Ayub 1:9

1:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? ¹ 

Ayub 4:20

4:20 They are destroyed ²  between morning and evening; ³ 

they perish forever ⁴  without anyone regarding it. ⁵ 

Ayub 5:19

5:19 He will deliver you ⁶  from six calamities;

yes, in seven ⁷  no evil will touch you.

Ayub 6:25

6:25 How painful ⁸  are honest words!

But ⁹  what does your reproof ¹⁰  prove? ¹¹ 

Ayub 7:12

7:12 Am I the sea, or the creature of the deep, ¹² 

that you must put ¹³  me under guard? ¹⁴ 

Ayub 8:10

8:10 Will they not ¹⁵  instruct you and ¹⁶  speak to you,

and bring forth words ¹⁷ 

from their understanding? ¹⁸ 

Ayub 8:19

8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way, ¹⁹ 

and out of the earth ²⁰  others spring up. ²¹ 

Ayub 9:5

9:5 He who removes mountains suddenly, ²² 

who overturns them in his anger; ²³ 

Ayub 9:26

9:26 They glide by ²⁴  like reed ²⁵  boats,

like an eagle that swoops ²⁶  down on its prey. ²⁷ 

Ayub 9:28

9:28 I dread ²⁸  all my sufferings, ²⁹ 

for ³⁰  I know that you do not hold me blameless. ³¹ 

Ayub 9:34

9:34 who ³²  would take his ³³  rod ³⁴  away from me

so that his terror ³⁵  would not make me afraid.

Ayub 10:19

10:19 I should have been as though I had never existed; ³⁶ 

I should have been carried

right from the womb to the grave!

Ayub 12:15

12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up; ³⁷ 

if he releases them, ³⁸  they destroy ³⁹  the land.

Ayub 12:20

12:20 He deprives the trusted advisers ⁴⁰  of speech ⁴¹ 

and takes away the discernment ⁴²  of elders.

Ayub 14:21

14:21 If ⁴³  his sons are honored, ⁴⁴ 

he does not know it; ⁴⁵ 

if they are brought low,

he does not see ⁴⁶  it.

Ayub 15:21

15:21 Terrifying sounds fill ⁴⁷  his ears;

in a time of peace marauders ⁴⁸  attack him.

Ayub 16:6

Abandonment by God and Man

16:6 “But ⁴⁹  if I speak, my pain is not relieved, ⁵⁰ 

and if I refrain from speaking

– how ⁵¹  much of it goes away?

Ayub 18:14

18:14 He is dragged from the security of his tent, ⁵² 

and marched off ⁵³  to the king ⁵⁴  of terrors.

Ayub 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ⁵⁵  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ⁵⁶  over my paths.

Ayub 20:22

20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, ⁵⁷ 

distress ⁵⁸  overtakes him.

the full force of misery will come upon him. ⁵⁹ 

Ayub 22:13

22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?

Does he judge through such deep darkness? ⁶⁰ 

Ayub 22:15

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ⁶¹ 

that evil men have walked –

Ayub 22:28-29

22:28 Whatever you decide ⁶²  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

22:29 When people are brought low ⁶³  and you say

‘Lift them up!’ ⁶⁴ 

then he will save the downcast; ⁶⁵ 

Ayub 24:8

24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains

and huddle ⁶⁶  in the rocks because they lack shelter.

Ayub 24:15

24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,

thinking, ⁶⁷  ‘No eye can see me,’

and covers his face with a mask.

Ayub 27:6

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience ⁶⁸  will not reproach me

for as long as I live. ⁶⁹ 

Ayub 28:11

28:11 He has searched ⁷⁰  the sources ⁷¹  of the rivers

and what was hidden he has brought into the light.

