Ayub 3:13

3:13 For now ¹  I would be lying down

and ²  would be quiet, ³ 

I would be asleep and then at peace ⁴ 

Ayub 5:4

5:4 His children are far ⁵  from safety,

and they are crushed ⁶  at the place where judgment is rendered, ⁷ 

nor is there anyone to deliver them. ⁸ 

Ayub 5:24

5:24 And ⁹  you will know ¹⁰  that your home ¹¹ 

will be secure, ¹² 

and when you inspect ¹³  your domains,

you will not be missing ¹⁴  anything.

Ayub 6:24

No Sin Discovered

6:24 “Teach ¹⁵  me and I, for my part, ¹⁶  will be silent;

explain to me ¹⁷  how I have been mistaken. ¹⁸ 

Ayub 7:19

7:19 Will you never ¹⁹  look away from me, ²⁰ 

will you not let me alone ²¹ 

long enough to swallow my spittle?

Ayub 9:30

9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, ²² 

and make my hands clean with lye, ²³ 

Ayub 9:35

9:35 Then ²⁴  would I speak and not fear him,

but it is not so with me. ²⁵ 

Ayub 10:14

10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me

and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.

Ayub 11:12

11:12 But an empty man will become wise,

when a wild donkey’s colt is born a human being. ²⁶ 

Ayub 12:11

12:11 Does not the ear test words,

as ²⁷  the tongue ²⁸  tastes food? ²⁹ 

Ayub 13:19

13:19 Who ³⁰  will contend with me?

If anyone can, I will be silent and die. ³¹ 

Ayub 15:14

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Ayub 20:8

20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, ³² 

and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.

Ayub 20:24

20:24 If he flees from an iron weapon,

then an arrow ³³  from a bronze bow pierces him.

Ayub 21:22

21:22 Can anyone teach ³⁴  God knowledge,

since ³⁵  he judges those that are on high? ³⁶ 

Ayub 23:5

23:5 I would know with what words ³⁷  he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

Ayub 23:16

23:16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint; ³⁸ 

the Almighty has terrified me.

Ayub 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ³⁹ 

On whom does his light ⁴⁰  not rise?

Ayub 34:11

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ⁴¹ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ⁴² 

Ayub 38:19

38:19 “In what direction ⁴³  does light reside,

and darkness, where is its place,

Ayub 38:21

38:21 You know, for you were born before them; ⁴⁴ 

and the number of your days is great!

Ayub 39:8

39:8 It ranges the hills as its pasture,

and searches after every green plant.

[3:13]  ¹ tn The word עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) may have a logical nuance here, almost with the idea of “if that had been the case…” (IBHS 667-68 §39.3.4f). However, the temporal “now” is retained in translation since the imperfect verb following two perfects “suggests what Job’s present state would be if he had had the quiet of a still birth” (J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 95, n. 23). Cf. GKC 313 §106.p.

[3:13]  ² tn The copula on the verb indicates a sequence for the imperfect: “and then I would….” In the second half of the verse it is paralleled by “then.”

[3:13]  ³ tn The text uses a combination of the perfect (lie down/sleep) and imperfect (quiet/rest). The particle עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) gives to the perfect verb its conditional nuance. It presents actions in the past that are not actually accomplished but seen as possible (GKC 313 §106.p).

[3:13]  ⁴ tn The last part uses the impersonal verb “it would be at rest for me.”

[5:4]  ⁵ tn The imperfect verbs in this verse describe the condition of the accursed situation. Some commentators follow the LXX and take these as jussives, making this verse the curse that the man pronounced upon the fool. Rashi adds “This is the malediction with which I have cursed him.” That would make the speaker the one calling down the judgment on the fool rather than responding by observation how God destroyed the habitation of the fool.

[5:4]  ⁶ tn The verb יִדַּכְּאוּ (yiddakkÿ’u) could be taken as the passive voice, or in the reciprocal sense (“crush one another”) or reflexive (“crush themselves”). The context favors the idea that the children of the foolish person will be destroyed because there is no one who will deliver them.

[5:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the gate.” The city gate was the place of both business and justice. The sense here seems to fit the usage of gates as the place of legal disputes, so the phrase “at the place of judgment” has been used in the translation.

[5:4]  ⁸ tn The text simply says “and there is no deliverer.” The entire clause could be subordinated to the preceding clause, and rendered simply “without a deliverer.”

[5:24]  ⁹ sn Verses 19-23 described the immunity from evil and trouble that Job would enjoy – if he were restored to peace with God. Now, v. 24 describes the safety and peace of the homestead and his possessions if he were right with God.

[5:24]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is again the perfect, but in sequence to the previous structure so that it is rendered as a future. This would be the case if Job were right with God.

[5:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “tent.”

[5:24]  ¹² tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) means “peace; safety; security; wholeness.” The same use appears in 1 Sam 25:6; 2 Sam 20:9.

[5:24]  ¹³ tn The verb is פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). The idea here is “to gather together; to look over; to investigate,” or possibly even “to number” as it is used in the book of Numbers. The verb is the perfect with the vav consecutive; it may be subordinated to the imperfect verb that follows to form a temporal clause.

[5:24]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is usually rendered “to sin”; but in this context the more specific primary meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fail to find something.” Neither Job’s tent nor his possessions will be lost.

[6:24]  ¹⁵ tn The verb “teach” or “instruct” is the Hiphil הוֹרוּנִי (horuni), from the verb יָרָה (yarah); the basic idea of “point, direct” lies behind this meaning. The verb is cognate to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “instruction, teaching, law”).

