Job 12:8
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you.
BSB
ASV
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
KJV
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee,.... Or ask "a sprig of the earth" (n), any shrub, or tree, or whatsoever grows out of it, and they will all unite in this doctrine, that they are raised and preserved by the power of God, and are so many instances of his wisdom, power, and goodness: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee; as mute as they are, they will proclaim this truth, that God is the mighty Maker and wise Disposer of them. (n) שיח לארץ "virgultum terrae", Pagninus, Schmidt; so Drusius and Michaelis.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.