Ayub 9:21

9:21 I am blameless. ¹  I do not know myself. ² 

I despise my life.

Ayub 18:21

18:21 ‘Surely such is the residence ³  of an evil man;

and this is the place of one who has not known God.’” ⁴ 

Ayub 31:13

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ⁵  with me,

Ayub 33:13

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ⁶  words?

Ayub 36:21

36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested ⁷  by affliction.

[9:21]  ¹ tn Dhorme, in an effort to avoid tautology, makes this a question: “Am I blameless?” The next clause then has Job answering that he does not know. But through the last section Job has been proclaiming his innocence. The other way of interpreting these verses is to follow NIV and make all of them hypothetical (“If I were blameless, he would pronounce me guilty”) and then come to this verse with Job saying, “I am blameless.” The second clause of this verse does not fit either view very well. In vv. 20, 21, and 22 Job employs the same term for “blameless” (תָּם, tam) as in the prologue (1:1). God used it to describe Job in 1:8 and 2:3. Bildad used it in 8:20. These are the final occurrences in the book.

[9:21]  ² tn The meaning of the expression “I do not know myself” seems to be, “I do not care.” NIV translates it, “I have no concern for my life.”

[9:21]  sn Job believes he is blameless and not deserving of all this suffering; he will hold fast to that claim, even if the future is uncertain, especially if that future involved a confrontation with God.

[18:21]  ³ tn The term is in the plural, “the tabernacles”; it should be taken as a plural of local extension (see GKC 397 §124.b).

[18:21]  ⁴ tn The word “place” is in construct; the clause following it replaces the genitive: “this is the place of – he has not known God.”

[31:13]  ⁵ tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[33:13]  ⁶ tc The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,” since it would be summarizing Job’s complaint to God.

[36:21]  ⁷ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”