Psalmi 37:22

Clementine Latin Vulgate

Ab aquilone aurum venit, et ad Deum formidolosa laudatio.

Parallel Translations

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
Ab aquilone aurum venit,
et ad Deum formidolosa laudatio.

Nova Vulgata (1979)
Ab aquilone splendor auri venit; et circa Deum terribilis maiestas.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Fair: Heb. Gold weather, Proverbs 25:23

with: Job 40:10, 1 Chronicles 29:11, Psalms 29:4, Psalms 66:5, Psalms 68:7, Psalms 68:8, Psalms 76:12, Psalms 93:1, Psalms 104:1, Psalms 145:5, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Micah 5:4, Nahum 1:3, Habakkuk 3:3-19, Hebrews 1:3, Hebrews 12:29, Jude 1:25

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 10:17 - a great Nehemiah 4:14 - great Job 35:5 - Look Ezekiel 1:18 - they were so Ezekiel 1:22 - the likeness Hebrews 8:1 - the Majesty

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Fair weather cometh out of the north,.... Or "gold" x, which some understand literally; this being found in northern climates as well as southern, as Pliny relates y; particularly in Colchis and Scythia, which lay to the north of Palestine and Arabia; and is thought by a learned man z to be here intended: though to understand it figuratively of the serenity of the air, bright and pure as gold, or of fair weather, which is golden weather, as Mr. Broughton renders it,

"through the north the golden cometh,''

seems best to agree with the subject Elihu is upon; and such weather comes from the north, through the north winds, which drive away rain,

Proverbs 25:23;

with God [is] terrible majesty; majesty belongs to him as he is King of kings, whose the kingdom of nature and providence is; and he is the Governor among and over the nations of the world. His throne is prepared in the heavens; that is his throne, and his kingdom ruleth over all: and this majesty of his is "terrible", commanding awe and reverence among all men, who are his subjects; and especially among his saints and peculiar people; and strikes a terror to others, even to great personages, the kings and princes of the earth; to whom the Lord is sometimes terrible now, and will be hereafter; see Psalms 76:12 Revelation 6:15; and to all Christless sinners, especially when he comes to judgment; see Isaiah 2:19. Or "terrible praise" a; for God is "fearful in praises", Exodus 15:11; which may respect the subject of praise, terrible things, and the manner of praising him with fear and reverence, Psalms 106:22.

x זהב "aurum", Pagninus, Montanus, &c. y Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 11. & l. 33. c. 3, 4. z Reland. de Paradiso, s. 9, 10. p. 22, 23, 24. And, in the countries farthest north were mines of gold formerly, as Olaus Magnus relates, though now destroyed. De Ritu Gent. Septent. l. 6, 11. Vid. l. 3, 5. a נורא הוד φοβερος αινος, Symmachus, "formidolosa laudatio", V. L. "terribilem laude", Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Fair weather - Margin, “gold,” The Hebrew word (זהב zâhâb) properly means “gold,” and is so rendered by the Vulgate, the Syriac, and by most versions. The Septuagint renders it, νέψη χρυσαυγουντα nepsē chrusaugounta, “clouds shining like gold.” The Chaldee, אסתניא, the north wind, Boreas. Many expositors have endeavored to show that gold was found in the northern regions (see Schultens, in loc.); and it is not difficult so to establish that fact as to be a confirmation of what is here said, on the supposition that it refers literally to gold. But it is difficult to see why Elihu should here make a reference to the source where gold was found, or how such a reference should be connected with the description of the approaching tempest, and the light which was already seen on the opening clouds. It seems probable to me that the idea is wholly different and that Elihu means to say that a bright, dazzling light was seen in the northern sky like burnished gold, which was a fit symbol of the approaching Deity. This idea is hinted at in the Septuagint, but it has not seemed to occur to expositors. The image is that of the heavens darkened with the tempest, the lightnings playing, the thunder rolling, and then the wind seeming to brush away the clouds in the north, and disclosing in the opening a bright, dazzling appearance like burnished gold, that bespoke the approach of God. The word is never used in the sense of “fair weather.” An ancient Greek tragedian, mentioned by Grotius, speaks of golden air - χρυσωπός αἰθήρ chrusōpos aithēr. Varro also uses a similar expression - aurescit aer, “the air becomes like gold.” So Thomson, in his Seasons:

But yonder comes the powerful king of day

Rejoicing in the east. The lessening cloud.

The kindling azure, and the mountain’s brow,

Illumed with fluid gold, his near approach

Betoken glad.

Summer

Out of the north - That is, the symbol of the approaching Deity appears in that quarter, or God was seen to approach from the north. It may serve to explain this, to remark that among the ancients the northern regions were regarded as the residence of the gods, and that on the mountains in the north it was supposed they were accustomed to assemble. In proof of this, and for the reasons of it, see the notes at Isaiah 14:13. From that region Elihu sees God now approaching, and directs the attention of his companions to the symbols of his advent. It is this which fills his mind with so much consternation, and which renders his discourse so broken and disconnected. Having, in a manner evincing great alarm, directed their attention to these symbols, he concludes what he has to say in a hurried manner, and God appears, to close the controversy.

With God is terrible majesty - This is not a declaration asserting this of God in general, but as he then appeared. It is the language of one who was overwhelmed with his awful majesty, as the brightness of his presence was seen on the tempest.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Job 37:22. Fair weather cometh out of the north — Is this any version of the original מצפון זהב יאתה mitstsaphon zahab yeetheh? which is rendered by almost every version, ancient and modern, thus, or to this effect: "From the north cometh gold." Calmet justly remarks, that in the time of Moses, Job, and Solomon, and for a long time after, gold was obtained from Colchis, Armenia, Phasis, and the land of Ophir, which were all north of Judea and Idumea; and are in the Scriptures ordinarily termed the north country. "But what relation can there be between, Gold cometh out of the north, and, With God is terrible majesty?" Answer: Each thing has its properties, and proper characteristics, which distinguish it; and each country has its advantages. Gold, for instance, comes from the northern countries; so praises offered to the Supreme God should be accompanied with fear and trembling: and as this metal is from the north, and northern countries are the places whence it must be procured; so terrible majesty belongs to God, and in him alone such majesty is eternally resident.

As זהב zahob, which we translate gold, (see Job 28:16,) comes from a root that signifies to be clear, bright, resplendent, c. Mr. Good avails himself of the radical idea, and translates it splendour: -

"Splendour itself is with God;

Insufferable majesty."

But he alters the text a little to get this meaning, particularly in the word יאתה yeetheh, which we translate cometh, and which he contends is the pronoun אתה itself; the י yod, as a performative, here being, as he thinks, an interpolation. This makes a very good sense; but none of the ancient versions understood the place thus, and none of the MSS. countenance this very learned critic's emendation.