Ayub 35:8-9

35:8 Your wickedness affects only ¹  a person like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people. ² 

35:9 “People ³  cry out

because of the excess of oppression; ⁴ 

they cry out for help

because of the power ⁵  of the mighty. ⁶ 

[35:8]  ¹ tn The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence.

[35:8]  sn According to Strahan, “Elihu exalts God’s greatness at the cost of His grace, His transcendence at the expense of His immanence. He sets up a material instead of a spiritual stand of profit and loss. He does not realize that God does gain what He desires most by the goodness of men, and loses what He most loves by their evil.”

[35:8]  ² tn Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”

[35:9]  ³ tn The word “people” is supplied, because the sentence only has the masculine plural verb.

[35:9]  ⁴ tn The final noun is an abstract plural, “oppression.” There is no reason to change it to “oppressors” to fit the early versions. The expression is literally “multitude of oppression.”

[35:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “the arm,” a metaphor for strength or power.

[35:9]  ⁶ tn Or “of the many” (see HALOT 1172 s.v. I רַב 6.a).