Ayub 3:17

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

and there the weary ⁵  are at rest.

Ayub 17:16

17:16 Will ⁶  it ⁷  go down to the barred gates ⁸  of death?

Will ⁹  we descend ¹⁰  together into the dust?”

Ayub 33:28

33:28 He redeemed my life ¹¹ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Ayub 40:13

40:13 Hide them in the dust ¹²  together,

imprison ¹³  them ¹⁴  in the grave. ¹⁵ 

[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”).

[17:16]  ⁶ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ⁷ tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ⁹ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[33:28]  ¹¹ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[40:13]  ¹² tn The word “dust” can mean “ground” here, or more likely, “grave.”

[40:13]  ¹³ tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) means “to bind.” In Arabic the word means “to bind” in the sense of “to imprison,” and that fits here.

[40:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “their faces.”

[40:13]  ¹⁵ tn The word is “secret place,” the place where he is to hide them, i.e., the grave. The text uses the word “secret place” as a metonymy for the grave.