Ayub 29:2

29:2 “O that I could be ⁷²  as ⁷³  I was

in the months now gone, ⁷⁴ 

in the days ⁷⁵  when God watched ⁷⁶  over me,

Ayub 31:18-19

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ⁷⁷  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ⁷⁸ 

I guided the widow! ⁷⁹ 

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

Ayub 31:32

31:32 But ⁸⁰  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ⁸¹  –

Ayub 31:37

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Ayub 33:15

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

Ayub 33:19

33:19 Or a person is chastened ⁸²  by pain on his bed,

and with the continual strife of his bones, ⁸³ 

Ayub 34:4

34:4 Let us evaluate ⁸⁴  for ourselves what is right; ⁸⁵ 

let us come to know among ourselves what is good.

Ayub 35:15

35:15 And further, ⁸⁶  when you say

that his anger does not punish, ⁸⁷ 

and that he does not know transgression! ⁸⁸ 

Ayub 36:15

36:15 He delivers the afflicted by ⁸⁹  their ⁹⁰  afflictions,

he reveals himself to them ⁹¹  by their suffering.

Ayub 36:17

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

judgment and justice take hold of you.

Ayub 38:15-16

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

and the arm raised in violence ⁹²  is broken. ⁹³ 

38:16 Have you gone to the springs that fill the sea, ⁹⁴ 

or walked about in the recesses of the deep?

Ayub 39:14

39:14 For she leaves ⁹⁵  her eggs on the ground,

and lets them be warmed on the soil.

Ayub 39:27

39:27 Is it at your command ⁹⁶  that the eagle soars,

and builds its nest on high?

Ayub 40:14

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge ⁹⁷  to you

that your own right hand can save you. ⁹⁸ 

Ayub 41:4

41:4 Will it make a pact ⁹⁹  with you,

so you could take it ¹⁰⁰  as your slave for life?

Ayub 41:9

41:9 (41:1) ¹⁰¹  See, his expectation is wrong, ¹⁰² 

he is laid low even at the sight of it. ¹⁰³ 

Ayub 41:25

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ¹⁰⁴ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew form has the interrogative ה (he) on the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”), a derivative either of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”), or its related noun חֵן (khen, “grace, favor”). The adverb has the sense of “free; gratis; gratuitously; for nothing; for no reason” (see BDB 336 s.v. חִנָּם). The idea is that Satan does not disagree that Job is pious, but that Job is loyal to God because of what he receives from God. He will test the sincerity of Job.

[4:20]  ² tn The form יֻכַּתּוּ (yukkatu) is the Hophal imperfect of the root כָּתַת (katat, “to be pounded, pulverized, reduced to ashes” [Jer 46:5; Mic 1:7]). It follows the Aramaic formation (see GKC 182 §67.y). This line appears to form a parallelism with “they are crushed like a moth,” the third unit of the last verse; but it has its own parallel idea in this verse. See D. J. A. Clines, “Verb Modality and the Interpretation of Job 4:20, 21,” VT 30 (1980): 354-57.

[4:20]  ³ tn Or “from morning to evening.” The expression “from morning to evening” is probably not a merism, but rather describes the time between the morning and the evening, as in Isa 38:12: “from day to night you make an end of me.”

[4:20]  ⁴ sn The second colon expresses the consequence of this day-long reducing to ashes – they perish forever! (see 20:7 and 14:20).

[4:20]  ⁵ tn This rendering is based on the interpretation that מִבְּלִי מֵשִׂים (mibbÿli mesim) uses the Hiphil participle of שִׂים (sim, “set”) with an understood object “heart” to gain the idiom of “taking to heart, considering, regarding it” – hence, “without anyone regarding it.” Some commentators have attempted to resolve the difficulty by emending the text, a procedure that has no more support than positing the ellipses. One suggested emendation does have the LXX in its favor, namely, a reading of מֹשִׁיעַ (moshia’, “one who saves”) in place of מֵשִׂים (mesim, “one who sets”). This would lead to “without one who saves they perish forever” (E. Dhorme, Job, 55).

[5:19]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.

[5:19]  ⁷ tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).

