Ayub 12:21

12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen

and disarms ¹  the powerful. ² 

Ayub 15:6

15:6 Your own mouth condemns ³  you, not I;

your own lips testify against ⁴  you.

Ayub 19:5

19:5 If indeed ⁵  you would exalt yourselves ⁶  above me

and plead my disgrace against me, ⁷ 

Ayub 20:4

20:4 “Surely you know ⁸  that it has been from old,

ever since humankind was placed ⁹  on the earth,

Ayub 26:10

26:10 He marks out the horizon ¹⁰  on the surface of the waters

as a boundary between light and darkness.

Ayub 29:13

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ¹¹ 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ¹² 

Ayub 30:22

30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; ¹³ 

you toss me about ¹⁴  in the storm. ¹⁵ 

Ayub 31:29

31:29 If ¹⁶  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ¹⁷ 

or exulted ¹⁸  because calamity ¹⁹  found him –

Ayub 38:5-6

38:5 Who set its measurements – if ²⁰  you know –

or who stretched a measuring line across it?

38:6 On what ²¹  were its bases ²²  set,

or who laid its cornerstone –

Ayub 41:34

41:34 It looks on every haughty being;

it is king over all that are proud.” ²³ 

[12:21]  ¹ tn The expression in Hebrew uses מְזִיחַ (mÿziakh, “belt”) and the Piel verb רִפָּה (rippah, “to loosen”) so that “to loosen the belt of the mighty” would indicate “to disarm/incapacitate the mighty.” Others have opted to change the text: P. Joüon emends to read “forehead” – “he humbles the brow of the mighty.”

[12:21]  ² tn The word אָפַק (’afaq, “to be strong”) is well-attested, and the form אָפִיק (’afiq) is a normal adjective formation. So a translation like “mighty” (KJV, NIV) or “powerful” is acceptable, and further emendations are unnecessary.

[15:6]  ³ tn The Hiphil of this root means “declare wicked, guilty” (a declarative Hiphil), and so “condemns.”

[15:6]  ⁴ tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) with the ל (lamed) preposition following it means “to testify against.” For Eliphaz, it is enough to listen to Job to condemn him.

[19:5]  ⁵ tn The introductory particles repeat אָמְנָם (’amnam, “indeed”) but now with אִם (’im, “if”). It could be interpreted to mean “is it not true,” or as here in another conditional clause.

[19:5]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Hiphil of גָּדַל (gadal); it can mean “to make great” or as an internal causative “to make oneself great” or “to assume a lofty attitude, to be insolent.” There is no reason to assume another root here with the meaning of “quarrel” (as Gordis does).

[19:5]  ⁷ sn Job’s friends have been using his shame, his humiliation in all his sufferings, as proof against him in their case.

[20:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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.”

[26:10]  ¹⁰ tn The expression חֹק־חָג (khoq-khag) means “he has drawn a limit as a circle.” According to some the form should have been חָק־חוּג (khaq-khug, “He has traced a circle”). But others argues that the text is acceptable as is, and can be interpreted as “a limit he has circled.” The Hebrew verbal roots are חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to sketch out; to trace”) and חוּג (khug, “describe a circle”) respectively.

[29:13]  ¹¹ tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).

[29:13]  ¹² tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.

[30:22]  ¹³ sn Here Job changes the metaphor again, to the driving storm. God has sent his storms, and Job is blown away.

[30:22]  ¹⁴ tn The verb means “to melt.” The imagery would suggest softening the ground with the showers (see Ps 65:10 [11]). The translation “toss…about” comes from the Arabic cognate that is used for the surging of the sea.

[30:22]  ¹⁵ tc The Qere is תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah, “counsel”), which makes no sense here. The Kethib is a variant orthography for תְּשֻׁאָה (tÿshu’ah, “storm”).

[31:29]  ¹⁶ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ¹⁷ sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ¹⁸ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ¹⁹ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[38:5]  ²⁰ tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.

[38:6]  ²¹ tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.

[38:6]  ²² sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).

[41:34]  ²³ tn Heb “the sons of pride.” Dhorme repoints the last word to get “all the wild beasts,” but this misses the point of the verse. This animal looks over every proud creature – but he is king of them all in that department.