Ayub 4:4

4:4 Your words have supported ¹  those

who stumbled, ² 

and you have strengthened the knees

that gave way. ³ 

Ayub 6:6

6:6 Can food that is tasteless ⁴  be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white ⁵  of an egg?

Ayub 6:16

6:16 They ⁶  are dark ⁷  because of ice;

snow is piled ⁸  up over them. ⁹ 

Ayub 6:18

6:18 Caravans ¹⁰  turn aside from their routes;

they go ¹¹  into the wasteland ¹²  and perish. ¹³ 

Ayub 6:20-21

6:20 They were distressed, ¹⁴ 

because each one had been ¹⁵  so confident;

they arrived there, ¹⁶  but were disappointed.

6:21 For now ¹⁷  you have become like these streams that are no help; ¹⁸ 

you see a terror, ¹⁹  and are afraid.

Ayub 8:13

8:13 Such is the destiny ²⁰  of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless ²¹  perishes,

Ayub 12:25

12:25 They grope about in darkness ²²  without light;

he makes them stagger ²³  like drunkards.

Ayub 14:9

14:9 at the scent ²⁴  of water it will flourish ²⁵ 

and put forth ²⁶  shoots like a new plant.

Ayub 15:8

15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? ²⁷ 

Do you limit ²⁸  wisdom to yourself?

Ayub 15:24

15:24 Distress and anguish ²⁹  terrify him;

they prevail against him

like a king ready to launch an attack, ³⁰ 

Ayub 15:26

15:26 defiantly charging against him ³¹ 

with a thick, strong shield! ³² 

Ayub 19:24

19:24 that with an iron chisel and with lead ³³ 

they were engraved in a rock forever!

Ayub 21:13

21:13 They live out ³⁴  their years in prosperity

and go down ³⁵  to the grave ³⁶  in peace.

Ayub 21:31-32

21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;

no one repays him for what ³⁷  he has done. ³⁸ 

21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,

and watch is kept ³⁹  over the funeral mound, ⁴⁰ 

Ayub 22:11

22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, ⁴¹ 

and why a flood ⁴²  of water covers you.

Ayub 22:16

22:16 men ⁴³  who were carried off ⁴⁴  before their time, ⁴⁵ 

when the flood ⁴⁶  was poured out ⁴⁷ 

on their foundations? ⁴⁸ 

Ayub 24:3

24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;

they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

Ayub 24:23

24:23 God ⁴⁹  may let them rest in a feeling of security, ⁵⁰ 

but he is constantly watching ⁵¹  all their ways. ⁵² 

Ayub 26:6

26:6 The underworld ⁵³  is naked before God; ⁵⁴ 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ⁵⁵ 

Ayub 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Ayub 33:18

33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption, ⁵⁶ 

his very life from crossing over ⁵⁷  the river.

Ayub 34:8

34:8 He goes about ⁵⁸  in company ⁵⁹  with evildoers,

he goes along ⁶⁰  with wicked men. ⁶¹ 

Ayub 34:30

34:30 so that the godless man should not rule,

and not lay snares for the people. ⁶² 

Ayub 34:35

34:35 that ⁶³  Job speaks without knowledge

and his words are without understanding. ⁶⁴ 

Ayub 37:17

37:17 You, whose garments are hot

when the earth is still because of the south wind,

Ayub 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ⁶⁵  sang ⁶⁶  in chorus, ⁶⁷ 

and all the sons of God ⁶⁸  shouted for joy?

Ayub 38:18

38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?

Tell me, if you know it all!

Ayub 38:26-27

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ⁶⁹ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ⁷⁰ 

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ⁷¹ 

Ayub 38:38

38:38 when the dust hardens ⁷²  into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

Ayub 42:14

42:14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, ⁷³  the second Keziah, ⁷⁴  and the third Keren-Happuch. ⁷⁵ 

[4:4]  ¹ tn Both verbs in this line are imperfects, and probably carry the same nuance as the last verb in v. 3, namely, either customary imperfect or preterite. The customary has the aspect of stressing that this was what Job used to do.