[6:25]  ⁸ tn The word נִּמְרְצוּ (nimrÿtsu, “[they] painful are”) may be connected to מָרַץ (marats, “to be ill”). This would give the idea of “how distressing,” or “painful” in this stem. G. R. Driver (JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96) connected it to an Akkadian cognate “to be ill” and rendered it “bitter.” It has also been linked with מָרַס (maras), meaning “to be hard, strong,” giving the idea of “how persuasive” (see N. S. Doniach and W. E. Barnes, “Job 4:25: The Root Maras,” JTS [1929/30]: 291-92). There seems more support for the meaning “to be ill” (cf. Mal 2:10). Others follow Targum Job “how pleasant [to my palate are your words]”; E. Dhorme (Job, 92) follows this without changing the text but noting that the word has an interchange of letter with מָלַץ (malats) for מָרַץ (marats).

[6:25]  ⁹ tn The וּ (vav) here introduces the antithesis (GKC 484-85 §154.a).

[6:25]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive הוֹכֵחַ (hokheakh, “reproof,” from יָכַח [yakhakh, “prove”]) becomes the subject of the verb from the same root, יוֹכִיהַ (yokhiakh), and so serves as a noun (see GKC 340 §113.b). This verb means “to dispute, quarrel, argue, contend” (see BDB 406-7 s.v. יָכַח). Job is saying, “What does reproof from you prove?”

[6:25]  ¹¹ tn The LXX again paraphrases this line: “But as it seems, the words of a true man are vain, because I do not ask strength of you.” But the rest of the versions are equally divided on the verse.

[7:12]  ¹² tn The word תַּנִּין (tannin) could be translated “whale” as well as the more mythological “dragon” or “monster of the deep” (see E. Dhorme, Job, 105). To the Hebrews this was part of God’s creation in Gen 1; in the pagan world it was a force to be reckoned with, and so the reference would be polemical. The sea is a symbol of the tumultuous elements of creation; in the sea were creatures that symbolized the powerful forces of chaos – Leviathan, Tannin, and Rahab. They required special attention.

[7:12]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb here receives the classification of obligatory imperfect. Job wonders if he is such a threat to God that God must do this.

[7:12]  ¹⁴ tn The word מִשְׁמָר (mishmar) means “guard; barrier.” M. Dahood suggested “muzzle” based on Ugaritic, but that has proven to be untenable (“Mismar, ‘Muzzle,’ in Job 7:12,” JBL 80 [1961]: 270-71).

[8:10]  ¹⁵ tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”

[8:10]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”

[8:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from their heart.”

[8:19]  ¹⁹ tn This line is difficult. If the MT stands as it is, the expression must be ironic. It would be saying that the joy (all the security and prosperity) of its way (its life) is short-lived – that is the way its joy goes. Most commentators are not satisfied with this. Dhorme, for one, changes מְשׂוֹשׂ (mÿsos, “joy”) to מְסוֹס (mÿsos, “rotting”), and gets “behold him lie rotting on the path.” The sibilants can interchange this way. But Dhorme thinks the MT was written the way it was because the word was thought to be “joy,” when it should have been the other way. The word “way” then becomes an accusative of place. The suggestion is rather compelling and would certainly fit the context. The difficulty is that a root סוּס (sus, “to rot”) has to be proposed. E. Dhorme does this by drawing on Arabic sas, “to be eaten by moths or worms,” thus “worm-eaten; decaying; rotting.” Cf. NIV “its life withers away”; also NAB “there he lies rotting beside the road.”

[8:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “dust.”

[8:19]  ²¹ sn As with the tree, so with the godless man – his place will soon be taken by another.

[9:5]  ²² tn The verb is plural: “they do not know it.” This suggests that the mountains would not know it. Some follow the Syriac with a singular verb, i.e., God does not know it, meaning, it is so trifling to God that he can do it without thinking. But the better interpretation may be “suddenly.” This would be interpreted from the MT as it stands; it would imply “before they know anything,” thus “suddenly” (Gray, Dhorme, Buttenwieser, et. al.). D. W. Thomas connects the meaning to another verb based on Arabic and translates it, “ so that they are no longer still” (“Additional Notes on the Root yada` in Hebrew,” JTS 15 [1964]: 54-57). J. A. Emerton works with a possible root יָדַע (yada’) meaning “be still” (“A Consideration of Some Alleged Meanings of yada` in Hebrew,” JSS 15 [1970]: 145-80).

