Ayub 35:9-13

35:9 “People ¹  cry out

because of the excess of oppression; ² 

they cry out for help

because of the power ³  of the mighty. ⁴ 

35:10 But no one says, ‘Where is God, my Creator,

who gives songs in the night, ⁵ 

35:11 who teaches us ⁶  more than ⁷  the wild animals of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

35:12 Then ⁸  they cry out – but he does not answer –

because of the arrogance of the wicked.

35:13 Surely it is an empty cry ⁹  – God does not hear it;

the Almighty does not take notice of it.

[35:9]  ¹ tn The word “people” is supplied, because the sentence only has the masculine plural verb.

[35:9]  ² tn The final noun is an abstract plural, “oppression.” There is no reason to change it to “oppressors” to fit the early versions. The expression is literally “multitude of oppression.”

[35:9]  ³ tn Heb “the arm,” a metaphor for strength or power.

[35:9]  ⁴ tn Or “of the many” (see HALOT 1172 s.v. I רַב 6.a).

[35:10]  ⁵ tn There have been several attempts to emend the line, none of which are particularly helpful or interesting. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 225) says, “It is a pity to rob Elihu of a poetic line when he creates one.”

[35:11]  ⁶ tn The form in the text, the Piel participle from אָלַף (’alaf, “teach”) is written in a contracted form; the full form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ (mÿ’allÿfenu).

[35:11]  ⁷ tn Some would render this “teaches us by the beasts.” But Elihu is stressing the unique privilege humans have.

[35:12]  ⁸ tn The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) connects this verse to v. 11. “There” can be locative or temporal – and here it is temporal (= “then”).

[35:13]  ⁹ 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.”