Ayub 7:11

Job Remonstrates with God

7:11 “Therefore, ¹  I will not refrain my mouth; ² 

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain ³  in the bitterness of my soul.

Ayub 16:13

16:13 his archers ⁴  surround me.

Without pity ⁵  he pierces ⁶  my kidneys

and pours out my gall ⁷  on the ground.

Ayub 19:15

19:15 My guests ⁸  and my servant girls

consider ⁹  me a stranger;

I am a foreigner ¹⁰  in their eyes.

Ayub 37:13

37:13 Whether it is for punishment ¹¹  for his land,

or whether it is for mercy,

he causes it to find its mark. ¹² 

Ayub 38:37

38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,

and who can tip over ¹³  the water jars of heaven,

Ayub 39:2

39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,

and do you know the time they give birth? ¹⁴ 

Ayub 40:23

40:23 If the river rages, ¹⁵  it is not disturbed,

it is secure, ¹⁶  though the Jordan

should surge up to its mouth.

Ayub 41:31

41:31 It makes the deep boil like a cauldron

and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment, ¹⁷ 

[7:11]  ¹ tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.

[7:11]  ² sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

[7:11]  ³ tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb si^ah and the Nouns si^ah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).

[16:13]  ⁴ tn The meaning of “his archers” is supported for רַבָּיו (rabbayv) in view of Jer 50:29. The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum Job, followed by several translations and commentators prefer “arrows.” They see this as a more appropriate figure without raising the question of who the archers might be (see 6:4). The point is an unnecessary distinction, for the figure is an illustration of the affliction that God has brought on him.

[16:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he does not pity,” but the clause is functioning adverbially in the line.

[16:13]  ⁶ tn The verb פָּלַח (palakh) in the Piel means “to pierce” (see Prov 7:23). A fuller comparison should be made with Lam 3:12-13.

[16:13]  ⁷ tn This word מְרֵרָתִי (mÿrerati, “my gall”) is found only here. It is close to the form in Job 13:26, “bitter things.” In Job 20:14 it may mean “poison.” The thought is also found in Lam 2:11.

[19:15]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew גָּרֵי בֵיתִי (gare beti, “the guests of my house”) refers to those who sojourned in my house – not residents, but guests.

[19:15]  ⁹ tn The form of the verb is a feminine plural, which would seem to lend support to the proposed change of the lines (see last note to v. 14). But the form may be feminine primarily because of the immediate reference. On the other side, the suffix of “their eyes” is a masculine plural. So the evidence lies on both sides.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn This word נָכְרִי (nokhri) is the person from another race, from a strange land, the foreigner. The previous word, גֵּר (ger), is a more general word for someone who is staying in the land but is not a citizen, a sojourner.

[37:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “rod,” i.e., a rod used for punishment.

[37:13]  ¹² tn This is interpretive; Heb “he makes find it.” The lightning could be what is intended here, for it finds its mark. But R. Gordis (Job, 429) suggests man is the subject – let him find what it is for, i.e., the fate appropriate for him.

[38:37]  ¹³ tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”

[39:2]  ¹⁴ tn Here the infinitive is again a substantive: “the time of their giving birth.”

[40:23]  ¹⁵ tn The word ordinarily means “to oppress.” So many commentators have proposed suitable changes: “overflows” (Beer), “gushes” (Duhm), “swells violently” (Dhorme, from a word that means “be strong”).

[40:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “he remains calm.”

[41:31]  ¹⁷ sn The idea is either that the sea is stirred up like the foam from beating the ingredients together, or it is the musk-smell that is the point of comparison.