Ayub 1:9

1:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? ¹ 

Ayub 2:6

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ²  he is ³  in your power; ⁴  only preserve ⁵  his life.”

Ayub 5:25

5:25 You will also know that your children ⁶  will be numerous,

and your descendants ⁷  like the grass of the earth.

Ayub 8:22

8:22 Those who hate you ⁸  will be clothed with shame, ⁹ 

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

Ayub 13:19

13:19 Who ¹⁰  will contend with me?

If anyone can, I will be silent and die. ¹¹ 

Ayub 13:21

13:21 Remove ¹²  your hand ¹³  far from me

and stop making me afraid with your terror. ¹⁴ 

Ayub 14:19

14:19 as water wears away stones,

and torrents ¹⁵  wash away the soil, ¹⁶ 

so you destroy man’s hope. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 15:2

15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, ¹⁸ 

or fill his belly ¹⁹  with the east wind? ²⁰ 

Ayub 16:3

16:3 Will ²¹  there be an end to your ²²  windy words? ²³ 

Or what provokes ²⁴  you that you answer? ²⁵ 

Ayub 18:5

18:5 “Yes, ²⁶  the lamp ²⁷  of the wicked is extinguished;

his flame of fire ²⁸  does not shine.

Ayub 19:3

19:3 These ten times ²⁹  you have been reproaching me; ³⁰ 

you are not ashamed to attack me! ³¹ 

Ayub 20:3

20:3 When ³²  I hear a reproof that dishonors ³³  me,

then my understanding ³⁴  prompts me to answer. ³⁵ 

Ayub 22:9

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms ³⁶  of the orphans you crushed. ³⁷ 

Ayub 22:24

22:24 and throw ³⁸  your gold ³⁹  in the dust –

your gold ⁴⁰  of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

Ayub 34:18

34:18 who says to a king, ⁴¹  ‘Worthless man’ ⁴² 

and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’

Ayub 34:36

34:36 But ⁴³  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

Ayub 35:8

35:8 Your wickedness affects only ⁴⁴  a person like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people. ⁴⁵ 

Ayub 38:13

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ⁴⁶ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

Ayub 41:3

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, ⁴⁷ 

will it speak to you with tender words? ⁴⁸ 

[1:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew form has the interrogative ה (he) on the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”), a derivative either of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”), or its related noun חֵן (khen, “grace, favor”). The adverb has the sense of “free; gratis; gratuitously; for nothing; for no reason” (see BDB 336 s.v. חִנָּם). The idea is that Satan does not disagree that Job is pious, but that Job is loyal to God because of what he receives from God. He will test the sincerity of Job.

[2:6]  ² tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.

[2:6]  ³ tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ⁵ sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.

[5:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “your seed.”

[5:25]  ⁷ tn The word means “your shoots” and is parallel to “your seed” in the first colon. It refers here (as in Isa 34:1 and 42:5) to the produce of the earth. Some commentators suggest that Eliphaz seems to have forgotten or was insensitive to Job’s loss of his children; H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 57) says his conventional theology is untouched by human feeling.

[8:22]  ⁸ sn These verses show several points of similarity with the style of the Book of Psalms. “Those who hate you” and the “evil-doers” are fairly common words to describe the ungodly in the Psalms. “Those who hate you” are enemies of the righteous man because of the parallelism in the verse. By this line Bildad is showing Job that he and his friends are not among those who are his enemies, and that Job himself is really among the righteous. It is an appealing way to end the discourse. See further G. W. Anderson, “Enemies and Evil-doers in the Book of Psalms,” BJRL 48 (1965/66): 18-29.

[8:22]  ⁹ tn “Shame” is compared to a garment that can be worn. The “shame” envisioned here is much more than embarrassment or disgrace – it is utter destruction. For parallels in the Psalms, see Pss 35:26; 132:18; 109:29.

[13:19]  ¹⁰ tn The interrogative is joined with the emphatic pronoun, stressing “who is he [who] will contend,” or more emphatically, “who in the world will contend.” Job is confident that no one can bring charges against him. He is certain of success.

[13:19]  ¹¹ sn Job is confident that he will be vindicated. But if someone were to show up and have proof of sin against him, he would be silent and die (literally “keep silent and expire”).

[13:21]  ¹² tn The imperative הַרְחַק (harkhaq, “remove”; GKC 98 §29.q), from רָחַק (rakhaq, “far, be far”) means “take away [far away]; to remove.”

[13:21]  ¹³ sn This is a common, but bold, anthropomorphism. The fact that the word used is כַּף (kaf, properly “palm”) rather than יָד (yad, “hand,” with the sense of power) may stress Job’s feeling of being trapped or confined (see also Ps 139:5, 7).

[13:21]  ¹⁴ tn See Job 9:34.

[14:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the overflowings of it”; the word סְפִיחֶיהָ (sÿfikheyha) in the text is changed by just about everyone. The idea of “its overflowings” or more properly “its aftergrowths” (Lev 25:5; 2 Kgs 19:29; etc.) does not fit here at all. Budde suggested reading סְחִפָה (sÿkhifah), which is cognate to Arabic sahifeh, “torrential rain, rainstorm” – that which sweeps away” the soil. The word סָחַף (sakhaf) in Hebrew might have a wider usage than the effects of rain.

