Ayub 14:19

14:19 as water wears away stones,

and torrents ¹  wash away the soil, ² 

so you destroy man’s hope. ³ 

Ayub 40:22

40:22 The lotus trees conceal it in their ⁴  shadow;

the poplars by the stream conceal it.

[14:19]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “[the] dust of [the] earth.”

[14:19]  ³ sn The meaning for Job is that death shatters all of man’s hopes for the continuation of life.

[40:22]  ⁴ tn The suffix is singular, but must refer to the trees’ shade.