Ayub 1:22

1:22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety. ¹ 

Ayub 3:19

3:19 Small and great are ²  there,

and the slave is free ³  from his master. ⁴ 

Ayub 4:13

4:13 In the troubling thoughts ⁵  of the dreams ⁶  in the night

when a deep sleep ⁷  falls on men,

Ayub 5:4

5:4 His children are far ⁸  from safety,

and they are crushed ⁹  at the place where judgment is rendered, ¹⁰ 

nor is there anyone to deliver them. ¹¹ 

Ayub 5:12

5:12 He frustrates ¹²  the plans ¹³  of the crafty ¹⁴ 

so that ¹⁵  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ¹⁶ 

Ayub 5:14

5:14 They meet with darkness in the daytime, ¹⁷ 

and grope about ¹⁸  in the noontime as if it were night. ¹⁹ 

Ayub 5:24

5:24 And ²⁰  you will know ²¹  that your home ²² 

will be secure, ²³ 

and when you inspect ²⁴  your domains,

you will not be missing ²⁵  anything.

Ayub 9:9

9:9 he makes the Bear, ²⁶  Orion, ²⁷  and the Pleiades, ²⁸ 

and the constellations of the southern sky; ²⁹ 

Ayub 9:25-26

Renewed Complaint

9:25 “My days ³⁰  are swifter than a runner, ³¹ 

they speed by without seeing happiness.

9:26 They glide by ³²  like reed ³³  boats,

like an eagle that swoops ³⁴  down on its prey. ³⁵ 

Ayub 17:10

Anticipation of Death

17:10 “But turn, all of you, ³⁶  and come ³⁷  now! ³⁸ 

I will not find a wise man among you.

Ayub 17:12

17:12 These men ³⁹  change ⁴⁰  night into day;

they say, ⁴¹  ‘The light is near

in the face of darkness.’ ⁴² 

Ayub 17:16

17:16 Will ⁴³  it ⁴⁴  go down to the barred gates ⁴⁵  of death?

Will ⁴⁶  we descend ⁴⁷  together into the dust?”

Ayub 19:13

Job’s Forsaken State

19:13 “He has put my relatives ⁴⁸  far from me;

my acquaintances only ⁴⁹  turn away from me.

Ayub 19:19

19:19 All my closest friends ⁵⁰  detest me;

and those whom ⁵¹  I love have turned against me. ⁵² 

Ayub 20:4

20:4 “Surely you know ⁵³  that it has been from old,

ever since humankind was placed ⁵⁴  on the earth,

Ayub 20:15

20:15 The wealth that he consumed ⁵⁵  he vomits up,

God will make him throw it out ⁵⁶  of his stomach.

Ayub 20:17

20:17 He will not look on the streams, ⁵⁷ 

the rivers, which are the torrents ⁵⁸ 

of honey and butter. ⁵⁹ 

Ayub 20:22

20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, ⁶⁰ 

distress ⁶¹  overtakes him.

the full force of misery will come upon him. ⁶² 

Ayub 21:12

21:12 They sing ⁶³  to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,

and make merry to the sound of the flute.

Ayub 22:22

22:22 Accept instruction ⁶⁴  from his mouth

and store up his words ⁶⁵  in your heart.

Ayub 24:7-8

24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;

they have no covering against the cold.

24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains

and huddle ⁶⁶  in the rocks because they lack shelter.

Ayub 24:21

24:21 He preys on ⁶⁷  the barren and childless woman, ⁶⁸ 

and does not treat the widow well.

Ayub 27:23

27:23 It claps ⁶⁹  its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place. ⁷⁰ 

Ayub 28:5

28:5 The earth, from which food comes,

is overturned below as though by fire; ⁷¹ 

Ayub 28:27

28:27 then he looked at wisdom ⁷²  and assessed its value; ⁷³ 

he established ⁷⁴  it and examined it closely. ⁷⁵ 

Ayub 29:23

29:23 They waited for me as people wait ⁷⁶  for the rain,

and they opened their mouths ⁷⁷ 

as for ⁷⁸  the spring rains.

Ayub 30:7

30:7 They brayed ⁷⁹  like animals among the bushes

and were huddled together ⁸⁰  under the nettles.

Ayub 30:14

30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;

amid the crash ⁸¹  they come rolling in. ⁸² 

Ayub 30:17

30:17 Night pierces ⁸³  my bones; ⁸⁴ 

my gnawing pains ⁸⁵  never cease.

Ayub 30:23

30:23 I know that you are bringing ⁸⁶  me to death,

to the meeting place for all the living.

Ayub 34:12

34:12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,

and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

Ayub 34:15

34:15 all flesh would perish together

and human beings would return to dust.

Ayub 36:31

36:31 It is by these that he judges ⁸⁷  the nations

and supplies food in abundance.