[9:5]  ²³ sn This line beginning with the relative pronoun can either be read as a parallel description of God, or it can be subordinated by the relative pronoun to the first (“they do not know who overturned them”).

[9:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they flee.”

[9:26]  ²⁵ tn The word אֵבֶה (’eveh) means “reed, papyrus,” but it is a different word than was in 8:11. What is in view here is a light boat made from bundles of papyrus that glides swiftly along the Nile (cf. Isa 18:2 where papyrus vessels and swiftness are associated).

[9:26]  ²⁶ tn The verb יָטוּשׂ (yatus) is also a hapax legomenon; the Aramaic cognate means “to soar; to hover in flight.” The sentence here requires the idea of swooping down while in flight.

[9:26]  ²⁷ tn Heb “food.”

[9:28]  ²⁸ tn The word was used in Job 3:25; it has the idea of “dread, fear, tremble at.” The point here is that even if Job changes his appearance, he still dreads the sufferings, because he knows that God is treating him as a criminal.

[9:28]  ²⁹ sn See Job 7:15; see also the translation by G. Perles, “I tremble in every nerve” (“The Fourteenth Edition of Gesenius-Buhl’s Dictionary,” JQR 18 [1905/06]: 383-90).

[9:28]  ³⁰ tn The conjunction “for” is supplied in the translation.

[9:28]  ³¹ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 73) appropriately notes that Job’s afflictions were the proof of his guilt in the estimation of God. If God held him innocent, he would remove the afflictions.

[9:34]  ³² tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ³³ tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ³⁴ sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ³⁵ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[10:19]  ³⁶ sn This means “If only I had never come into existence.”

[12:15]  ³⁷ tc The LXX has a clarification: “he will dry the earth.”

[12:15]  ³⁸ sn The verse is focusing on the two extremes of drought and flood. Both are described as being under the power of God.

[12:15]  ³⁹ tn The verb הָפַךְ (hafakh) means “to overthrow; to destroy; to overwhelm.” It was used in Job 9:5 for “overturning” mountains. The word is used in Genesis for the destruction of Sodom.

[12:20]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew נֶאֱמָנִים (ne’emanim) is the Niphal participle; it is often translated “the faithful” in the Bible. The Rabbis rather fancifully took the word from נְאֻם (nÿ’um, “oracle, utterance”) and so rendered it “those who are eloquent, fluent in words.” But that would make this the only place in the Bible where this form came from that root or any other root besides אָמַן (’aman, “confirm, support”). But to say that God takes away the speech of the truthful or the faithful would be very difficult. It has to refer to reliable men, because it is parallel to the elders or old men. The NIV has “trusted advisers,” which fits well with kings and judges and priests.

[12:20]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “he removes the lip of the trusted ones.”

[12:20]  ⁴² tn Heb “taste,” meaning “opinion” or “decision.”

[14:21]  ⁴³ tn The clause may be interpreted as a conditional clause, with the second clause beginning with the conjunction serving as the apodosis.

[14:21]  ⁴⁴ tn There is no expressed subject for the verb “they honor,” and so it may be taken as a passive.

[14:21]  ⁴⁵ sn Death is separation from the living, from the land of the living. And ignorance of what goes on in this life, good or bad, is part of death. See also Eccl 9:5-6, which makes a similar point.

[14:21]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb is בִּין (bin, “to perceive; to discern”). The parallelism between “know” and “perceive” stress the point that in death a man does not realize what is happening here in the present life.

[15:21]  ⁴⁷ tn The word “fill” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[15:21]  ⁴⁸ tn The word שׁוֹדֵד (shoded) means “a robber; a plunderer” (see Job 12:6). With the verb bo’ the sentence means that the robber pounces on or comes against him (see GKC 373 §118.f). H. H. Rowley observes that the text does not say that he is under attack, but that the sound of fears is in his ears, i.e., that he is terrified by thoughts of this.

