Ayub 3:14

3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth

who built for themselves places now desolate, ¹ 

Ayub 5:24

5:24 And ²  you will know ³  that your home ⁴ 

will be secure, ⁵ 

and when you inspect ⁶  your domains,

you will not be missing ⁷  anything.

Ayub 9:9

9:9 he makes the Bear, ⁸  Orion, ⁹  and the Pleiades, ¹⁰ 

and the constellations of the southern sky; ¹¹ 

Ayub 10:21

10:21 before I depart, never to return, ¹² 

to the land of darkness

and the deepest shadow, ¹³ 

Ayub 12:22

12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,

and brings deep shadows ¹⁴  into the light.

Ayub 15:28

15:28 he lived in ruined towns ¹⁵ 

and in houses where ¹⁶  no one lives,

where they are ready to crumble into heaps. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 19:19

19:19 All my closest friends ¹⁸  detest me;

and those whom ¹⁹  I love have turned against me. ²⁰ 

Ayub 21:22

21:22 Can anyone teach ²¹  God knowledge,

since ²²  he judges those that are on high? ²³ 

Ayub 22:12

22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? ²⁴ 

And see ²⁵  the lofty stars, ²⁶  how high they are!

Ayub 24:11

24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; ²⁷ 

they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. ²⁸ 

Ayub 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ²⁹ 

On whom does his light ³⁰  not rise?

Ayub 26:5

A Better Description of God’s Greatness ³¹ 

26:5 “The dead ³²  tremble ³³  –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them. ³⁴ 

Ayub 26:10

26:10 He marks out the horizon ³⁵  on the surface of the waters

as a boundary between light and darkness.

Ayub 32:19

32:19 Inside I am like wine which has no outlet, ³⁶ 

like new wineskins ³⁷  ready to burst!

Ayub 38:13

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ³⁸ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

Ayub 39:26

39:26 “Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, ³⁹ 

and spreads its wings toward the south?

Ayub 40:21

40:21 Under the lotus trees it lies,

in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.

[3:14]  ¹ tn The difficult term חֳרָבוֹת (khoravot) is translated “desolate [places]”. The LXX confused the word and translated it “who gloried in their swords.” One would expect a word for monuments, or tombs (T. K. Cheyne emended it to “everlasting tombs” [“More Critical Gleanings in Job,” ExpTim 10 (1898/99): 380-83]). But this difficult word is of uncertain etymology and therefore cannot simply be made to mean “royal tombs.” The verb means “be desolate, solitary.” In Isa 48:21 there is the clear sense of a desert. That is the meaning of Assyrian huribtu. It may be that like the pyramids of Egypt these tombs would have been built in the desert regions. Or it may describe how they rebuilt ruins for themselves. He would be saying then that instead of lying here in pain and shame if he had died he would be with the great ones of the earth. Otherwise, the word could be interpreted as a metonymy of effect, indicating that the once glorious tomb now is desolate. But this does not fit the context – the verse is talking about the state of the great ones after their death.

[5:24]  ² sn Verses 19-23 described the immunity from evil and trouble that Job would enjoy – if he were restored to peace with God. Now, v. 24 describes the safety and peace of the homestead and his possessions if he were right with God.

[5:24]  ³ tn The verb is again the perfect, but in sequence to the previous structure so that it is rendered as a future. This would be the case if Job were right with God.

[5:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “tent.”

[5:24]  ⁵ tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) means “peace; safety; security; wholeness.” The same use appears in 1 Sam 25:6; 2 Sam 20:9.

[5:24]  ⁶ tn The verb is פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). The idea here is “to gather together; to look over; to investigate,” or possibly even “to number” as it is used in the book of Numbers. The verb is the perfect with the vav consecutive; it may be subordinated to the imperfect verb that follows to form a temporal clause.

[5:24]  ⁷ tn The verb is usually rendered “to sin”; but in this context the more specific primary meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fail to find something.” Neither Job’s tent nor his possessions will be lost.

[9:9]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew has עָשׁ (’ash), although in 38:32 it is עַיִשׁ (’ayish). This has been suggested to be Aldebaran, a star in the constellation Taurus, but there have been many other suggestions put forward by the commentaries.

[9:9]  ⁹ sn There is more certainty for the understanding of this word as Orion, even though there is some overlap of the usage of the words in the Bible. In classical literature we have the same stereotypical reference to these three (see E. Dhorme, Job, 131).

