Ayub 3:17

3:17 There ¹  the wicked ²  cease ³  from turmoil, ⁴ 

and there the weary ⁵  are at rest.

Ayub 16:11

16:11 God abandons me to evil ⁶  men, ⁷ 

and throws ⁸  me into the hands of wicked men.

Ayub 18:5

18:5 “Yes, ⁹  the lamp ¹⁰  of the wicked is extinguished;

his flame of fire ¹¹  does not shine.

Ayub 20:5

20:5 that the elation of the wicked is brief, ¹² 

the joy of the godless ¹³  lasts but a moment. ¹⁴ 

Ayub 20:29

20:29 Such is the lot God allots the wicked,

and the heritage of his appointment ¹⁵  from God.”

Ayub 21:7

The Wicked Prosper

21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, ¹⁶ 

grow old, ¹⁷  even increase in power?

Ayub 21:16

21:16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. ¹⁸ 

The counsel of the wicked is far from me! ¹⁹ 

Ayub 22:18

22:18 But it was he ²⁰  who filled their houses

with good things –

yet the counsel of the wicked ²¹ 

was far from me. ²² 

Ayub 40:12

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;

crush the wicked on the spot! ²³ 

[3:17]  ¹ sn The reference seems to be death, or Sheol, the place where the infant who is stillborn is either buried (the grave) or resides (the place of departed spirits) and thus does not see the light of the sun.

[3:17]  ² sn The wicked are the ungodly, those who are not members of the covenant (normally) and in this context especially those who oppress and torment other people.

[3:17]  ³ tn The parallelism uses the perfect verb in the first parallel part, and the imperfect opposite it in the second. Since the verse projects to the grave or Sheol (“there”) where the action is perceived as still continuing or just taking place, both receive an English present tense translation (GKC 312 §106.l).

[3:17]  ⁴ tn Here the noun רֹגז (rogez) refers to the agitation of living as opposed to the peaceful rest of dying. The associated verb רָגַז (ragaz) means “to be agitated, excited.” The expression indicates that they cease from troubling, meaning all the agitation of their own lives.

[3:17]  ⁵ tn The word יָגִיעַ (yagia’) means “exhausted, wearied”; it is clarified as a physical exhaustion by the genitive of specification (“with regard to their strength”).

[16:11]  ⁶ tn The word עֲוִיל (’avil) means “child,” and this cannot be right here. If it is read as עַוָּל (’avval) as in Job 27:7 it would be the unrighteous.

[16:11]  ⁷ sn Job does not refer here to his friends, but more likely to the wicked men who set about to destroy him and his possessions, or to the rabble in ch. 30.

[16:11]  ⁸ tn The word יִרְטֵנִי (yirteni) does not derive from the root רָטָה (ratah) as would fit the pointing in the MT, but from יָרַט (yarat), cognate to Arabic warrata, “to throw; to hurl.” E. Dhorme (Job, 236) thinks that since the normal form would have been יִירְטֵנִי (yirÿteni), it is probable that one of the yods (י) would have affected the word עֲוִיל (’avil) – but that does not make much sense.

[18:5]  ⁹ tn Hebrew גַּם (gam, “also; moreover”), in view of what has just been said.

[18:5]  ¹⁰ sn The lamp or the light can have a number of uses in the Bible. Here it is probably an implied metaphor for prosperity and happiness, for the good life itself.

[18:5]  ¹¹ tn The expression is literally “the flame of his fire,” but the pronominal suffix qualifies the entire bound construction. The two words together intensify the idea of the flame.

[20:5]  ¹² tn The expression in the text is “quite near.” This indicates that it is easily attained, and that its end is near.

[20:5]  ¹³ tn For the discussion of חָנֵף (khanef, “godless”) see Job 8:13.

[20:5]  ¹⁴ tn The phrase is “until a moment,” meaning it is short-lived. But see J. Barr, “Hebrew ’ad, especially at Job 1:18 and Neh 7:3,” JSS 27 (1982): 177-88.

[20:29]  ¹⁵ tn For the word אִמְרוֹ (’imro) some propose reading “his appointment,” and the others, “his word.” Driver shows that “the heritage of his appointment” means “his appointed heritage” (see GKC 440 §135.n).

[21:7]  ¹⁶ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”

[21:7]  ¹⁷ tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”

[21:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “is not in their hand.”

[21:16]  sn The implication of this statement is that their well-being is from God, which is the problem Job is raising in the chapter. A number of commentators make it a question, interpreting it to mean that the wicked enjoy prosperity as if it is their right. Some emend the text to say “his hands” – Gordis reads it, “Indeed, our prosperity is not in his hands.”

[21:16]  ¹⁹ sn Even though their life seems so good in contrast to his own plight, Job cannot and will not embrace their principles – “far be from me their counsel.”

[22:18]  ²⁰ tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.

[22:18]  ²¹ tn See Job 10:3.

[22:18]  ²² tc The LXX has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the MT is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14-16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 156).

[40:12]  ²³ tn The expression translated “on the spot” is the prepositional phrase תַּחְתָּם (takhtam, “under them”). “Under them” means in their place. But it can also mean “where someone stands, on the spot” (see Exod 16:29; Jos 6:5; Judg 7:21, etc.).