Job 38:32

The word מזרות (mazzarot) in Job 38:32 has long perplexed scholars due to its hapax status and uncertain etymology. While most traditional and modern translations render it as "constellations" or "zodiacal signs"—drawing on words from post-biblical Hebrew (mazzalot) and Akkadian manzaltu ("station").

In its unpointed state, it is morphologically indistinct from the plural of מזרה ("winnowing fork/winnower"), a term securely attested (Strong's #4215). See the root זרה zarah to scatter, to winnow, to disperse.