Ayub 3:16

3:16 Or why ¹  was ²  I not buried ³ 

like a stillborn infant, ⁴ 

like infants ⁵  who have never seen the light? ⁶ 

Ayub 25:5

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, ⁷ 

[3:16]  ¹ tn The verb is governed by the interrogative of v. 12 that introduces this series of rhetorical questions.

[3:16]  ² tn The verb is again the prefix conjugation, but the narrative requires a past tense, or preterite.

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “hidden.” The LXX paraphrases: “an untimely birth, proceeding from his mother’s womb.”

[3:16]  ⁴ tn The noun נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”) is the abortive thing that falls (hence the verb) from the womb before the time is ripe (Ps 58:9). The idiom using the verb “to fall” from the womb means to come into the world (Isa 26:18). The epithet טָמוּן (tamun, “hidden”) is appropriate to the verse. The child comes in vain, and disappears into the darkness – it is hidden forever.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn The word עֹלְלִים (’olÿlim) normally refers to “nurslings.” Here it must refer to infants in general since it refers to a stillborn child.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn The relative clause does not have the relative pronoun; the simple juxtaposition of words indicates that it is modifying the infants.

[25:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”