Ayub 1:15

1:15 and the Sabeans ¹  swooped down ²  and carried them all away, and they killed ³  the servants with the sword! ⁴  And I – only I alone ⁵  – escaped to tell you!”

Ayub 5:1

5:1 “Call now! ⁶  Is there anyone who will answer you? ⁷ 

To which of the holy ones ⁸  will you turn? ⁹ 

Ayub 5:13-15

5:13 He catches ¹⁰  the wise in their own craftiness, ¹¹ 

and the counsel of the cunning ¹²  is brought to a quick end. ¹³ 

5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, ¹⁴ 

and grope about ¹⁵  in the noontime as if it were night. ¹⁶ 

5:15 So he saves ¹⁷  from the sword that comes from their mouth, ¹⁸ 

even ¹⁹  the poor from the hand of the powerful.

Ayub 5:25

5:25 You will also know that your children ²⁰  will be numerous,

and your descendants ²¹  like the grass of the earth.

Ayub 8:8

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ²²  generation,

and pay attention ²³  to the findings ²⁴ 

of their ancestors; ²⁵ 

Ayub 8:10

8:10 Will they not ²⁶  instruct you and ²⁷  speak to you,

and bring forth words ²⁸ 

from their understanding? ²⁹ 

Ayub 8:22

8:22 Those who hate you ³⁰  will be clothed with shame, ³¹ 

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

Ayub 15:19

15:19 to whom alone the land was given

when no foreigner passed among them. ³² 

Ayub 19:19

19:19 All my closest friends ³³  detest me;

and those whom ³⁴  I love have turned against me. ³⁵ 

Ayub 20:9

20:9 People ³⁶  who had seen him will not see him again,

and the place where he was

will recognize him no longer.

Ayub 20:19

20:19 For he has oppressed the poor and abandoned them; ³⁷ 

he has seized a house which he did not build. ³⁸ 

Ayub 21:18

21:18 How often ³⁹  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ⁴⁰  by a whirlwind?

Ayub 21:28-29

21:28 For you say,

‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, ⁴¹ 

and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ ⁴² 

21:29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?

Do you not recognize their accounts ⁴³  –

Ayub 22:30

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, ⁴⁴ 

who will escape ⁴⁵  through the cleanness of your hands.”

Ayub 24:11

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; ⁴⁶ 

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. ⁴⁷ 

Ayub 24:19

24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away

the melted snow; ⁴⁸ 

so the grave ⁴⁹  takes away those who have sinned. ⁵⁰ 

Ayub 26:5

A Better Description of God’s Greatness ⁵¹ 

26:5 “The dead ⁵²  tremble ⁵³  –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them. ⁵⁴ 

Ayub 27:13

27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man

allotted by God, ⁵⁵ 

the inheritance that evildoers receive

from the Almighty.

Ayub 27:23

27:23 It claps ⁵⁶  its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place. ⁵⁷ 

Ayub 29:16

29:16 I was a father ⁵⁸  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

Ayub 30:6

30:6 so that they had to live ⁵⁹ 

in the dry stream beds, ⁶⁰ 

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

Ayub 30:11

30:11 Because God has untied ⁶¹  my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence. ⁶² 

Ayub 30:23

30:23 I know that you are bringing ⁶³  me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

Ayub 31:16

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ⁶⁴ 

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Ayub 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ⁶⁵ 

Ayub 34:26

34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness, ⁶⁶ 

in a place where people can see, ⁶⁷ 

Ayub 34:36

34:36 But ⁶⁸  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

Ayub 35:13

35:13 Surely it is an empty cry ⁶⁹  – God does not hear it;

the Almighty does not take notice of it.

Ayub 36:6

36:6 He does not allow the wicked to live, ⁷⁰ 

but he gives justice to the poor.

Ayub 36:9-10

36:9 then he reveals ⁷¹  to them what they have done, ⁷² 

and their transgressions,

that they were behaving proudly.

36:10 And he reveals ⁷³  this ⁷⁴  for correction,

and says that they must turn ⁷⁵  from evil.

