Ayub 11:7

11:7 “Can you discover ¹  the essence ²  of God?

Can you find out ³ 

the perfection of the Almighty? ⁴ 

Ayub 13:7

13:7 Will you speak wickedly ⁵  on God’s behalf? ⁶ 

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

Ayub 21:4

21:4 Is my ⁷  complaint against a man? ⁸ 

If so, ⁹  why should I not be impatient? ¹⁰ 

Ayub 22:2

22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?

Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable? ¹¹ 

Ayub 39:9

39:9 Is the wild ox willing to be your servant?

Will it spend the night at your feeding trough?

Ayub 39:12

39:12 Can you count on ¹²  it to bring in ¹³  your grain, ¹⁴ 

and gather the grain ¹⁵  to your threshing floor? ¹⁶ 

[11:7]  ¹ tn The verb is מָצָא (matsa’, “to find; to discover”). Here it should be given the nuance of potential imperfect. And, in the rhetorical question it is affirming that Job cannot find out the essence of God.

[11:7]  ² tn The word means “search; investigation”; but it here means what is discovered in the search (so a metonymy of cause for the effect).

[11:7]  ³ tn The same verb is now found in the second half of the verse, with a slightly different sense – “attain, reach.” A. R. Ceresko notes this as an example of antanaclasis (repetition of a word with a lightly different sense – “find/attain”). See “The Function of Antanaclasis in Hebrew Poetry,” CBQ 44 (1982): 560-61.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn The abstract תַּכְלִית (takhlit) from כָּלָה (kalah, “to be complete; to be perfect”) may mean the end or limit of something, perhaps to perfection. So the NIV has “can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” The LXX has: “have you come to the end of that which the Almighty has made?”

[13:7]  ⁵ tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).

[13:7]  ⁶ tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.

[21:4]  ⁷ tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).

[21:4]  ⁸ sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).

[21:4]  ⁹ tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.

[21:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).

[22:2]  ¹¹ tn Some do not take this to be parallel to the first colon, taking this line as a statement, but the parallel expressions here suggest the question is repeated.

[39:12]  ¹² tn The word is normally translated “believe” in the Bible. The idea is that of considering something dependable and acting on it. The idea of reliability is found also in the Niphal stem usages.

[39:12]  ¹³ tc There is a textual problem here: יָשׁוּב (yashuv) is the Kethib, meaning “[that] he will return”; יָשִׁיב (yashiv) is the Qere, meaning “that he will bring in.” This is the preferred reading, since the object follows it. For commentators who think the line too unbalanced for this, the object is moved to the second colon, and the reading “returns” is taken for the first. But the MT is perfectly clear as it stands.

[39:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your seed”; this must be interpreted figuratively for what the seed produces.

[39:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “gather it”; the referent (the grain) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:12]  ¹⁶ tn Simply, the MT has “and your threshing floor gather.” The “threshing floor” has to be an adverbial accusative of place.