Ayub 3:8

3:8 Let those who curse the day ¹  curse it ²  –

those who are prepared to rouse ³  Leviathan. ⁴ 

Ayub 27:3

27:3 for while ⁵  my spirit ⁶  is still in me,

and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

Ayub 31:1

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with ⁷  my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? ⁸ 

Ayub 31:5

31:5 If ⁹  I have walked in falsehood,

and if ¹⁰  my foot has hastened ¹¹  to deceit –

Ayub 31:30

31:30 I ¹²  have not even permitted my mouth ¹³  to sin

by asking ¹⁴  for his life through a curse –

Ayub 31:35

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ¹⁵  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ¹⁶ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ¹⁷ 

that my accuser had written. ¹⁸ 

Ayub 34:32

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. ¹⁹ 

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

[3:8]  ¹ tn Not everyone is satisfied with the reading of the MT. Gordis thought “day” should be “sea,” and “cursers” should be “rousers” (changing ’alef to ’ayin; cf. NRSV). This is an unnecessary change, for there is no textual problem in the line (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 71). Others have taken the reading “sea” as a personification and accepted the rest of the text, gaining the sense of “those whose magic binds even the sea monster of the deep” (e.g., NEB).

[3:8]  sn Those who curse the day are probably the professional enchanters and magicians who were thought to cast spells on days and overwhelm them with darkness and misfortune. The myths explained eclipses as the dragon throwing its folds around the sun and the moon, thus engulfing or swallowing the day and the night. This interpretation matches the parallelism better than the interpretation that says these are merely professional mourners.

[3:8]  ² tn The verb is probably “execrate, curse,” from קָבַב (qavav). But E. Ullendorff took it from נָקַב (naqav, “pierce”) and gained a reading “Let the light rays of day pierce it (i.e. the night) apt even to rouse Leviathan” (“Job 3:8,” VT 11 [1961]: 350-51).

[3:8]  ³ tn The verbal adjective עָתִיד (’atid) means “ready, prepared.” Here it has a substantival use similar to that of participles. It is followed by the Polel infinitive construct עֹרֵר (’orer). The infinitive without the preposition serves as the object of the preceding verbal adjective (GKC 350 §114.m).

[3:8]  ⁴ sn Job employs here the mythological figure Leviathan, the monster of the deep or chaos. Job wishes that such a creation of chaos could be summoned by the mourners to swallow up that day. See E. Ullendorff, “Job 3:8,” VT 11 (1961): 350-51.

[27:3]  ⁵ tn The adverb עוֹד (’od) was originally a noun, and so here it could be rendered “all the existence of my spirit.” The word comes between the noun in construct and its actual genitive (see GKC 415 §128.e).

[27:3]  ⁶ tn The word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah) is the “breath” that was breathed into Adam in Gen 2:7. Its usage includes the animating breath, the spiritual understanding, and the functioning conscience – so the whole spirit of the person. The other word in this verse, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context. Here, since it talks about the nostrils, it should be translated “breath.”

[31:1]  ⁷ tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).

[31:1]  ⁸ tn This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated “not to pay attention.”

[31:5]  ⁹ tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.

[31:5]  ¹⁰ tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.

[31:5]  ¹¹ sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.

[31:30]  ¹² tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ¹⁴ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.

[31:35]  ¹⁵ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.

[31:35]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).

[31:35]  ¹⁸ tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).

[34:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”