Ayub 2:5

2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, ¹  and he will no doubt ²  curse you to your face!”

Ayub 7:7

7:7 Remember ³  that my life is but a breath,

that ⁴  my eyes will never again ⁵  see happiness.

Ayub 8:8

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ⁶  generation,

and pay attention ⁷  to the findings ⁸ 

of their ancestors; ⁹ 

Ayub 9:34

9:34 who ¹⁰  would take his ¹¹  rod ¹²  away from me

so that his terror ¹³  would not make me afraid.

Ayub 10:14

10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me

and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.

Ayub 17:16

17:16 Will ¹⁴  it ¹⁵  go down to the barred gates ¹⁶  of death?

Will ¹⁷  we descend ¹⁸  together into the dust?”

Ayub 19:21

19:21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,

for the hand of God has struck me.

Ayub 22:22

22:22 Accept instruction ¹⁹  from his mouth

and store up his words ²⁰  in your heart.

Ayub 27:7

The Condition of the Wicked

27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, ²¹ 

my adversary ²²  like the unrighteous. ²³ 

Ayub 31:13

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ²⁴  with me,

Ayub 31:16

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ²⁵ 

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Ayub 31:19

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

Ayub 31:21

31:21 if I have raised my hand ²⁶  to vote against the orphan,

when I saw my support in the court, ²⁷ 

Ayub 31:26

31:26 if I looked at the sun ²⁸  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

Ayub 31:29

31:29 If ²⁹  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ³⁰ 

or exulted ³¹  because calamity ³²  found him –

Ayub 31:38

Job’s Final Solemn Oath ³³ 

31:38 “If my land cried out against me ³⁴ 

and all its furrows wept together,

Ayub 34:14

34:14 If God ³⁵  were to set his heart on it, ³⁶ 

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

[2:5]  ¹ sn The “bones and flesh” are idiomatic for the whole person, his physical and his psychical/spiritual being (see further H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 26-28).

[2:5]  ² sn This is the same oath formula found in 1:11; see the note there.

[7:7]  ³ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ⁴ tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ⁵ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[8:8]  ⁶ sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ⁷ tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:34]  ¹⁰ tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ¹¹ tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ¹² sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ¹³ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[17:16]  ¹⁴ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ¹⁷ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹⁸ tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[22:22]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.

[22:22]  ²⁰ tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).

[27:7]  ²¹ sn Of course, he means like his enemy when he is judged, not when he is thriving in prosperity and luxury.

[27:7]  ²² tn The form is the Hitpolel participle from קוּם (qum): “those who are rising up against me,” or “my adversary.”

[27:7]  ²³ tc The LXX made a free paraphrase: “No, but let my enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me as the destruction of transgressors.”

[31:13]  ²⁴ tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:21]  ²⁶ tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.

[31:21]  ²⁷ tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.

[31:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[31:29]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ³² tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[31:38]  ³³ sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.

[31:38]  ³⁴ sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.

[34:14]  ³⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ³⁶ tc This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yasim, “if he [God] recalls”). But this would require leaving out “his heart,” and would also require redividing the verse to make “his spirit” the object. It makes better parallelism, but may require too many changes.