Ayub 32:4

32:4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking ¹  to Job, because the others ²  were older than he was.

Ayub 29:21

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People ³  listened to me and waited silently; ⁴ 

they kept silent for my advice.

Ayub 29:23

29:23 They waited for me as people wait ⁵  for the rain,

and they opened their mouths ⁶ 

as for ⁷  the spring rains.

[32:4]  ¹ tc This reading requires repointing the word בִּדְבָרִים (bidbarim, “with words”) to בְּדָבְּרָם (bÿdabbÿram, “while they spoke [with Job]”). If the MT is retained, it would mean “he waited for Job with words,” which while understandable is awkward.

[32:4]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the other friends) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:21]  ³ tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.

[29:21]  ⁴ tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.

[29:23]  ⁵ tn The phrase “people wait for” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[29:23]  ⁶ sn The analogy is that they received his words eagerly as the dry ground opens to receive the rains.

[29:23]  ⁷ tn The כּ (kaf) preposition is to be supplied by analogy with the preceding phrase. This leaves a double proposition, “as for” (but see Job 29:2).