Ayub 36:17

36:17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked,

judgment and justice take hold of you.

Ayub 38:13

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ⁷⁶ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

Ayub 38:15

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence ⁷⁷  is broken. ⁷⁸ 

Ayub 40:11

40:11 Scatter abroad ⁷⁹  the abundance ⁸⁰  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ⁸¹  and bring him low;

[1:15]  ¹ tn The LXX has “the spoilers spoiled them” instead of “the Sabeans swooped down.” The translators might have connected the word to שְָׁבָה (shavah, “to take captive”) rather than שְׁבָא (shÿva’, “Sabeans”), or they may have understood the name as general reference to all types of Bedouin invaders from southern Arabia (HALOT 1381 s.v. שְׁבָא 2.c).

[1:15]  sn The name “Sheba” is used to represent its inhabitants, or some of them. The verb is feminine because the name is a place name. The Sabeans were a tribe from the Arabian peninsula. They were traders mostly (6:19). The raid came from the south, suggesting that this band of Sabeans were near Edom. The time of the attack seems to be winter since the oxen were plowing.

[1:15]  ² tn The Hebrew is simply “fell” (from נָפַל, nafal). To “fall upon” something in war means to attack quickly and suddenly.

[1:15]  ³ sn Job’s servants were probably armed and gave resistance, which would be the normal case in that time. This was probably why they were “killed with the sword.”

[1:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “the edge/mouth of the sword”; see T. J. Meek, “Archaeology and a Point of Hebrew Syntax,” BASOR 122 (1951): 31-33.

[1:15]  ⁵ tn The pleonasms in the verse emphasize the emotional excitement of the messenger.

[5:1]  ⁶ tn Some commentators transpose this verse with the following paragraph, placing it after v. 7 (see E. Dhorme, Job, 62). But the reasons for this are based on the perceived development of the argument and are not that compelling.

[5:1]  sn The imperative is here a challenge for Job. If he makes his appeal against God, who is there who will listen? The rhetorical questions are intended to indicate that no one will respond, not even the angels. Job would do better to realize that he is guilty and his only hope is in God.

[5:1]  ⁷ tn The participle with the suffix could be given a more immediate translation to accompany the imperative: “Call now! Is anyone listening to you?”

[5:1]  ⁸ tn The LXX has rendered “holy ones” as “holy angels” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT). The LXX has interpreted the verb in the colon too freely: “if you will see.”

[5:1]  ⁹ sn The point being made is that the angels do not represent the cries of people to God as if mediating for them. But if Job appealed to any of them to take his case against God, there would be no response whatsoever for that.

[5:13]  ¹⁰ tn The participles continue the description of God. Here he captures or ensnares the wise in their wickedly clever plans. See also Ps 7:16, where the wicked are caught in the pit they have dug – they are only wise in their own eyes.

[5:13]  ¹¹ sn This is the only quotation from the Book of Job in the NT (although Rom 11:35 seems to reflect 41:11, and Phil 1:19 is similar to 13:6). Paul cites it in 1 Cor 3:19.

[5:13]  ¹² tn The etymology of נִפְתָּלִים (niftalim) suggests a meaning of “twisted” (see Prov 8:8) in the sense of tortuous. See Gen 30:8; Ps 18:26 [27].

[5:13]  ¹³ tn The Niphal of מָהַר (mahar) means “to be hasty; to be irresponsible.” The meaning in the line may be understood in this sense: The counsel of the wily is hastened, that is, precipitated before it is ripe, i.e., frustrated (A. B. Davidson, Job, 39).

[5:14]  ¹⁴ sn God so confuses the crafty that they are unable to fulfill their plans – it is as if they encounter darkness in broad daylight. This is like the Syrians in 2 Kgs 6:18-23.

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn The verb מָשַׁשׁ (mashash) expresses the idea of groping about in the darkness. This is part of the fulfillment of Deut 28:29, which says, “and you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness.” This image is also in Isa 59:10.

[5:14]  ¹⁶ sn The verse provides a picture of the frustration and bewilderment in the crafty who cannot accomplish their ends because God thwarts them.