Ayub 37:2

37:2 Listen carefully ⁸⁸  to the thunder of his voice,

to the rumbling ⁸⁹  that proceeds from his mouth.

Ayub 37:14

37:14 “Pay attention to this, Job!

Stand still and consider the wonders God works.

Ayub 38:21

38:21 You know, for you were born before them; ⁹⁰ 

and the number of your days is great!

Ayub 41:25

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ⁹¹ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn The last clause is difficult to translate. It simply reads, “and he did not give unseemliness to God.” The word תִּפְלָה (tiflah) means “unsavoriness” or “unseemliness” in a moral sense. The sense is that Job did not charge God with any moral impropriety in his dealings with him. God did nothing worthless or tasteless. The ancient versions saw the word connected with “foolishness” or “stupidity” (תָּפֵל, tafel, “to be tasteless”). It is possible that “folly” would capture some of what Job meant here. See also M. Dahood, “Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography XII,” Bib 55 (1974): 381-93.

[3:19]  ² tn The versions have taken the pronoun in the sense of the verb “to be.” Others give it the sense of “the same thing,” rendering the verse as “small and great, there is no difference there.” GKC 437 §135.a, n. 1, follows this idea with a meaning of “the same.”

[3:19]  ³ tn The LXX renders this as “unafraid,” although the negative has disappeared in some mss to give the reading “and the servant that feared his master.” See I. Mendelsohn, “The Canaanite Term for ‘Free Proletarian’,” BASOR 83 (1941): 36-39; idem, “New Light on hupsu,” BASOR 139 (1955): 9-11.

[3:19]  ⁴ tn The plural “masters” could be taken here as a plural of majesty rather than as referring to numerous masters.

[4:13]  ⁵ tn Here too the word is rare. The form שְׂעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim, “disquietings”) occurs only here and in 20:2. The form שַׂרְעַפִּים (sar’appim, “disquieting thoughts”), possibly related by dissimilation, occurs in Pss 94:19 and 139:23. There seems to be a connection with סְעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim) in 1 Kgs 18:21 with the meaning “divided opinion”; this is related to the idea of סְעִפָּה (sÿ’ippah, “bough”). H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 47) concludes that the point is that like branches the thoughts lead off into different and bewildering places. E. Dhorme (Job, 50) links the word to an Arabic root (“to be passionately smitten”) for the idea of “intimate thoughts.” The idea here and in Ps 139 has more to do with anxious, troubling, disquieting thoughts, as in a nightmare.

[4:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “visions” of the night.

[4:13]  ⁷ tn The word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) is a “deep sleep.” It is used in the creation account when the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam; and it is used in the story of Jonah when the prophet was asleep during the storm. The LXX interprets it to mean “fear,” rendering the whole verse “but terror falls upon men with dread and a sound in the night.”

[5:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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.”

[5:12]  ¹² tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ¹³ tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ¹⁴ tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ¹⁵ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ¹⁶ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[5:14]  ¹⁷ sn God so confuses the crafty that they are unable to fulfill their plans – it is as if they encounter darkness in broad daylight. This is like the Syrians in 2 Kgs 6:18-23.

[5:14]  ¹⁸ tn The verb מָשַׁשׁ (mashash) expresses the idea of groping about in the darkness. This is part of the fulfillment of Deut 28:29, which says, “and you shall grope at noonday as the blind grope in darkness.” This image is also in Isa 59:10.

[5:14]  ¹⁹ sn The verse provides a picture of the frustration and bewilderment in the crafty who cannot accomplish their ends because God thwarts them.

[5:24]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Heb “tent.”

[5:24]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.

[9:9]  ²⁶ sn The Hebrew has עָשׁ (’ash), although in 38:32 it is עַיִשׁ (’ayish). This has been suggested to be Aldebaran, a star in the constellation Taurus, but there have been many other suggestions put forward by the commentaries.

[9:9]  ²⁷ sn There is more certainty for the understanding of this word as Orion, even though there is some overlap of the usage of the words in the Bible. In classical literature we have the same stereotypical reference to these three (see E. Dhorme, Job, 131).

[9:9]  ²⁸ sn The identification of this as the Pleiades is accepted by most (the Vulgate has “Hyades”). In classical Greek mythology, the seven Pleiades were seven sisters of the Hyades who were pursued by Orion until they were changed into stars by Zeus. The Greek myth is probably derived from an older Semitic myth.

[9:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and the chambers of the south.”

[9:25]  ³⁰ tn The text has “and my days” following the thoughts in the previous section.

[9:25]  ³¹ sn Job returns to the thought of the brevity of his life (7:6). But now the figure is the swift runner instead of the weaver’s shuttle.

[9:26]  ³² tn Heb “they flee.”