[9:9]  ¹⁰ sn The identification of this as the Pleiades is accepted by most (the Vulgate has “Hyades”). In classical Greek mythology, the seven Pleiades were seven sisters of the Hyades who were pursued by Orion until they were changed into stars by Zeus. The Greek myth is probably derived from an older Semitic myth.

[9:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the chambers of the south.”

[10:21]  ¹² sn The verbs are simple, “I go” and “I return”; but Job clearly means before he dies. A translation of “depart” comes closer to communicating this. The second verb may be given a potential imperfect translation to capture the point. The NIV offered more of an interpretive paraphrase: “before I go to the place of no return.”

[10:21]  ¹³ tn See Job 3:5.

[12:22]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew word is traditionally rendered “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV); see comments at Job 3:3.

[15:28]  ¹⁵ sn K&D 11:266 rightly explains that these are not cities that he, the wicked, has destroyed, but that were destroyed by a judgment on wickedness. Accordingly, Eliphaz is saying that the wicked man is willing to risk such a curse in his confidence in his prosperity (see further H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 113).

[15:28]  ¹⁶ tn The verbal idea serves here to modify “houses” as a relative clause; so a relative pronoun is added.

[15:28]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew has simply “they are made ready for heaps.” The LXX translates it, “what they have prepared, let others carry away.” This would involve a complete change of the last word.

[19:19]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “men of my confidence,” or “men of my council,” i.e., intimate friends, confidants.

[19:19]  ¹⁹ tn The pronoun זֶה (zeh) functions here in the place of a nominative (see GKC 447 §138.h).

[19:19]  ²⁰ tn T. Penar translates this “turn away from me” (“Job 19,19 in the Light of Ben Sira 6,11,” Bib 48 [1967]: 293-95).

[21:22]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical – it is affirming that no one can teach God.

[21:22]  ²² tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) and the pronoun, “and he.” This is to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause. See GKC 456 §142.d.

[21:22]  ²³ tc The Hebrew has רָמִים (ramim), a plural masculine participle of רוּם (rum, “to be high; to be exalted”). This is probably a reference to the angels. But M. Dahood restores an older interpretation that it refers to “the Most High” (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,”Bib 38 [1957]: 316-17). He would take the word as a singular form with an enclitic mem (ם). He reads the verse, “will he judge the Most High?”

[22:12]  ²⁴ tn This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).

[22:12]  ²⁵ tn The parallel passage in Isa 40:26-27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The LXX has “he sees.”

[22:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “head of the stars.”

[24:11]  ²⁷ tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.

[24:11]  ²⁸ tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.

[25:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ³⁰ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[26:5]  ³¹ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

[26:5]  ³² tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

[26:5]  ³³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

[26:5]  ³⁴ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.

[26:10]  ³⁵ tn The expression חֹק־חָג (khoq-khag) means “he has drawn a limit as a circle.” According to some the form should have been חָק־חוּג (khaq-khug, “He has traced a circle”). But others argues that the text is acceptable as is, and can be interpreted as “a limit he has circled.” The Hebrew verbal roots are חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to sketch out; to trace”) and חוּג (khug, “describe a circle”) respectively.

[32:19]  ³⁶ tn Heb “in my belly I am like wine that is not opened” (a Niphal imperfect), meaning sealed up with no place to escape.

[32:19]  ³⁷ tc The Hebrew text has כְּאֹבוֹת חֲדָשִׁים (kÿ’ovot khadashim), traditionally rendered “like new wineskins.” But only here does the phrase have this meaning. The LXX has “smiths” for “new,” thus “like smith’s bellows.” A. Guillaume connects the word with an Arabic word for a wide vessel for wine shaped like a cup (“Archaeological and philological note on Job 32:19,” PEQ 93 [1961]: 147-50). Some have been found in archaeological sites. The poor would use skins, the rich would use jars. The key to putting this together is the verb at the end of the line, יִבָּקֵעַ (yibbaqea’, “that are ready to burst”). The point of the statement is that Elihu is bursting to speak, and until now has not had the opening.

[38:13]  ³⁸ sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.

[39:26]  ³⁹ tn This word occurs only here. It is connected to “pinions” in v. 13. Dhorme suggests “clad with feathers,” but the line suggests more the use of the wings.