Ayub 17:12
Konteks17:12 These men 1 change 2 night into day;
they say, 3 ‘The light is near
in the face of darkness.’ 4
Ayub 18:6
Konteks18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;
his lamp above him is extinguished. 5
Ayub 29:3
Konteks29:3 when 6 he caused 7 his lamp 8
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
[17:12] 1 tn The verse simply has the plural, “they change.” But since this verse seems to be a description of his friends, a clarification of the referent in the translation is helpful.
[17:12] 2 tn The same verb שִׂים (sim, “set”) is used this way in Isa 5:20: “…who change darkness into light.”
[17:12] 3 tn The rest of the verse makes better sense if it is interpreted as what his friends say.
[17:12] 4 tn This expression is open to alternative translations: (1) It could mean that they say in the face of darkness, “Light is near.” (2) It could also mean “The light is near the darkness” or “The light is nearer than the darkness.”
[18:6] 5 tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”
[18:6] sn This thesis of Bildad will be questioned by Job in 21:17 – how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
[29:3] 6 tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.
[29:3] 7 tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”
[29:3] 8 sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.
[29:3] 9 tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.
[29:3] 10 tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).
