Behold, God is great, and we know him not seems strange, since it denies that God is known at all. Dhorme says that the Hebrew, literally “we do not know,” implies that the object is that which has just been stated. In other words, “God is great, and (or, but) we do not know how great.” Bible en français courant follows this suggestion: “Yes, God is great, so great that one has no idea.” Good News Translation is less explicit, with “We cannot fully know his greatness.” Another model is “God is so great that we cannot know him completely.”

The number of his years is unsearchable emphasizes how it is impossible to count God’s age in human years, which is comparable to Psalm 102.27b, “and thy years have no end.” This line may be rendered, for example, “We cannot count his years,” “We cannot figure how many years God has lived,” or “We cannot tell how old God is.”

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 .