Ayub 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ¹  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ²  over my paths.

Ayub 34:19

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of ³  the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

[19:8]  ¹ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ² tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[34:19]  ³ tn The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”) it means to show preferential treatment to the rich before the poor. The word for “rich” here is an unusual word, found parallel to “noble” (Isa 32:2). P. Joüon thinks it is a term of social distinction (Bib 18 [1937]: 207-8).