Elihu brings his speeches to a close by assuring Job that God does not pay attention to people like Job who claim to be wise. Ironically it is Elihu who has claimed to have knowledge, and so he is speaking against himself. Chapter 38 will open with God addressing Job from the whirlwind in contrast to what Elihu has said God would do.
In Hebrew verse 23 has two long lines which Revised Standard Version divides into three shorter ones. Elihu asserts that God is unsearchable, cannot be fully known, remains a mystery. He cannot accept Job’s view that God violates justice. Good News Translation has retained the two long lines of the Hebrew and has produced a good rendering whose adjustments are explained below.
The Almighty—we cannot find him: Almighty translates Shaddai. The word translated find is used in 23.3, where Job desires to find God. Find does not imply that God is lost, but rather “beyond reach,” or as Dhorme says, “we cannot attain to him,” and Good News Translation “we cannot come near him.” Revised Standard Version follows the Hebrew of line a, which has a topic followed by a comment, and which Revised Standard Version separates with a dash. Good News Translation takes power from line b and makes it part of the subject, to represent Shaddai, The Almighty: “God’s power is so great….” In terms of the three lines of Revised Standard Version, the second line states that it is both God’s power and justice that are qualified as great. Abundant righteousness, which is literally “greatness of righteousness,” in Revised Standard Version is made the object of violate, which is not likely to be the poet’s intention. Many scholars make a slight change in “greatness of righteousness” to get “great in righteousness.”
He will not violate is rendered by Dhorme and Pope as “he will not oppress.” New International Version has a rendering which is fairly close to the Hebrew and can serve as a basis for making translation adjustments: “The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.” This verse may be expressed, for example, “God Almighty has great power, and we cannot come near him; he is righteous and just, and so does not oppress people” or “God the all-powerful one is too powerful for us to get close to him; he is good and treats everyone fairly.”
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 .