Ayub 2:7

Job’s Integrity in Suffering

2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹  Job with a malignant ulcer ²  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ³ 

Ayub 20:26

20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; ⁴ 

a fire which has not been kindled ⁵ 

will consume him

and devour what is left in his tent.

Ayub 21:17

How Often Do the Wicked Suffer?

21:17 “How often ⁶  is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?

How often does their ⁷  misfortune come upon them?

How often does God apportion pain ⁸  to them ⁹  in his anger?

Ayub 29:3

29:3 when ¹⁰  he caused ¹¹  his lamp ¹² 

to shine upon my head,

and by his light

I walked ¹³  through darkness; ¹⁴ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”

[2:7]  ² sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT 1460 s.v. שְׁחִין.

[2:7]  ³ tn Heb “crown.”

[20:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”

[20:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).

[21:17]  ⁶ tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.

[21:17]  ⁷ tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.

[21:17]  ⁸ tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”

[21:17]  ⁹ tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[29:3]  ¹⁰ tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.

[29:3]  ¹¹ tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”

[29:3]  ¹² sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.

[29:3]  ¹³ tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.

[29:3]  ¹⁴ tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).