, “broader than the sea.” In translation it is important that what is referred to, the depths of God’s wisdom in verse 7, be clear, since it has been substituted by pronouns in verses 8 and 9. Accordingly the translator may wish to reintroduce the subject from verse 7, as Good News Translation has done, rather than using pronouns, as Revised Standard Version has done.

And broader than the sea: in 37.10 breadth is used in connection with the wide expanse of “waters.” In many languages the spatial comparison of wisdom must be restructured as in verse 8. Verse 9 may be expressed, for example, “God’s wisdom is greater than the earth is large and greater than the sea is wide, and you cannot understand it.”

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 .