[14:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[the] dust of [the] earth.”

[14:19]  ¹⁷ sn The meaning for Job is that death shatters all of man’s hopes for the continuation of life.

[15:2]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew is דַעַת־רוּחַ (da’at-ruakh). This means knowledge without any content, vain knowledge.

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn The image is rather graphic. It is saying that he puffs himself up with the wind and then brings out of his mouth blasts of this wind.

[15:2]  ²⁰ tn The word for “east wind,” קָדִים (qadim), is parallel to “spirit/wind” also in Hos 12:2. The east wind is maleficent, but here in the parallelism it is so much hot air.

[16:3]  ²¹ tn Disjunctive questions are introduced with the sign of the interrogative; the second part is introduced with אוֹ (’o, see GKC 475 §150.g).

[16:3]  ²² tn In v. 3 the second person singular is employed rather than the plural as in vv. 2 and 4. The singular might be an indication that the words of v. 3 were directed at Eliphaz specifically.

[16:3]  ²³ tn Heb “words of wind.”

[16:3]  ²⁴ tn The Hiphil of מָרַץ (marats) does not occur anywhere else. The word means “to compel; to force” (see 6:25).

[16:3]  ²⁵ tn The LXX seems to have gone a different way: “What, is there any reason in vain words, or what will hinder you from answering?”

[18:5]  ²⁶ tn Hebrew גַּם (gam, “also; moreover”), in view of what has just been said.

[18:5]  ²⁷ sn The lamp or the light can have a number of uses in the Bible. Here it is probably an implied metaphor for prosperity and happiness, for the good life itself.

[18:5]  ²⁸ tn The expression is literally “the flame of his fire,” but the pronominal suffix qualifies the entire bound construction. The two words together intensify the idea of the flame.

[19:3]  ²⁹ sn The number “ten” is a general expression to convey that this has been done often (see Gen 31:7; Num 14:22).

[19:3]  ³⁰ tn The Hiphil of the verb כָּלַם (kalam) means “outrage; insult; shame.” The verbs in this verse are prefixed conjugations, and may be interpreted as preterites if the reference is to the past time. But since the action is still going on, progressive imperfects work well.

[19:3]  ³¹ tn The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (see GKC 385-86 §120.c), or “you attack me shamelessly.” The verb חָכַר (hakhar) poses some difficulties for both the ancient versions and the modern commentators. The verb seems to be cognate to Arabic hakara, “to oppress; to ill-treat.” This would mean that there has been a transformation of ח (khet) to ה (he). Three Hebrew mss actually have the ח (khet). This has been widely accepted; other suggestions are irrelevant.

[20:3]  ³² tn There is no indication that this clause is to be subordinated to the next, other than the logical connection, and the use of the ו (vav) in the second half.

[20:3]  ³³ tn See Job 19:3.

[20:3]  ³⁴ tn The phrase actually has רוּחַ מִבִּינָתִי (ruakh mibbinati, “a spirit/wind/breath/impulse from my understanding”). Some translate it “out of my understanding a spirit answers me.” The idea is not that difficult, and so the many proposals to rewrite the text can be rejected. The spirit of his understanding prompts the reply.

[20:3]  ³⁵ tn To take this verb as a simple Qal and read it “answers me,” does not provide a clear idea. The form can just as easily be taken as a Hiphil, with the sense “causes me to answer.” It is Zophar who will “return” and who will “answer.”

[22:9]  ³⁶ tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.

[22:9]  ³⁷ tn The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yÿdukka’, “was [were] crushed”). GKC 388 §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.

[22:24]  ³⁸ tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.

[22:24]  tn Heb “place.”

[22:24]  ³⁹ tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).

[22:24]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.

[34:18]  ⁴¹ tc Heb “Does one say,” although some smooth it out to say “Is it fit to say?” For the reading “who says,” the form has to be repointed to הַאֹמֵר (ha’omer) meaning, “who is the one saying.” This reading is supported by the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac. Also it seems to flow better with the following verse. It would be saying that God is over the rulers and can rebuke them. The former view is saying that no one rebukes kings, much less Job rebuking God.

[34:18]  ⁴² tn The word בְּלִיָּעַל (bÿliyya’al) means both “worthless” and “wicked.” It is common in proverbial literature, and in later writings it became a description of Satan. It is usually found with “son of.”

[34:36]  ⁴³ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[35:8]  ⁴⁴ tn The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence.

[35:8]  sn According to Strahan, “Elihu exalts God’s greatness at the cost of His grace, His transcendence at the expense of His immanence. He sets up a material instead of a spiritual stand of profit and loss. He does not realize that God does gain what He desires most by the goodness of men, and loses what He most loves by their evil.”

[35:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”

[38:13]  ⁴⁶ sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.

[41:3]  ⁴⁷ tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.

[41:3]  ⁴⁸ tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.