Job 15:25 — ExegesisTAB

The verse is a causal clause introduced by ki-natah {כִּֽי־נָטָ֣ה | kî-nāṭāh} ‘because he stretched out’, where the perfect verb presents the defiant act as established fact and grounds the surrounding accusation. The prepositional phrase el-El {אֶל־אֵ֣ל | ʾel-ʾēl} ‘toward God’ follows the verb directly; although ʾel commonly marks direction, in hostile contexts it functions adversatively, so “against” communicates the pragmatic force. Yado {יָד֑וֹ | yāḏô} ‘his hand’ supplies the means of the action, evoking a gesture of aggression and rebellion. The second colon, linked by ve’el-Shaddai {וְאֶל־שַׁ֝דַּ֗י | wə-ʾel-šad-day} ‘and toward the Almighty’, parallels the first prepositional phrase, intensifying the charge by naming a second divine title and presenting the offense as direct opposition to God’s power. The Hitpael yitgabar {יִתְגַּבָּֽר | yiṯ-gab-bār} ‘he strengthens himself’ carries a reflexive, self-asserting sense (“make oneself strong”), which in this context conveys arrogant resistance; the English renderings “strengthens himself” (formal) and “sets himself” (dynamic) both preserve the idea of self-empowered defiance while keeping the parallel structure of two actions aimed “against” the Divine.