[16:6]  ⁴⁹ tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:6]  ⁵⁰ tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”

[16:6]  ⁵¹ tn Some argue that מָה (mah) in the text is the Arabic ma, the simple negative. This would then mean “it does not depart far from me.” The interrogative used rhetorically amounts to the same thing, however, so the suggestion is not necessary.

[18:14]  ⁵² tn Heb “from his tent, his security.” The apposition serves to modify the tent as his security.

[18:14]  ⁵³ tn The verb is the Hiphil of צָעַד (tsa’ad, “to lead away”). The problem is that the form is either a third feminine (Rashi thought it was referring to Job’s wife) or the second person. There is a good deal of debate over the possibility of the prefix t- being a variant for the third masculine form. The evidence in Ugaritic and Akkadian is mixed, stronger for the plural than the singular. Gesenius has some samples where the third feminine form might also be used for the passive if there is no expressed subject (see GKC 459 §144.b), but the evidence is not strong. The simplest choices are to change the prefix to a י (yod), or argue that the ת (tav) can be masculine, or follow Gesenius.

[18:14]  ⁵⁴ sn This is a reference to death, the king of all terrors. Other identifications are made in the commentaries: Mot, the Ugaritic god of death; Nergal of the Babylonians; Molech of the Canaanites, the one to whom people sent emissaries.

[19:8]  ⁵⁵ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ⁵⁶ tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[20:22]  ⁵⁷ tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word sapaq,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).

[20:22]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.

[20:22]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (’amel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (’amal, “trouble”) here.

[22:13]  ⁶⁰ sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).

[22:15]  ⁶¹ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[22:28]  ⁶² tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[22:29]  ⁶³ tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.

[22:29]  ⁶⁴ tn The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].

[22:29]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”

[24:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “embrace” or “hug.”

[24:15]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “saying.”

[27:6]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “my heart.”

[27:6]  ⁶⁹ tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”

[28:11]  ⁷⁰ tc The translation “searched” follows the LXX and Vulgate; the MT reads “binds up” or “dams up.” This latter translation might refer to the damming of water that might seep into a mine (HALOT 289 s.v. חבשׁ; cf. ESV, NJPS, NASB, REB, NLT).

[28:11]  ⁷¹ tc The older translations had “he binds the streams from weeping,” i.e., from trickling (מִבְּכִי, mibbÿkhi). But the Ugaritic parallel has changed the understanding, reading “toward the spring of the rivers” (`m mbk nhrm). Earlier than that discovery, the versions had taken the word as a noun as well. Some commentators had suggested repointing the Hebrew. Some chose מַבְּכֵי (mabbÿkhe, “sources”). Now there is much Ugaritic support for the reading (see G. M. Landes, BASOR 144 [1956]: 32f.; and H. L. Ginsberg, “The Ugaritic texts and textual criticism,” JBL 62 [1943]: 111).

[29:2]  ⁷² tn The optative is here expressed with מִי־יִתְּנֵנִי (mi-yittÿneni, “who will give me”), meaning, “O that I [could be]…” (see GKC 477 §151.b).

[29:2]  ⁷³ tn The preposition כּ (kaf) is used here in an expression describing the state desired, especially in the former time (see GKC 376 §118.u).

[29:2]  ⁷⁴ tn The expression is literally “months of before [or of old; or past].” The word קֶדֶם (qedem) is intended here to be temporal and not spatial; it means days that preceded the present.

[29:2]  ⁷⁵ tn The construct state (“days of”) governs the independent sentence that follows (see GKC 422 §130.d): “as the days of […] God used to watch over me.”

[29:2]  ⁷⁶ tn The imperfect verb here has a customary nuance – “when God would watch over me” (back then), or “when God used to watch over me.”

[31:18]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ⁷⁸ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[31:32]  ⁸⁰ tn This verse forms another parenthesis. Job stops almost at every point now in the conditional clauses to affirm his purity and integrity.