[9:26]  ³³ tn The word אֵבֶה (’eveh) means “reed, papyrus,” but it is a different word than was in 8:11. What is in view here is a light boat made from bundles of papyrus that glides swiftly along the Nile (cf. Isa 18:2 where papyrus vessels and swiftness are associated).

[9:26]  ³⁴ tn The verb יָטוּשׂ (yatus) is also a hapax legomenon; the Aramaic cognate means “to soar; to hover in flight.” The sentence here requires the idea of swooping down while in flight.

[9:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “food.”

[17:10]  ³⁶ tn The form says “all of them.” Several editors would change it to “all of you,” but the lack of concord is not surprising; the vocative elsewhere uses the third person (see Mic 1:2; see also GKC 441 §135.r).

[17:10]  ³⁷ tn The first verb, the jussive, means “to return”; the second verb, the imperative, means “to come.” The two could be taken as a hendiadys, the first verb becoming adverbial: “to come again.”

[17:10]  ³⁸ tn Instead of the exact correspondence between coordinate verbs, other combinations occur – here we have a jussive and an imperative (see GKC 386 §120.e).

[17:12]  ³⁹ tn The verse simply has the plural, “they change.” But since this verse seems to be a description of his friends, a clarification of the referent in the translation is helpful.

[17:12]  ⁴⁰ tn The same verb שִׂים (sim, “set”) is used this way in Isa 5:20: “…who change darkness into light.”

[17:12]  ⁴¹ tn The rest of the verse makes better sense if it is interpreted as what his friends say.

[17:12]  ⁴² tn This expression is open to alternative translations: (1) It could mean that they say in the face of darkness, “Light is near.” (2) It could also mean “The light is near the darkness” or “The light is nearer than the darkness.”

[17:16]  ⁴³ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ⁴⁴ tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ⁴⁵ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ⁴⁶ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ⁴⁷ tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[19:13]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “brothers.”

[19:13]  ⁴⁹ tn The LXX apparently took אַךְ־זָרוּ (’akh, “even, only,” and zaru, “they turn away”) together as if it was the verb אַכְזָרוּ (’akhzaru, “they have become cruel,” as in 20:21). But the grammar in the line would be difficult with this. Moreover, the word is most likely from זוּר (zur, “to turn away”). See L. A. Snijders, “The Meaning of zar in the Old Testament,” OTS 10 (1964): 1-154 (especially p. 9).

[19:19]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “men of my confidence,” or “men of my council,” i.e., intimate friends, confidants.

[19:19]  ⁵¹ tn The pronoun זֶה (zeh) functions here in the place of a nominative (see GKC 447 §138.h).

[19:19]  ⁵² tn T. Penar translates this “turn away from me” (“Job 19,19 in the Light of Ben Sira 6,11,” Bib 48 [1967]: 293-95).

[20:4]  ⁵³ tn The MT has “Do you not know?” The question can be interpreted as a rhetorical question affirming that Job must know this. The question serves to express the conviction that the contents are well-known to the audience (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[20:4]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “from the putting of man on earth.” The infinitive is the object of the preposition, which is here temporal. If “man” is taken as the subjective genitive, then the verb would be given a passive translation. Here “man” is a generic, referring to “mankind” or “the human race.”

[20:15]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “swallowed.”

[20:15]  ⁵⁶ tn The choice of words is excellent. The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash) means either “to inherit” or “to disinherit; to dispossess.” The context makes the figure clear that God is administering the emetic to make the wicked throw up the wealth (thus, “God will make him throw it out…”); but since wealth is the subject there is a disinheritance meant here.

[20:17]  ⁵⁷ tn The word פְּלַגּוֹת (pÿlaggot) simply means “streams” or “channels.” Because the word is used elsewhere for “streams of oil” (cf. 29:6), and that makes a good parallelism here, some supply “oil” (cf. NAB, NLT). But the second colon of the verse is probably in apposition to the first. The verb “see” followed by the preposition bet, “to look on; to look over,” means “to enjoy as a possession,” an activity of the victor.

[20:17]  ⁵⁸ tn The construct nouns here have caused a certain amount of revision. It says “rivers of, torrents of.” The first has been emended by Klostermann to יִצְהָר (yitshar, “oil”) and connected to the first colon. Older editors argued for a נָהָר (nahar) that meant “oil” but that was not convincing. On the other hand, there is support for having more than one construct together serving as apposition (see GKC 422 §130.e). If the word “streams” in the last colon is a construct, that would mean three of them; but that one need not be construct. The reading would be “He will not see the streams, [that is] the rivers [which are] the torrents of honey and butter.” It is unusual, but workable.

[20:17]  ⁵⁹ sn This word is often translated “curds.” It is curdled milk, possibly a type of butter.

[20:22]  ⁶⁰ tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word sapaq,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).

