Ayub 34:6

34:6 Concerning my right, should I lie? ¹ 

My wound ²  is incurable,

although I am without transgression.’ ³ 

Ayub 33:9

33:9 ⁴ ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean ⁵  and have no iniquity.

Ayub 34:37

34:37 For he adds transgression ⁶  to his sin;

in our midst he claps his hands, ⁷ 

and multiplies his words against God.”

[34:6]  ¹ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of כָּזַב (kazav), meaning “to lie.” It could be a question: “Should I lie [against my right?] – when I am innocent. If it is repointed to the Pual, then it can be “I am made to lie,” or “I am deceived.” Taking it as a question makes good sense here, and so emendations are unnecessary.

[34:6]  ² tn The Hebrew text has only “my arrow.” Some commentators emend that word slightly to get “my wound.” But the idea could be derived from “arrows” as well, the wounds caused by the arrows. The arrows are symbolic of God’s affliction.

[34:6]  ³ tn Heb “without transgression”; but this is parallel to the first part where the claim is innocence.

[33:9]  ⁴ sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.

[33:9]  ⁵ tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”

[34:37]  ⁶ tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”

[34:37]  ⁷ tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.