Ayub 4:12

Ungodly Complainers Provoke God’s Wrath

4:12 “Now a word was secretly ¹  brought ²  to me,

and my ear caught ³  a whisper ⁴  of it.

Ayub 6:30

6:30 Is there any falsehood ⁵  on my lips?

Can my mouth ⁶  not discern evil things? ⁷ 

Ayub 11:4

11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching ⁸  is flawless,

and I am pure in your sight.’

Ayub 11:14

11:14 if ⁹  iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, ¹⁰ 

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

Ayub 13:8

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ¹¹ 

Will you argue the case ¹²  for God?

Ayub 13:14

13:14 Why ¹³  do I put myself in peril, ¹⁴ 

and take my life in my hands?

Ayub 19:4

19:4 But even if it were ¹⁵  true that I have erred, ¹⁶ 

my error ¹⁷  remains solely my concern!

Ayub 24:25

24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar

and reduce my words to nothing?” ¹⁸ 

Ayub 29:17

29:17 I broke the fangs ¹⁹  of the wicked,

and made him drop ²⁰  his prey from his teeth.

Ayub 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Ayub 36:4

36:4 For in truth, my words are not false;

it is one complete ²¹  in knowledge

who is with you.

Ayub 36:25

36:25 All humanity has seen it;

people gaze on it from afar.

[4:12]  ¹ tn The LXX of this verse offers special problems. It reads, “But if there had been any truth in your words, none of these evils would have fallen upon you; shall not my ear receive excellent [information] from him?” The major error involves a dittography from the word for “secret,” yielding “truth.”

[4:12]  ² tn The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal.” The Pual form in this verse is probably to be taken as a preterite since it requires a past tense translation: “it was stolen for me” meaning it was brought to me stealthily (see 2 Sam 19:3).

[4:12]  ³ tn Heb “received.”

[4:12]  ⁴ tn The word שֵׁמֶץ (shemets, “whisper”) is found only here and in Job 26:14. A cognate form שִׁמְצָה (shimtsah) is found in Exod 32:25 with the sense of “a whisper.” In postbiblical Hebrew the word comes to mean “a little.” The point is that Eliphaz caught just a bit, just a whisper of it, and will recount it to Job.

[6:30]  ⁵ tn The word עַוְלָה (’avlah) is repeated from the last verse. Here the focus is clearly on wickedness or injustice spoken.

[6:30]  sn These words make a fitting transition to ch. 7, which forms a renewed cry of despair from Job. Job still feels himself innocent, but in the hands of cruel fate which is out to destroy him.

[6:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “my palate.” Here “palate” is used not so much for the organ of speech (by metonymy) as of discernment. In other words, what he says indicates what he thinks.

[6:30]  ⁷ tn The final word, הַוּוֹת (havvot) is usually understood as “calamities.” He would be asking if he could not discern his misfortune. But some argue that the word has to be understood in the parallelism to “wickedness” of words (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 162). Gordis connects it to Mic 7:3 and Ps 5:10 [9] where the meaning “deceit, falsehood” is found. The LXX has “and does not my throat meditate understanding?”

[11:4]  ⁸ tn The word translated “teaching” is related etymologically to the Hebrew word “receive,” but that does not restrict the teaching to what is received.

[11:14]  ⁹ tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).

[11:14]  ¹⁰ tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.

[13:8]  ¹¹ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

[13:8]  ¹² tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

[13:14]  ¹³ tc Most editors reject עַל־מָה (’al mah) as dittography from the last verse.

[13:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “why do I take my flesh in my teeth?” This expression occurs nowhere else. It seems to be drawn from animal imagery in which the wild beast seizes the prey and carries it off to a place of security. The idea would then be that Job may be destroying himself. An animal that fights with its flesh (prey) in its mouth risks losing it. Other commentators do not think this is satisfactory, but they are unable to suggest anything better.

[19:4]  ¹⁵ tn Job has held to his innocence, so the only way that he could say “I have erred” (שָׁגִיתִי, shagiti) is in a hypothetical clause like this.

[19:4]  ¹⁶ tn There is a long addition in the LXX: “in having spoken words which it is not right to speak, and my words err, and are unreasonable.”

[19:4]  ¹⁷ tn The word מְשׁוּגָה (mÿshugah) is a hapax legomenon. It is derived from שׁוּג (shug, “to wander; to err”) with root paralleling שָׁגַג (shagag) and שָׁגָה (shagah). What Job is saying is that even if it were true that he had erred, it did not injure them – it was solely his concern.

[24:25]  ¹⁸ tn The word אַל (’al, “not”) is used here substantivally (“nothing”).

[29:17]  ¹⁹ tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.

[29:17]  ²⁰ tn “I made [him] drop.” The verb means “to throw; to cast,” throw in the sense of “to throw away.” But in the context with the figure of the beast with prey in its mouth, “drop” or “cast away” is the idea. Driver finds another cognate meaning “rescue” (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[36:4]  ²¹ tn The word is תְּמִים (tÿmim), often translated “perfect.” It is the same word used of Job in 2:3. Elihu is either a complete stranger to modesty or is confident regarding the knowledge that he believes God has revealed to him for this situation. See the note on the heading before 32:1.