[4:4]  ² tn The form is the singular active participle, interpreted here collectively. The verb is used of knees that give way (Isa 35:3; Ps 109:24).

[4:4]  ³ tn The expression is often translated as “feeble knees,” but it literally says “the bowing [or “tottering”] knees.” The figure is one who may be under a heavy load whose knees begin to shake and buckle (see also Heb 12:12).

[4:4]  sn Job had been successful at helping others not be crushed by the weight of trouble and misfortune. It is easier to help others than to preserve a proper perspective when one’s self is afflicted (E. Dhorme, Job, 44).

[6:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “a tasteless thing”; the word “food” is supplied from the context.

[6:6]  ⁵ tn Some commentators are not satisfied with the translation “white of an egg”; they prefer something connected to “slime of purslane” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 59; cf. NRSV “juice of mallows”). This meaning is based on the Syriac and Arabic version of Sa`adia. The meaning “white of the egg” comes from the rabbinic interpretation of “slime of the yolk.” Others carry the idea further and interpret it to mean “saliva of dreams” or after the LXX “in dream words.” H. H. Rowley does not think that the exact edible object can be identified. The idea of the slimy glaring white around the yolk of an egg seems to fit best. This is another illustration of something that is tasteless or insipid.

[6:16]  ⁶ tn The article on the participle joins this statement to the preceding noun; it can have the sense of “they” or “which.” The parallel sense then can be continued with a finite verb (see GKC 404 §126.b).

[6:16]  ⁷ tn The participle הַקֹּדְרים (haqqodÿrim), often rendered “which are black,” would better be translated “dark,” for it refers to the turbid waters filled with melting ice or melting snow, or to the frozen surface of the water, but not waters that are muddied. The versions failed to note that this referred to the waters introduced in v. 15.

[6:16]  ⁸ tn The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit’allem) has been translated “is hid” or “hides itself.” But this does not work easily in the sentence with the preposition “upon them.” Torczyner suggested “pile up” from an Aramaic root עֲלַם (’alam), and E. Dhorme (Job, 87) defends it without changing the text, contending that the form we have was chosen for alliterative value with the prepositional phrase before it.

[6:16]  ⁹ tn The LXX paraphrases the whole verse: “They who used to reverence me now come against me like snow or congealed ice.”

[6:18]  ¹⁰ tn This is the usual rendering of the Hebrew אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “way, path”). It would mean that the course of the wadi would wind down and be lost in the sand. Many commentators either repoint the text to אֹרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot) when in construct (as in Isa 21:13), or simply redefine the existing word to mean “caravans” as in the next verse, and translate something like “caravans deviate from their route.” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 160-61) allows that “caravans” will be introduced in the next verse, but urges retention of the usual sense here. The two verses together will yield the same idea in either case – the river dries up and caravans looking for the water deviate from their course looking for it.

[6:18]  ¹¹ tn The verb literally means “to go up,” but here no real ascent is intended for the wasteland. It means that they go inland looking for the water. The streams wind out into the desert and dry up in the sand and the heat. A. B. Davidson (Job, 47) notes the difficulty with the interpretation of this verse as a reference to caravans is that Ibn Ezra says that it is not usual for caravans to leave their path and wander inland in search of water.

[6:18]  ¹² tn The word תֹּהוּ (tohu) was used in Genesis for “waste,” meaning without shape or structure. Here the term refers to the trackless, unending wilderness (cf. 12:24).

[6:18]  ¹³ sn If the term “paths” (referring to the brook) is the subject, then this verb would mean it dies in the desert; if caravaneers are intended, then when they find no water they perish. The point in the argument would be the same in either case. Job is saying that his friends are like this water, and he like the caravaneer was looking for refreshment, but found only that the brook had dried up.

[6:20]  ¹⁴ tn The verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh) basically means “to be ashamed”; however, it has a wider range of meaning such as “disappointed” or “distressed.” The feeling of shame or distress is because of their confidence that they knew what they were doing. The verb is strengthened here with the parallel חָפַר (khafar, “to be confounded, disappointed”).

