Ayub 21:10-11

21:10 Their bulls ¹  breed ²  without fail; ³ 

their cows calve and do not miscarry.

21:11 They allow their children to run ⁴  like a flock;

their little ones dance about.

Ayub 21:34

21:34 So how can you console me with your futile words?

Nothing is left of your answers but deception!” ⁵ 

Ayub 31:33

31:33 if ⁶  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ⁷ 

by hiding ⁸  iniquity in my heart, ⁹ 

Ayub 34:9

34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man

when he makes his delight with God.’ ¹⁰ 

Ayub 36:4

36:4 For in truth, my words are not false;

it is one complete ¹¹  in knowledge

who is with you.

Ayub 36:20

36:20 Do not long for the cover of night

to drag people away from their homes. ¹² 

[21:10]  ¹ tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.

[21:10]  ² tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).

[21:10]  ³ tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).

[21:11]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.

[21:34]  ⁵ tn The word מָעַל (ma’al) is used for “treachery; deception; fraud.” Here Job is saying that their way of interpreting reality is dangerously unfaithful.

[31:33]  ⁶ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ⁷ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ⁸ tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ⁹ tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.

[34:9]  ¹⁰ tn Gordis, however, takes this expression in the sense of “being in favor with God.”

[36:4]  ¹¹ tn The word is תְּמִים (tÿmim), often translated “perfect.” It is the same word used of Job in 2:3. Elihu is either a complete stranger to modesty or is confident regarding the knowledge that he believes God has revealed to him for this situation. See the note on the heading before 32:1.

[36:20]  ¹² tn The meaning of this line is difficult. There are numerous suggestions for emending the text. Kissane takes the first verb in the sense of “oppress,” and for “the night” he has “belonging to you,” meaning “your people.” This reads: “Oppress not them that belong not to you, that your kinsmen may mount up in their place.”