Ayub 5:11

5:11 he sets ¹  the lowly ²  on high,

that those who mourn ³  are raised ⁴  to safety.

Ayub 12:15

12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up; ⁵ 

if he releases them, ⁶  they destroy ⁷  the land.

Ayub 16:11

16:11 God abandons me to evil ⁸  men, ⁹ 

and throws ¹⁰  me into the hands of wicked men.

Ayub 19:12

19:12 His troops ¹¹  advance together;

they throw up ¹²  a siege ramp against me,

and they camp around my tent.

Ayub 22:30

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, ¹³ 

who will escape ¹⁴  through the cleanness of your hands.”

Ayub 29:3

29:3 when ¹⁵  he caused ¹⁶  his lamp ¹⁷ 

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked ¹⁸  through darkness; ¹⁹ 

Ayub 34:14

34:14 If God ²⁰  were to set his heart on it, ²¹ 

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

Ayub 35:7

35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Ayub 36:10

36:10 And he reveals ²²  this ²³  for correction,

and says that they must turn ²⁴  from evil.

Ayub 36:15

36:15 He delivers the afflicted by ²⁵  their ²⁶  afflictions,

he reveals himself to them ²⁷  by their suffering.

Ayub 37:3

37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,

even his lightning to the far corners ²⁸  of the earth.

[5:11]  ¹ tn Heb “setting.” The infinitive construct clause is here taken as explaining the nature of God, and so parallel to the preceding descriptions. If read simply as a purpose clause after the previous verse, it would suggest that the purpose of watering the earth was to raise the humble (cf. NASB, “And sends water on the fields, // So that He sets on high those who are lowly”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 39) makes a case for this interpretation, saying that God’s gifts in nature have the wider purpose of blessing man, but he prefers to see the line as another benevolence, parallel to v. 10, and so suggests a translation “setting up” rather than “to set up.”

[5:11]  ² tn The word שְׁפָלִים (shÿfalim) refers to “those who are down.” This refers to the lowly and despised of the earth. They are the opposite of the “proud” (see Ps 138:6). Here there is a deliberate contrast between “lowly” and “on high.”

[5:11]  ³ tn The meaning of the word is “to be dark, dirty”; therefore, it refers to the ash-sprinkled head of the mourner (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 54). The custom was to darken one’s face in sorrow (see Job 2:12; Ps 35:14; 38:7).

[5:11]  ⁴ tn The perfect verb may be translated “be set on high; be raised up.” E. Dhorme (Job, 64) notes that the perfect is parallel to the infinitive of the first colon, and so he renders it in the same way as the infinitive, comparing the construction to that of 28:25.

[12:15]  ⁵ tc The LXX has a clarification: “he will dry the earth.”

[12:15]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn The word עֲוִיל (’avil) means “child,” and this cannot be right here. If it is read as עַוָּל (’avval) as in Job 27:7 it would be the unrighteous.

[16:11]  ⁹ sn Job does not refer here to his friends, but more likely to the wicked men who set about to destroy him and his possessions, or to the rabble in ch. 30.

[16:11]  ¹⁰ tn The word יִרְטֵנִי (yirteni) does not derive from the root רָטָה (ratah) as would fit the pointing in the MT, but from יָרַט (yarat), cognate to Arabic warrata, “to throw; to hurl.” E. Dhorme (Job, 236) thinks that since the normal form would have been יִירְטֵנִי (yirÿteni), it is probable that one of the yods (י) would have affected the word עֲוִיל (’avil) – but that does not make much sense.

[19:12]  ¹¹ sn Now the metaphor changes again. Since God thinks of Job as an enemy, he attacks with his troops, builds the siege ramp, and camps around him to besiege him. All the power and all the forces are at God’s disposal in his attack of Job.

[19:12]  ¹² tn Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” or “to throw up a ramp”; here the object is “their way.” The latter could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “as their way.” But as the object it fits just as well. Some delete the middle clause; the LXX has “Together his troops fell upon me, they beset my ways with an ambush.”

[22:30]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[29:3]  ¹⁵ tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.

[29:3]  ¹⁶ tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”

[29:3]  ¹⁷ sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.

[29:3]  ¹⁸ tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.

[29:3]  ¹⁹ tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).

[34:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ²¹ tc This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yasim, “if he [God] recalls”). But this would require leaving out “his heart,” and would also require redividing the verse to make “his spirit” the object. It makes better parallelism, but may require too many changes.

[36:10]  ²² tn The idiom once again is “he uncovers their ear.”

[36:10]  ²³ tn The revelation is in the preceding verse, and so a pronoun must be added to make the reference clear.

[36:10]  ²⁴ 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.

[36:15]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Heb “his.”

[36:15]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he uncovers their ear.”

[37:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.