[5:15]  ¹⁷ tn The verb, the Hiphil preterite of יָשַׁע (yasha’, “and he saves”) indicates that by frustrating the plans of the wicked God saves the poor. So the vav (ו) consecutive shows the result in the sequence of the verses.

[5:15]  ¹⁸ tn The juxtaposition of “from the sword from their mouth” poses translation difficulties. Some mss do not have the preposition on “their mouth,” but render the expression as a construct: “from the sword of their mouth.” This would mean their tongue, and by metonymy, what they say. The expression “from their mouth” corresponds well with “from the hand” in the next colon. And as E. Dhorme (Job, 67) notes, what is missing is a parallel in the first part with “the poor” in the second. So he follows Cappel in repointing “from the sword” as a Hophal participle, מֹחֳרָב (mokhorav), meaning “the ruined.” If a change is required, this has the benefit of only changing the pointing. The difficulty with this is that the word “desolate, ruined” is not used for people, but only to cities, lands, or mountains. The sense of the verse can be supported from the present pointing: “from the sword [which comes] from their mouth”; the second phrase could also be in apposition, meaning, “from the sword, i.e., from their mouth.”

[5:15]  ¹⁹ tn If the word “poor” is to do double duty, i.e., serving as the object of the verb “saves” in the first colon as well as the second, then the conjunction should be explanatory.

[5:25]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your seed.”

[5:25]  ²¹ tn The word means “your shoots” and is parallel to “your seed” in the first colon. It refers here (as in Isa 34:1 and 42:5) to the produce of the earth. Some commentators suggest that Eliphaz seems to have forgotten or was insensitive to Job’s loss of his children; H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 57) says his conventional theology is untouched by human feeling.

[8:8]  ²² sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ²³ tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “fathers.”

[8:10]  ²⁶ tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”

[8:10]  ²⁷ tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”

[8:10]  ²⁸ tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”

[8:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “from their heart.”

[8:22]  ³⁰ sn These verses show several points of similarity with the style of the Book of Psalms. “Those who hate you” and the “evil-doers” are fairly common words to describe the ungodly in the Psalms. “Those who hate you” are enemies of the righteous man because of the parallelism in the verse. By this line Bildad is showing Job that he and his friends are not among those who are his enemies, and that Job himself is really among the righteous. It is an appealing way to end the discourse. See further G. W. Anderson, “Enemies and Evil-doers in the Book of Psalms,” BJRL 48 (1965/66): 18-29.

[8:22]  ³¹ tn “Shame” is compared to a garment that can be worn. The “shame” envisioned here is much more than embarrassment or disgrace – it is utter destruction. For parallels in the Psalms, see Pss 35:26; 132:18; 109:29.

[15:19]  ³² sn Eliphaz probably thinks that Edom was the proverbial home of wisdom, and so the reference here would be to his own people. If, as many interpret, the biblical writer is using these accounts to put Yahwistic ideas into the discussion, then the reference would be to Canaan at the time of the fathers. At any rate, the tradition of wisdom to Eliphaz has not been polluted by foreigners, but has retained its pure and moral nature from antiquity.

[19:19]  ³³ tn Heb “men of my confidence,” or “men of my council,” i.e., intimate friends, confidants.

[19:19]  ³⁴ tn The pronoun זֶה (zeh) functions here in the place of a nominative (see GKC 447 §138.h).

[19:19]  ³⁵ tn T. Penar translates this “turn away from me” (“Job 19,19 in the Light of Ben Sira 6,11,” Bib 48 [1967]: 293-95).

[20:9]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the eye that had seen him.” Here a part of the person (the eye, the instrument of vision) is put by metonymy for the entire person.