[6:24]  ¹⁶ tn The independent personal pronoun makes the subject of the verb emphatic: “and I will be silent.”

[6:24]  ¹⁷ tn The verb is הָבִינוּ (havinu, “to cause someone to understand”); with the ל (lamed) following, it has the sense of “explain to me.”

[6:24]  ¹⁸ tn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah) has the sense of “wandering, getting lost, being mistaken.”

[7:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

[7:19]  ²⁰ tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

[7:19]  ²¹ tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”

[9:30]  ²² tn The Syriac and Targum Job read with the Qere “with water of [בְמֵי, bÿme] snow.” The Kethib simply has “in [בְמוֹ, bÿmo] snow.” In Ps 51:9 and Isa 1:18 snow forms a simile for purification. Some protest that snow water is not necessarily clean; but if fresh melting snow is meant, then the runoff would be very clear. The image would work well here. Nevertheless, others have followed the later Hebrew meaning for שֶׁלֶג (sheleg) – “soap” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT). Even though that makes a nice parallelism, it is uncertain whether that meaning was in use at the time this text was written.

[9:30]  ²³ tn The word בֹּר (bor, “lye, potash”) does not refer to purity (Syriac, KJV, ASV), but refers to the ingredient used to make the hands pure or clean. It has the same meaning as בֹּרִית (borit), the alkali or soda made from the ashes of certain plants.

[9:35]  ²⁴ tn There is no conjunction with this cohortative; but the implication from the context is that if God’s rod were withdrawn, if the terror were removed, then Job would speak up without fear.

[9:35]  ²⁵ tn The last half of the verse is rather cryptic: “but not so I with me.” NIV renders it “but as it now stands with me, I cannot.” This is very smooth and interpretive. Others transpose the two halves of the verse to read, “Since it is not so, I with myself // will commune and not fear him.” Job would be saying that since he cannot contend with God on equal terms, and since there is no arbiter, he will come on his own terms. English versions have handled this differently: “for I know I am not what I am thought to be” (NEB); “since this is not the case with me” (NAB); “I do not see myself like that at all” (JB).

[11:12]  ²⁶ tn As A. B. Davidson (Job, 84) says, the one thing will happen when the other happens – which is never. The word “empty” נָבוּב (navuv) means “hollow; witless,” and “become wise” (יִלָּבֵב, yillavev) is “will get heart” (not to “lack heart” as Driver suggested”). Many commentators do not like the last line of the verse, and so offer even more emendations. E. F. Sutcliffe wanted to change פֶּרֶא (pere’, “donkey”) to פֶּרֶד (pered, “stallion”), rendering “a witless wight may get wit when a mule is born a stallion” (“Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 70-71); and others approached the verse by changing the verb from יִוָּלֵד (yivvaled, “is born”) to יִלָּמֵד (yillamed, “is taught”), resulting in “a hollow man may get understanding, and a wild donkey’s colt may be taught [= tamed]” (cf. NAB).

[12:11]  ²⁷ tn The ו (vav) introduces the comparison here (see 5:7; 11:12); see GKC 499 §161.a.

[12:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the palate.”

[12:11]  ²⁹ tn The final preposition with its suffix is to be understood as a pleonastic dativus ethicus and not translated (see GKC 439 §135.i).

[12:11]  sn In the rest of the chapter Job turns his attention away from creation to the wisdom of ancient men. In Job 13:1 when Job looks back to this part, he refers to both the eye and the ear. In vv. 13-25 Job refers to many catastrophes which he could not have seen, but must have heard about.

[13:19]  ³⁰ tn The interrogative is joined with the emphatic pronoun, stressing “who is he [who] will contend,” or more emphatically, “who in the world will contend.” Job is confident that no one can bring charges against him. He is certain of success.

[13:19]  ³¹ sn Job is confident that he will be vindicated. But if someone were to show up and have proof of sin against him, he would be silent and die (literally “keep silent and expire”).

[20:8]  ³² tn Heb “and they do not find him.” The verb has no expressed subject, and so here is equivalent to a passive. The clause itself is taken adverbially in the sentence.

[20:24]  ³³ tn Heb “a bronze bow pierces him.” The words “an arrow from” are implied and are supplied in the translation; cf. “pulls it out” in the following verse.

[21:22]  ³⁴ tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical – it is affirming that no one can teach God.

[21:22]  ³⁵ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) and the pronoun, “and he.” This is to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause. See GKC 456 §142.d.

[21:22]  ³⁶ tc The Hebrew has רָמִים (ramim), a plural masculine participle of רוּם (rum, “to be high; to be exalted”). This is probably a reference to the angels. But M. Dahood restores an older interpretation that it refers to “the Most High” (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,”Bib 38 [1957]: 316-17). He would take the word as a singular form with an enclitic mem (ם). He reads the verse, “will he judge the Most High?”

[23:5]  ³⁷ tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”

[23:16]  ³⁸ tn The verb הֵרַךְ (kherakh) means “to be tender”; in the Piel it would have the meaning “to soften.” The word is used in parallel constructions with the verbs for “fear.” The implication is that God has made Job fearful.

[25:3]  ³⁹ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[34:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.

[38:19]  ⁴³ tn The interrogative with דֶרֶךְ (derekh) means “in what road” or “in what direction.”

[38:21]  ⁴⁴ tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.