[20:22]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.

[20:22]  ⁶² tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (’amel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (’amal, “trouble”) here.

[21:12]  ⁶³ tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”

[22:22]  ⁶⁴ tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.

[22:22]  ⁶⁵ tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).

[24:8]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “embrace” or “hug.”

[24:21]  ⁶⁷ tc The form in the text is the active participle, “feed; graze; shepherd.” The idea of “prey” is not natural to it. R. Gordis (Job, 270) argues that third he (ה) verbs are often by-forms of geminate verbs, and so the meaning here is more akin to רָעַע (ra’a’, “to crush”). The LXX seems to have read something like הֵרַע (hera’, “oppressed”).

[24:21]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “the childless [woman], she does not give birth.” The verbal clause is intended to serve as a modifier here for the woman. See on subordinate verbal clauses GKC 490 §156.d, f.

[27:23]  ⁶⁹ tn If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands…men will whistle upon him.”

[27:23]  ⁷⁰ tn Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).

[28:5]  ⁷¹ sn The verse has been properly understood, on the whole, as comparing the earth above and all its produce with the upheaval down below.

[28:27]  ⁷² tn Heb “it”; the referent (wisdom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[28:27]  ⁷³ tn The verb סָפַר (safar) in the Piel basically means “to tell; to declare; to show” or “to count; to number.” Many commentators offer different suggestions for the translation. “Declared” (as in the RSV, NASB, and NRSV) would be the simplest – but to whom did God declare it? Besides “appraised” which is the view of Pope, Dhorme and others (cf. NAB, NIV), J. Reider has suggested “probed” (“Etymological studies in biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127), Strahan has “studied,” and Kissane has “reckoned.” The difficulty is that the line has a series of verbs, which seem to build to a climax; but without more details it is hard to know how to translate them when they have such a range of meaning.

[28:27]  ⁷⁴ tc The verb כּוּן (kun) means “to establish; to prepare” in this stem. There are several mss that have the form from בִּין (bin, “discern”), giving “he discerned it,” making more of a parallel with the first colon. But the weight of the evidence supports the traditional MT reading.

[28:27]  ⁷⁵ tn The verb חָקַר (khaqar) means “to examine; to search out.” Some of the language used here is anthropomorphic, for the sovereign Lord did not have to research or investigate wisdom. The point is that it is as if he did this human activity, meaning that as in the results of such a search God knows everything about wisdom.

[29:23]  ⁷⁶ tn The phrase “people wait for” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[29:23]  ⁷⁷ sn The analogy is that they received his words eagerly as the dry ground opens to receive the rains.

[29:23]  ⁷⁸ tn The כּ (kaf) preposition is to be supplied by analogy with the preceding phrase. This leaves a double proposition, “as for” (but see Job 29:2).

[30:7]  ⁷⁹ tn The verb נָהַק (nahaq) means “to bray.” It has cognates in Arabic, Aramaic, and Ugaritic, so there is no need for emendation here. It is the sign of an animal’s hunger. In the translation the words “like animals” are supplied to clarify the metaphor for the modern reader.

[30:7]  ⁸⁰ tn The Pual of the verb סָפַח (safakh, “to join”) also brings out the passivity of these people – “they were huddled together” (E. Dhorme, Job, 434).

[30:14]  ⁸¹ tn The MT has “under the crash,” with the idea that they rush in while the stones are falling around them (which is continuing the figure of the military attack). G. R. Driver took the expression to mean in a temporal sense “at the moment of the crash” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163-64). Guillaume, drawing from Arabic, has “where the gap is made.”

[30:14]  ⁸² tn The verb, the Hitpalpel of גָּלַל (galal), means “they roll themselves.” This could mean “they roll themselves under the ruins” (Dhorme), “they roll on like a storm” (Gordis), or “they roll on” as in waves of enemy attackers (see H. H. Rowley). This particular verb form is found only here (but see Amos 5:24).

[30:17]  ⁸³ tn The subject of the verb “pierces” can be the night (personified), or it could be God (understood), leaving “night” to be an adverbial accusative of time – “at night he pierces.”

[30:17]  ⁸⁴ tc The MT concludes this half-verse with “upon me.” That phrase is not in the LXX, and so many commentators delete it as making the line too long.

[30:17]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “my gnawers,” which is open to several interpretations. The NASB and NIV take it as “gnawing pains”; cf. NRSV “the pain that gnaws me.” Some suggest worms in the sores (7:5). The LXX has “my nerves,” a view accepted by many commentators.

[30:23]  ⁸⁶ tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.

[36:31]  ⁸⁷ tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposedיָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).

[37:2]  ⁸⁸ tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.

[37:2]  ⁸⁹ tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).

[38:21]  ⁹⁰ tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.

[41:25]  ⁹¹ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”