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 8:4

8:4 If ⁶  your children sinned against him,

he gave them over ⁷  to the penalty ⁸  of their sin.

Ayub 34:37

34:37 For he adds transgression ⁹  to his sin;

in our midst he claps his hands, ¹⁰ 

and multiplies his words against God.”

Ayub 36:9

36:9 then he reveals ¹¹  to them what they have done, ¹² 

and their transgressions,

that they were behaving proudly.

[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.

[8:4]  ⁶ tn The AV and RV take the protasis down to the middle of v. 6. The LXX changes the “if” at the beginning of v. 5 to “then” and makes that verse the apodosis. If the apodosis comes in the second half of v. 4, then v. 4 would be a complete sentence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 71; A. B. Davidson, Job, 60). The particle אִם (’im) has the sense of “since” in this section.

[8:4]  ⁷ tn The verb is a Piel preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. The ו (vav) need not be translated if the second half of the verse is the apodosis of the first – since they sinned…he did this. The verb שִׁלֵּחַ (shilleakh) means “to expel; to thrust out” normally; here the sense of “deliver up” or “deliver over” fits the sentence well. The verse is saying that sin carries its own punishment, and so God merely delivered the young people over to it.

[8:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “into the hand of their rebellion.” The word “hand” often signifies “power.” The rebellious acts have the power to destroy, and so that is what happened – according to Bildad. Bildad’s point is that Job should learn from what happened to his family.

[34:37]  ⁹ tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”

[34:37]  ¹⁰ tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.

[36:9]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn Heb “their work.”