[6:20]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect verb has the nuance of past perfect here, for their confidence preceded their disappointment. Note the contrast, using these verbs, in Ps 22:6: “they trusted in you and they were not put to shame [i.e., disappointed].”

[6:20]  ¹⁶ tn The LXX misread the prepositional phrase as the noun “their cities”; it gives the line as “They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.”

[6:21]  ¹⁷ tn There is a textual problem in this line, an issue of Kethib-Qere. Some read the form with the Qere as the preposition with a suffix referring to “the river,” with the idea “you are like it.” Others would read the form with the Kethib as the negative “not,” meaning “for now you are nothing.” The LXX and the Syriac read the word as “to me.” RSV follows this and changes כִּי (ki, “for”) to כֵּן (ken, “thus”). However, such an emendation is unnecessary since כִּי (ki) itself can be legitimately employed as an emphatic particle. In that case, the translation would be, “Indeed, now you are” in the sense of “At this time you certainly are behaving like those streams.” The simplest reading is “for now you have become [like] it.” The meaning seems clear enough in the context that the friends, like the river, proved to be of no use. But D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 161) points out that the difficulty with this is that all references so far to the rivers have been in the plural.

[6:21]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect of הָיָה (hayah) could be translated as either “are” or “have been” rather than “have become” (cf. Joüon 2:373 §113.p with regard to stative verbs). “Like it” refers to the intermittent stream which promises water but does not deliver. The LXX has a paraphrase: “But you also have come to me without pity.”

[6:21]  ¹⁹ tn The word חֲתַת (khatat) is a hapax legomenon. The word חַת (khat) means “terror” in 41:25. The construct form חִתַּת (khittat) is found in Gen 35:5; and חִתִּית (khittit) is found in Ezek 26:17, 32:23). The Akkadian cognate means “terror.” It probably means that in Job’s suffering they recognized some dreaded thing from God and were afraid to speak any sympathy toward him.

[8:13]  ²⁰ tn The word אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot) means “ways” or “paths” in the sense of tracks of destiny or fate. The word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way, road, path”) is used in a similar way (Isa 40:27; Ps 37:5). However, many commentators emend the text to read אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) in harmony with the LXX. But Prov 1:19 (if not emended as well) confirms the primary meaning here without changing the text (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 199).

[8:13]  ²¹ tn The word חָנֵף (khanef) is often translated “hypocrite.” But the root verb means “to be profane,” and this would be done by idolatry or bloodshed. It describes an irreligious person, a godless person. In Dan 11:32 the word seems to mean “make someone pagan.” The word in this verse is parallel to “those who forget God.”

[12:25]  ²² tn The word is an adverbial accusative.

[12:25]  ²³ tn The verb is the same that was in v. 24, “He makes them [the leaders still] wander” (the Hiphil of תָּעָה, ta’ah). But in this passage some commentators emend the text to a Niphal of the verb and put it in the plural, to get the reading “they reel to and fro.” But even if the verse closes the chapter and there is no further need for a word of divine causation, the Hiphil sense works well here – causing people to wander like a drunken man would be the same as making them stagger.

[14:9]  ²⁴ tn The personification adds to the comparison with people – the tree is credited with the sense of smell to detect the water.

[14:9]  ²⁵ tn The sense of “flourish” for this verb is found in Ps 92:12,13[13,14], and Prov 14:11. It makes an appropriate parallel with “bring forth boughs” in the second half.

[14:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and will make.”

[15:8]  ²⁷ tn The meaning of סוֹד (sod) is “confidence.” In the context the implication is “secret counsel” of the Lord God (see Jer 23:18). It is a question of confidence on the part of God, that only wisdom can know (see Prov 8:30,31). Job seemed to them to claim to have access to the mind of God.

[15:8]  ²⁸ tn In v. 4 the word meant “limit”; here it has a slightly different sense, namely, “to reserve for oneself.”

[15:24]  ²⁹ tn If “day and darkness” are added to this line, then this verse is made into a tri-colon – the main reason for transferring it away from the last verse. But the newly proposed reading follows the LXX structure precisely, as if that were the approved construction. The Hebrew of MT has “distress and anguish terrify him.”

