Ayub 8:20

8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man, ¹ 

nor does he grasp the hand ² 

of the evildoers.

Ayub 33:27

33:27 That person sings ³  to others, ⁴  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ⁵ 

[8:20]  ¹ sn This is the description that the book gave to Job at the outset, a description that he deserved according to God’s revelation. The theme “God will not reject the blameless man” becomes Job’s main point (see 9:20,21; 10:3).

[8:20]  ² sn The idiom “to grasp the hand” of someone means to support or help the person.

[33:27]  ³ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ⁵ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”