Ayub 17:1

17:1 My spirit is broken, ¹ 

my days have faded out, ² 

the grave ³  awaits me.

Ayub 30:4

30:4 By the brush ⁴  they would gather ⁵  herbs from the salt marshes, ⁶ 

and the root of the broom tree was their food.

Ayub 33:8

Elihu Rejects Job’s Plea of Innocence

33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing ⁷ 

(I heard the sound of the words!):

[17:1]  ¹ tn The verb חָבַל (khaval, “to act badly”) in the Piel means “to ruin.” The Pual translation with “my spirit” as the subject means “broken” in the sense of finished (not in the sense of humbled as in Ps 51).

[17:1]  ² tn The verb זָעַךְ (za’aq, equivalent of Aramaic דָעַק [da’aq]) means “to be extinguished.” It only occurs here in the Hebrew.

[17:1]  ³ tn The plural “graves” could be simply an intensification, a plural of extension (see GKC 397 §124.c), or a reference to the graveyard. Coverdale had: “I am harde at deathes dore.” The Hebrew expression simply reads “graves for me.” It probably means that graves await him.

[30:4]  ⁴ tn Or “the leaves of bushes” (ESV), a possibility dating back to Saadia and discussed by G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:209) in their philological notes.

[30:4]  ⁵ tn Here too the form is the participle with the article.

[30:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.

[33:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “in my ears.”