rānj : "Range" and "rank" have the same derivation, and in the sense of a "row" (of men, etc.) they were formerly interchangeable. "Range" with this meaning is found in 2 Kings 11:8 , 2 Kings 11:15 the King James Version parallel 2 Chronicles 23:14 (the Revised Version (British and American) "rank"; שׂדרה , sedhērāh , "row"). Hence, "to range" is "to set in a line" (Judith 2:16; 2 Macc 12:20, diatássō ) or "to move in a line" or, simply, "to roam," whence "a ranging bear" (Proverbs 28:15; שׁקק , shāḳaḳ , "run to and fro"). A cooking "range" is a stove on which pots, etc., can be set in a row, but the כּירים , kı̄rayim of Leviticus 11:35 is a much more primitive affair, composed, probably, of two plates ( kı̄rayim is a dual). In Job 39:8 "range of the mountains" is good modern use, but יתר , ythr , should be pointed yāthūr (not yethūr as in Massoretic Text) and connected with tūr , "search." So translate. "He searcheth out the mountains as his pasture."
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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