[31:32]  ⁸¹ tn The word in the MT, אֹרחַ (’orakh, “way”), is a contraction from אֹרֵחַ (’oreakh, “wayfarer”); thus, “traveler.” The same parallelism is found in Jer 14:8. The reading here “on/to the road” is meaningless otherwise.

[33:19]  ⁸² tc The MT has the passive form, and so a subject has to be added: “[a man] is chastened.” The LXX has the active form, indicating “[God] chastens,” but the object “a man” has to be added. It is understandable why the LXX thought this was active, within this sequence of verbs; and that is why it is the inferior reading.

[33:19]  ⁸³ tc The Kethib “the strife of his bones is continual,” whereas the Qere has “the multitude of his bones are firm.” The former is the better reading in this passage. It indicates that the pain is caused by the ongoing strife.

[34:4]  ⁸⁴ sn Elihu means “choose after careful examination.”

[34:4]  ⁸⁵ tn The word is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) again, with the sense of what is right or just.

[35:15]  ⁸⁶ tn The expression “and now” introduces a new complaint of Elihu – in addition to the preceding. Here the verb of v. 14, “you say,” is understood after the temporal ki (כִּי).

[35:15]  ⁸⁷ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit” (also “to appoint; to muster; to number”). When God visits, it means that he intervenes in one’s life for blessing or cursing (punishing, destroying).

[35:15]  ⁸⁸ tn The word פַּשׁ (pash) is a hapax legomenon. K&D 12:275 derived it from an Arabic word meaning “belch,” leading to the idea of “overflow.” BDB 832 s.v. defines it as “folly.” Several define it as “transgression” on the basis of the versions (Theodotion, Symmachus, Vulgate). The RSV took it as “greatly heed,” but that is not exactly “greatly know,” when the text beyond that requires “not know at all.” The NIV has “he does not take the least notice of wickedness.”

[36:15]  ⁸⁹ tn The preposition בּ (bet) in these two lines is not location but instrument, not “in” but “by means of.” The affliction and the oppression serve as a warning for sin, and therefore a means of salvation.

[36:15]  ⁹⁰ tn Heb “his.”

[36:15]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “he uncovers their ear.”

[38:15]  ⁹² 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]  ⁹³ 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).

[38:16]  ⁹⁴ tn Heb “the springs of the sea.” The words “that fill” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning of the phrase.

[39:14]  ⁹⁵ tn The meaning may have the connotation of “lays; places,” rather than simply abandoning (see M. Dahood, “The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 307f.).

[39:27]  ⁹⁶ tn Heb “your mouth.”

[40:14]  ⁹⁷ tn The verb is usually translated “praise,” but with the sense of a public declaration or acknowledgment. It is from יָדָה (yadah, in the Hiphil, as here, “give thanks, laud”).

[40:14]  ⁹⁸ tn The imperfect verb has the nuance of potential imperfect: “can save; is able to save.”

[41:4]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”

[41:4]  ¹⁰⁰ tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”

[41:9]  ¹⁰¹ sn Job 41:9 in the English Bible is 41:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). From here to the end of the chapter the Hebrew verse numbers differ from those in the English Bible, with 41:10 ET = 41:2 HT, 41:11 ET = 41:3 HT, etc. See also the note on 41:1.

[41:9]  ¹⁰² tn The line is difficult. “His hope [= expectation]” must refer to any assailant who hopes or expects to capture the creature. Because there is no antecedent, Dhorme and others transpose it with the next verse. The point is that the man who thought he was sufficient to confront Leviathan soon finds his hope – his expectation – false (a derivative from the verb כָּזַב [kazab, “lie”] is used for a mirage).

[41:9]  ¹⁰³ tn There is an interrogative particle in this line, which most commentators ignore. But others freely emend the MT. Gunkel, following the mythological approach, has “his appearance casts down even a god.” Cheyne likewise has: “even divine beings the fear of him brings low” (JQR 9 [1896/97]: 579). Pope has, “Were not the gods cast down at the sight of him?” There is no need to bring in this mythological element.

[41:25]  ¹⁰⁴ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”