Ayub 1:13

Job’s Integrity in Adversity ¹ 

1:13 Now the day ²  came when Job’s ³  sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Ayub 10:13

10:13 “But these things ⁴  you have concealed in your heart;

I know that this ⁵  is with you: ⁶ 

Ayub 10:20

10:20 Are not my days few? ⁷ 

Cease, ⁸  then, and leave ⁹  me alone, ¹⁰ 

that I may find a little comfort, ¹¹ 

Ayub 11:3

11:3 Will your idle talk ¹²  reduce people to silence, ¹³ 

and will no one rebuke ¹⁴  you when you mock? ¹⁵ 

Ayub 36:13

36:13 The godless at heart ¹⁶  nourish anger, ¹⁷ 

they do not cry out even when he binds them.

Ayub 38:37

38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,

and who can tip over ¹⁸  the water jars of heaven,

[1:13]  ¹ sn The series of catastrophes and the piety of Job is displayed now in comprehensive terms. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and yet Job, the pious servant of Yahweh, continues to worship him in the midst of the rubble. This section, and the next, will lay the foundation for the great dialogues in the book.

[1:13]  ² tn The Targum to Job clarifies that it was the first day of the week. The fact that it was in the house of the firstborn is the reason.

[1:13]  ³ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:13]  ⁴ sn “These things” refers to the affliction that God had brought on Job. They were concealed by God from the beginning.

[10:13]  ⁵ sn The meaning of the line is that this was God’s purpose all along. “These things” and “this” refer to the details that will now be given in the next few verses.

[10:13]  ⁶ sn The contradiction between how God had provided for and cared for Job’s life and how he was now dealing with him could only be resolved by Job with the supposition that God had planned this severe treatment from the first as part of his plan.

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “are not my days few; cease/let it cease….” The versions have “the days of my life” (reading יְמֵי חֶלְדִי [yÿme kheldi] instead of יָמַי וַחֲדָל [yamay vakhadal]). Many commentators and the RSV, NAB, and NRSV accept this reading. The Kethib is an imperfect or jussive, “let it cease/ it will cease.” The Qere is more intelligible for some interpreters – “cease” (as in 7:16). For a discussion of the readings, see D. W. Thomas, “Some Observations on the Hebrew Root hadal,” VTSup 4 [1057]: 14). But the text is not impossible as it stands.

[10:20]  ⁸ tn Taking the form as the imperative with the ו (vav), the sentence follows the direct address to God (as in v. 18 as well as 7:16). This requires less changes. See the preceding note regarding the plausibility of the jussive. The point of the verse is clear in either reading – his life is short, and he wants the suffering to stop.

[10:20]  ⁹ tn In the different suggestions for the line, the י (yod) of this word is believed to belong to the preceding word making “my life.” That would here leave an imperative rather than an imperfect. But if the Qere is read, then it would be an imperative anyway, and there would be no reason for the change.

[10:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “put from me,” an expression found nowhere else. The Qere has a ו (vav) and not a י (yod), forming an imperative rather than an imperfect. H. H. Rowley suggests that there is an ellipsis here, “hand” needing to be supplied. Job wanted God to take his hand away from him. That is plausible, but difficult.

[10:20]  ¹¹ tn The verb בָּלַג (balag) in the Hiphil means “to have cheer [or joy]” (see 7:27; Ps 39:14). The cohortative following the imperatives shows the purpose or result – “in order that.”

[11:3]  ¹² tn The word means “chatter, pratings, boastings” (see Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30).

[11:3]  ¹³ tn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) in the Hiphil means “to silence” (41:4); here it functions in a causative sense, “reduce to silence.”

[11:3]  ¹⁴ tn The form מַכְלִם (makhlim, “humiliating, mocking”) is the Hiphil participle. The verb כָּלַם (kalam) has the meaning “cover with shame, insult” (Job 20:3).

[11:3]  ¹⁵ tn The construction shows the participle to be in the circumstantial clause: “will you mock – and [with] no one rebuking.”

[36:13]  ¹⁶ tn The expression “godless [or hypocrite] in heart” is an intensification of the description. It conveys that they are intentionally godless. See Matt 23:28.

[36:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “they put anger.” This is usually interpreted to mean they lay up anger, or put anger in their hearts.

[38:37]  ¹⁸ tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”