Ayub 21:18

21:18 How often ¹  are they like straw before the wind,

and like chaff swept away ²  by a whirlwind?

Ayub 30:12

30:12 On my right the young rabble ³  rise up;

they drive me from place to place, ⁴ 

and build up siege ramps ⁵  against me. ⁶ 

Ayub 34:26

34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness, ⁷ 

in a place where people can see, ⁸ 

Ayub 40:24

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, ⁹ 

or pierce its nose with a snare? ¹⁰ 

[21:18]  ¹ tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.

[21:18]  ² tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.

[30:12]  ³ tn This Hebrew word occurs only here. The word פִּרְחַח (pirkhakh, “young rabble”) is a quadriliteral, from פָּרַח (parakh, “to bud”) The derivative אֶפְרֹחַ (’efroakh) in the Bible refers to a young bird. In Arabic farhun means both “young bird” and “base man.” Perhaps “young rabble” is the best meaning here (see R. Gordis, Job, 333).

[30:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “they cast off my feet” or “they send my feet away.” Many delete the line as troubling and superfluous. E. Dhorme (Job, 438) forces the lines to say “they draw my feet into a net.”

[30:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “paths of their destruction” or “their destructive paths.”

[30:12]  ⁶ sn See Job 19:12.

[34:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5,” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.

[34:26]  ⁸ tn The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.

[40:24]  ⁹ tn The idea would be either (1) catch it while it is watching, or (2) in some way disabling its eyes before the attack. But others change the reading; Ball suggested “with hooks” and this has been adopted by some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV).

[40:24]  ¹⁰ tn Ehrlich altered the MT slightly to get “with thorns,” a view accepted by Driver, Dhorme and Pope.