Ayub 15:21

15:21 Terrifying sounds fill ¹  his ears;

in a time of peace marauders ²  attack him.

Ayub 27:2

27:2 “As surely as God lives, ³  who has denied me justice, ⁴ 

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter ⁵  –

Ayub 38:15

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence ⁶  is broken. ⁷ 

[15:21]  ¹ tn The word “fill” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[15:21]  ² tn The word שׁוֹדֵד (shoded) means “a robber; a plunderer” (see Job 12:6). With the verb bo’ the sentence means that the robber pounces on or comes against him (see GKC 373 §118.f). H. H. Rowley observes that the text does not say that he is under attack, but that the sound of fears is in his ears, i.e., that he is terrified by thoughts of this.

[27:2]  ³ tn The expression חַי־אֵל (khay-’el) is the oath formula: “as God lives.” In other words, the speaker is staking God’s life on the credibility of the words. It is like saying, “As truly as God is alive.”

[27:2]  ⁴ tn “My judgment” would here, as before, be “my right.” God has taken this away by afflicting Job unjustly (A. B. Davidson, Job, 187).

[27:2]  ⁵ tn The verb הֵמַר (hemar) is the Hiphil perfect from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”) and hence, “to make bitter.” The object of the verb is “my soul,” which is better translated as “me” or “my life.”

[38:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[38:15]  ⁷ sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).