[15:24]  ³⁰ tn This last colon is deleted by some, moved to v. 26 by others, and the NEB puts it in brackets. The last word (translated here as “launch an attack”) occurs only here. HALOT 472 s.v. כִּידוֹר links it to an Arabic root kadara, “to rush down,” as with a bird of prey. J. Reider defines it as “perturbation” from the same root (“Etymological Studies in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127).

[15:26]  ³¹ tn Heb “he runs against [or upon] him with the neck.” The RSV takes this to mean “with a stiff neck.” Several commentators, influenced by the LXX’s “insolently,” have attempted to harmonize with some idiom for neck (“outstretched neck,” for example). Others have made more extensive changes. Pope and Anderson follow Tur-Sinai in accepting “with full battle armor.” But the main idea seems to be that of a headlong assault on God.

[15:26]  ³² tn Heb “with the thickness of the bosses of his shield.” The bosses are the convex sides of the bucklers, turned against the foe. This is a defiant attack on God.

[19:24]  ³³ sn There is some question concerning the use of the lead. It surely cannot be a second description of the tool, for a lead tool would be of no use in chiseling words into a rock. It was Rashi’s idea, followed by Dillmann and Duhm, that lead was run into the cut-out letters. The suggestion that they wrote on lead tablets does not seem to fit the verse (cf. NIV). See further A. Baker, “The Strange Case of Job’s Chisel,” CBQ 31 (1969): 370-79.

[21:13]  ³⁴ tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).

[21:13]  ³⁵ tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.

[21:13]  ³⁶ tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.

[21:31]  ³⁷ tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”

[21:31]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.

[21:32]  ³⁹ tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.

[21:32]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.

[22:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.

[22:11]  ⁴² tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.

[22:16]  ⁴³ tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”

[22:16]  ⁴⁴ tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”

[22:16]  ⁴⁵ tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.

[22:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).

[22:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).

[22:16]  ⁴⁸ tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.

[24:23]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:23]  ⁵⁰ tn The expression לָבֶטַח (lavetakh, “in security”) precedes the verb that it qualifies – God “allows him to take root in security.” For the meaning of the verb, see Job 8:15.

[24:23]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “his eyes are on.”

[24:23]  ⁵² sn The meaning of the verse is that God may allow the wicked to rest in comfort and security, but all the time he is watching them closely with the idea of bringing judgment on them.

[26:6]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ⁵⁵ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).

[33:18]  ⁵⁶ tn A number of interpreters and translations take this as “the pit” (see Job 17:14; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:18]  ⁵⁷ tc Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from passing through [or over].” The word שֶׁלַח (shelakh) does at times refer to a weapon, but most commentators look for a parallel with “the pit [or corruption].” One suggestion is שְׁאוֹלָה (shÿ’olah, “to Sheol”), proposed by Duhm. Dhorme thought it was שַׁלַח (shalakh) and referred to the passageway to the underworld (see M. Tsevat, VT 4 [1954]: 43; and Svi Rin, BZ 7 [1963]: 25). See discussion of options in HALOT 1517-18 s.v. IV שֶׁלַח. The idea of crossing the river of death fits the idea of the passage well, although the reading “to perish by the sword” makes sense and was followed by the NIV.

[34:8]  ⁵⁸ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ⁵⁹ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ⁶⁰ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:30]  ⁶² tn This last verse is difficult because it is unbalanced and cryptic. Some have joined the third line of v. 29 with this entire verse to make a couplet. But the same result is achieved by simply regarding this verse as the purpose of v. 29. But there still are some words that must be added. In the first colon, “[he is over the nations]…preventing from ruling.” And in the second colon, “laying” has to be supplied before “snares.”

[34:35]  ⁶³ tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.

[34:35]  ⁶⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”

[38:7]  ⁶⁵ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ⁶⁶ tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ⁶⁸ tn See Job 1:6.

[38:26]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”

[38:27]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).

[38:38]  ⁷² tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.

[42:14]  ⁷³ sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.”

[42:14]  ⁷⁴ sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.”

[42:14]  ⁷⁵ sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.”