[20:19]  ³⁷ tc The verb indicates that after he oppressed the poor he abandoned them to their fate. But there have been several attempts to improve on the text. Several have repointed the text to get a word parallel to “house.” Ehrlich came up with עֹזֵב (’ozev, “mud hut”), Kissane had “hovel” (similar to Neh 3:8). M. Dahood did the same (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 306-7). J. Reider came up with עֶזֶב (’ezev, the “leavings”), what the rich were to leave for the poor (“Contributions to the Scriptural text,” HUCA 24 [1952/53]: 103-6). But an additional root עָזַב (’azav) is questionable. And while the text as it stands is general and not very striking, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Dhorme reverses the letters to gain בְּעֹז (bÿ’oz, “with force [or violence]”).

[20:19]  ³⁸ tn The last clause says, “and he did not build it.” This can be understood in an adverbial sense, supplying the relative pronoun to the translation.

[21:18]  ³⁹ tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.

[21:18]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.

[21:28]  ⁴¹ sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”

[21:28]  ⁴² tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.

[21:29]  ⁴³ tc The LXX reads, “Ask those who go by the way, and do not disown their signs.”

[21:29]  tn The idea is that the merchants who travel widely will talk about what they have seen and heard. These travelers give a different account of the wicked; they tell how he is spared. E. Dhorme (Job, 322) interprets “signs” concretely: “Their custom was to write their names and their thoughts somewhere at the main cross-roads. The main roads of Sinai are dotted with these scribblings made by such passers of a day.”

[22:30]  ⁴⁴ tc The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).

[22:30]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[24:11]  ⁴⁶ tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.

[24:11]  ⁴⁷ tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.

[24:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”

[24:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “so Sheol.”

[24:19]  ⁵⁰ tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”

[26:5]  ⁵¹ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

[26:5]  ⁵² tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

[26:5]  ⁵³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

[26:5]  ⁵⁴ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.

[27:13]  ⁵⁵ tn The expression “allotted by God” interprets the simple prepositional phrase in the text: “with/from God.”

[27:23]  ⁵⁶ tn If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands…men will whistle upon him.”

[27:23]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).

[29:16]  ⁵⁸ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[30:6]  ⁵⁹ tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).

[30:6]  ⁶⁰ tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).

[30:11]  ⁶¹ tn The verb פָּתַח (patakh) means “to untie [or undo]” a rope or bonds. In this verse יִתְרוֹ (yitro, the Kethib, LXX, and Vulgate) would mean “his rope” (see יֶתֶר [yeter] in Judg 16:7-9). The Qere would be יִתְרִי (yitri, “my rope [or cord]”), meaning “me.” The word could mean “rope,” “cord,” or “bowstring.” If the reading “my cord” is accepted, the cord would be something like “my tent cord” (as in Job 29:20), more than K&D 12:147 “cord of life.” This has been followed in the present translation. If it were “my bowstring,” it would give the sense of disablement. If “his cord” is taken, it would signify that the restraint that God had in afflicting Job was loosened – nothing was held back.

[30:11]  ⁶² sn People throw off all restraint in my presence means that when people saw how God afflicted Job, robbing him of his influence and power, then they turned on him with unrestrained insolence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 193).

[30:23]  ⁶³ tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.

[31:16]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[34:22]  ⁶⁵ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”

[34:26]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5,” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.

[34:26]  ⁶⁷ tn The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.

[34:36]  ⁶⁸ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[35:13]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “surely – vanity, he does not hear.” The cry is an empty cry, not a prayer to God. Dhorme translates it, “It is a pure waste of words.”

[36:6]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “he does not keep the wicked alive.”

[36:9]  ⁷¹ tn The verb נָגַד (nagad) means “to declare; to tell.” Here it is clear that God is making known the sins that caused the enslavement or captivity, so “reveal” makes a good interpretive translation.

[36:9]  ⁷² tn Heb “their work.”

[36:10]  ⁷³ tn The idiom once again is “he uncovers their ear.”

[36:10]  ⁷⁴ tn The revelation is in the preceding verse, and so a pronoun must be added to make the reference clear.

[36:10]  ⁷⁵ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn; to return”) is one of the two major words in the OT for “repent” – to return from evil. Here the imperfect should be obligatory – they must do it.

[38:13]  ⁷⁶ sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.

[38:15]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[38:15]  ⁷⁸ sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).

[40:11]  ⁷⁹ tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ⁸¹ tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.