Ayub 5:12

5:12 He frustrates ¹  the plans ²  of the crafty ³ 

so that ⁴  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ⁵ 

Ayub 5:17

5:17 “Therefore, ⁶  blessed ⁷  is the man whom God corrects, ⁸ 

so do not despise the discipline ⁹  of the Almighty. ¹⁰ 

Ayub 5:27

5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.

Hear it, ¹¹  and apply it for your own ¹²  good.” ¹³ 

Ayub 15:6

15:6 Your own mouth condemns ¹⁴  you, not I;

your own lips testify against ¹⁵  you.

Ayub 15:18

15:18 what wise men declare,

hiding nothing,

from the tradition of ¹⁶  their ancestors, ¹⁷ 

Ayub 22:30

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, ¹⁸ 

who will escape ¹⁹  through the cleanness of your hands.”

Ayub 25:3-4

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ²⁰ 

On whom does his light ²¹  not rise?

25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?

How can one born of a woman be pure? ²² 

Ayub 26:12

26:12 By his power he stills ²³  the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster ²⁴  to pieces. ²⁵ 

Ayub 30:22

30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; ²⁶ 

you toss me about ²⁷  in the storm. ²⁸ 

Ayub 36:17

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

judgment and justice take hold of you.

Ayub 39:15

39:15 She forgets that a foot might crush them,

or that a wild animal ²⁹  might trample them.

Ayub 40:22

40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their ³⁰  shadow;

the poplars by the stream conceal it.

[5:12]  ¹ tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ² tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ³ tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ⁴ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ⁵ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[5:17]  ⁶ tn The particle “therefore” links this section to the preceding; it points this out as the logical consequence of the previous discussion, and more generally, as the essence of Job’s suffering.

[5:17]  ⁷ tn The word אַשְׁרֵי (’ashre, “blessed”) is often rendered “happy.” But “happy” relates to what happens. “Blessed” is a reference to the heavenly bliss of the one who is right with God.

[5:17]  ⁸ tn The construction is an implied relative clause. The literal rendering would simply be “the man God corrects him.” The suffix on the verb is a resumptive pronoun, completing the use of the relative clause. The verb יָכַח (yakhakh) is a legal term; it always has some sense of a charge, dispute, or conflict. Its usages show that it may describe a strife breaking out, a charge or quarrel in progress, or the settling of a dispute (Isa 1:18). The derived noun can mean “reproach; recrimination; charge” (13:6; 23:4). Here the emphasis is on the consequence of the charge brought, namely, the correction.

[5:17]  ⁹ tn The noun מוּסַר (musar) is parallel to the idea of the first colon. It means “discipline, correction” (from יָסַר, yasar). Prov 3:11 says almost the same thing as this line.

[5:17]  ¹⁰ sn The name Shaddai occurs 31 times in the book. This is its first occurrence. It is often rendered “Almighty” because of the LXX and some of the early fathers. The etymology and meaning of the word otherwise remains uncertain, in spite of attempts to connect it to “mountains” or “breasts.”

[5:27]  ¹¹ tn To make a better parallelism, some commentators have replaced the imperative with another finite verb, “we have found it.”

[5:27]  ¹² tn The preposition with the suffix (referred to as the ethical dative) strengthens the imperative. An emphatic personal pronoun also precedes the imperative. The resulting force would be something like “and you had better apply it for your own good!”

[5:27]  ¹³ sn With this the speech by Eliphaz comes to a close. His two mistakes with it are: (1) that the tone was too cold and (2) the argument did not fit Job’s case (see further, A. B. Davidson, Job, 42).

[15:6]  ¹⁴ tn The Hiphil of this root means “declare wicked, guilty” (a declarative Hiphil), and so “condemns.”

[15:6]  ¹⁵ tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) with the ל (lamed) preposition following it means “to testify against.” For Eliphaz, it is enough to listen to Job to condemn him.

[15:18]  ¹⁶ tn The word “tradition” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[15:18]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their fathers.” Some commentators change one letter and follow the reading of the LXX: “and their fathers have not hidden.” Pope tries to get the same reading by classifying the מ (mem) as an enclitic mem. The MT on first glance would read “and did not hide from their fathers.” Some take the clause “and they did not hide” as adverbial and belonging to the first part of the verse: “what wise men declare, hiding nothing, according to the tradition of their fathers.”

[22:30]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[25:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ²¹ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[25:4]  ²² sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).

[26:12]  ²³ tn The verb רָגַע (raga’) has developed a Semitic polarity, i.e., having totally opposite meanings. It can mean “to disturb; to stir up” or “to calm; to still.” Gordis thinks both meanings have been invoked here. But it seems more likely that “calm” fits the context better.

[26:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Rahab” (רָהַב), the mythical sea monster that represents the forces of chaos in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the translation the words “the great sea monster” have been supplied appositionally in order to clarify “Rahab.”

[26:12]  ²⁵ sn Here again there are possible mythological allusions or polemics. The god Yam, “Sea,” was important in Ugaritic as a god of chaos. And Rahab is another name for the monster of the deep (see Job 9:13).

[30:22]  ²⁶ sn Here Job changes the metaphor again, to the driving storm. God has sent his storms, and Job is blown away.

[30:22]  ²⁷ tn The verb means “to melt.” The imagery would suggest softening the ground with the showers (see Ps 65:10 [11]). The translation “toss…about” comes from the Arabic cognate that is used for the surging of the sea.

[30:22]  ²⁸ tc The Qere is תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah, “counsel”), which makes no sense here. The Kethib is a variant orthography for תְּשֻׁאָה (tÿshu’ah, “storm”).

[39:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “an animal of the field.”

[40:22]  ³⁰ tn The suffix is singular, but must refer to the trees’ shade.