Ayub 13:14

13:14 Why ¹  do I put myself in peril, ² 

and take my life in my hands?

Ayub 15:5

15:5 Your sin inspires ³  your mouth;

you choose the language ⁴  of the crafty. ⁵ 

Ayub 21:6

21:6 For, when I think ⁶  about this, I am terrified ⁷ 

and my body feels a shudder. ⁸ 

Ayub 22:1

Eliphaz’s Third Speech ⁹ 

22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:

Ayub 22:25

22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold, ¹⁰ 

and the choicest ¹¹  silver for you.

Ayub 31:10

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone ¹²  for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her. ¹³ 

Ayub 31:17

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans ¹⁴  –

Ayub 31:20

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ¹⁵ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ¹⁶ 

Ayub 34:7

34:7 What man is like Job,

who ¹⁷  drinks derision ¹⁸  like water!

Ayub 36:8

36:8 But if they are bound in chains, ¹⁹ 

and held captive by the cords of affliction,

[13:14]  ¹ tc Most editors reject עַל־מָה (’al mah) as dittography from the last verse.

[13:14]  ² tn Heb “why do I take my flesh in my teeth?” This expression occurs nowhere else. It seems to be drawn from animal imagery in which the wild beast seizes the prey and carries it off to a place of security. The idea would then be that Job may be destroying himself. An animal that fights with its flesh (prey) in its mouth risks losing it. Other commentators do not think this is satisfactory, but they are unable to suggest anything better.

[15:5]  ³ tn The verb אַלֵּף (’allef) has the meaning of “to teach; to instruct,” but it is unlikely that the idea of revealing is intended. If the verb is understood metonymically, then “to inspire; to prompt” will be sufficient. Dahood and others find another root, and render the verb “to increase,” reversing subject and object: “your mouth increases your iniquity.”

[15:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “tongue.”

[15:5]  ⁵ tn The word means “shrewd; crafty; cunning” (see Gen 3:1). Job uses clever speech that is misleading and destructive.

[21:6]  ⁶ tn The verb is זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”). Here it has the sense of “to keep in memory; to meditate; to think upon.”

[21:6]  ⁷ tn The main clause is introduced here by the conjunction, following the adverbial clause of time.

[21:6]  ⁸ tn Some commentators take “shudder” to be the subject of the verb, “a shudder seizes my body.” But the word is feminine (and see the usage, especially in Job 9:6 and 18:20). It is the subject in Isa 21:4; Ps 55:6; and Ezek 7:18.

[22:1]  ⁹ sn The third and final cycle of speeches now begins with Eliphaz’ final speech. Eliphaz will here underscore the argument that man’s ills are brought about by sin; he will then deduce from Job’s sufferings the sins he must have committed and the sinful attitude he has about God. The speech has four parts: Job’s suffering is proof of his sin (2-5), Job’s sufferings demonstrate the kinds of sin Job committed (6-11), Job’s attitude about God (12-20), and the final appeal and promise to Job (21-30).

[22:25]  ¹⁰ tn The form for “gold” here is plural, which could be a plural of extension. The LXX and Latin versions have “The Almighty will be your helper against your enemies.”

[22:25]  ¹¹ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 339) connects this word with an Arabic root meaning “to be elevated, steep.” From that he gets “heaps of silver.”

[31:10]  ¹² tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).

[31:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.

[31:10]  sn The idea is that if Job were guilty of adultery it would be an offense against the other woman’s husband, and so by talionic justice another man’s adultery with Job’s wife would be an offense against him. He is not wishing something on his wife; rather, he is simply looking at what would be offenses in kind.

[31:17]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[31:20]  ¹⁵ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ¹⁶ tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”

[34:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “he drinks,” but coming after the question this clause may be subordinated.

[34:7]  ¹⁸ tn The scorn or derision mentioned here is not against Job, but against God. Job scorns God so much, he must love it. So to reflect this idea, Gordis has translated it “blasphemy” (cf. NAB).

[36:8]  ¹⁹ tn Dhorme thinks that the verse is still talking about kings, who may be in captivity. But this diverts attention from Elihu’s emphasis on the righteous.