Ayub 4:16

4:16 It stands still, ¹ 

but I cannot recognize ²  its appearance;

an image is before my eyes,

and I hear a murmuring voice: ³ 

Ayub 6:5

Complaints Reflect Suffering

6:5 “Does the wild donkey ⁴  bray ⁵  when it is near grass? ⁶ 

Or ⁷  does the ox low near its fodder? ⁸ 

Ayub 7:4

7:4 If I lie down, I say, ⁹  ‘When will I arise?’,

and the night stretches on ¹⁰ 

and I toss and turn restlessly ¹¹ 

until the day dawns.

Ayub 9:19

9:19 If it is a matter of strength, ¹² 

most certainly ¹³  he is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice,

he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ ¹⁴ 

Ayub 13:15

13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; ¹⁵ 

I will surely ¹⁶  defend ¹⁷  my ways to his face!

Ayub 16:8

16:8 You have seized me, ¹⁸ 

and it ¹⁹  has become a witness;

my leanness ²⁰  has risen up against me

and testifies against me.

Ayub 21:14

21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!

We do not want to ²¹  know your ways. ²² 

Ayub 22:17

22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’

and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ ²³ 

Ayub 27:5

27:5 I will never ²⁴  declare that you three ²⁵  are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

Ayub 29:12

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ²⁶  had no one to assist him;

Ayub 31:40

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!” ²⁷ 

The words of Job are ended.

Ayub 32:11

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; ²⁸ 

I listened closely to your wise thoughts, ²⁹ while you were searching for words.

Ayub 37:13

37:13 Whether it is for punishment ³⁰  for his land,

or whether it is for mercy,

he causes it to find its mark. ³¹ 

Ayub 38:11

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come ³² 

and no farther, ³³ 

here your proud waves will be confined’? ³⁴ 

Ayub 39:1

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way ³⁵ 

the mountain goats ³⁶  give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

Ayub 39:10

39:10 Can you bind the wild ox ³⁷  to a furrow with its rope,

will it till the valleys, following after you?

Ayub 41:30

41:30 Its underparts ³⁸  are the sharp points of potsherds,

it leaves its mark in the mud

like a threshing sledge. ³⁹ 

[4:16]  ¹ tc The LXX has the first person of the verb: “I arose and perceived it not, I looked and there was no form before my eyes; but I only heard a breath and a voice.”

[4:16]  ² tn The imperfect verb is to be classified as potential imperfect. Eliphaz is unable to recognize the figure standing before him.

[4:16]  ³ sn The colon reads “a silence and a voice I hear.” Some have rendered it “there is a silence, and then I hear.” The verb דָּמַם (damam) does mean “remain silent” (Job 29:21; 31:34) and then also “cease.” The noun דְּמָמָה (dÿmamah, “calm”) refers to the calm after the storm in Ps 107:29. Joined with the true object of the verb, “voice,” it probably means something like stillness or murmuring or whispering here. It is joined to “voice” with a conjunction, indicating that it is a hendiadys, “murmur and a voice” or a “murmuring voice.”

[6:5]  ⁴ tn There have been suggestions to identify this animal as something other than a wild donkey, but the traditional interpretation has been confirmed (see P. Humbert, “En marge du dictionnaire hébraïque,” ZAW 62 [1950]: 199-207).

[6:5]  ⁵ tn The verb נָהַק (nahaq, “bray”) occurs in Arabic and Aramaic and only in Job 30:7 in Hebrew, where it refers to unfortunate people in the wilderness who utter cries like the hungry wild donkey.

[6:5]  ⁶ sn In this brief section Job indicates that it would be wiser to seek the reason for the crying than to complain of the cry. The wild donkey will bray when it finds no food (see Jer 14:6).

[6:5]  ⁷ tn The construction forms a double question (אִם...הֲ, ha…’im) but not to express mutually exclusive questions in this instance. Instead, it is used to repeat the same question in different words (see GKC 475 §150.h).

[6:5]  ⁸ tc The LXX captures the meaning of the verse, but renders it in a more expansive way.

[6:5]  tn This word occurs here and in Isa 30:24. In contrast to the grass that grows on the fields for the wild donkey, this is fodder prepared for the domesticated animals.

[7:4]  ⁹ tn This is the main clause, and not part of the previous conditional clause; it is introduced by the conjunction אִם (’im) (see GKC 336 §112.gg).

[7:4]  ¹⁰ tn The verb מָדַד (madad) normally means “to measure,” and here in the Piel it has been given the sense of “to extend.” But this is not well attested and not widely accepted. There are many conjectural emendations. Of the most plausible one might mention the view of Gray, who changes מִדַּד (middad, Piel of מָדַּד) to מִדֵּי (midde, comprising the preposition מִן [min] plus the noun דַּי [day], meaning “as often as”): “as often as evening comes.” Dhorme, following the LXX to some extent, adds the word “day” after “when/if” and replaces מִדַּד (middad) with מָתַי (matay, “when”) to read “If I lie down, I say, ‘When comes the morning?’ If I rise up, I say, ‘How long till evening?’” The LXX, however, may be based more on a recollection of Deut 28:67. One can make just as strong a case for the reading adopted here, that the night seems to drag on (so also NIV).

[7:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew term נְדֻדִים (nÿdudim, “tossing”) refers to the restless tossing and turning of the sick man at night on his bed. The word is a hapax legomenon derived from the verb נָדַד (nadad, “to flee; to wander; to be restless”). The plural form here sums up the several parts of the actions (GKC 460 §144.f). E. Dhorme (Job, 99) argues that because it applies to both his waking hours and his sleepless nights, it may have more of the sense of wanderings of the mind. There is no doubt truth to the fact that the mind wanders in all this suffering; but there is no need to go beyond the contextually clear idea of the restlessness of the night.

[9:19]  ¹² tn The MT has only “if of strength.”

[9:19]  ¹³ tn “Most certainly” translates the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh).

[9:19]  ¹⁴ tn The question could be taken as “who will summon me?” (see Jer 49:19 and 50:44). This does not make immediate sense. Some have simply changed the suffix to “who will summon him.” If the MT is retained, then supplying something like “he will say” could make the last clause fit the whole passage. Another option is to take it as “Who will reveal it to me?” – i.e., Job could be questioning his friends’ qualifications for being God’s emissaries to bring God’s charges against him (cf. KJV, NKJV; and see 10:2 where Job uses the same verb in the Hiphil to request that God reveal what his sin has been that has led to his suffering).

[9:19]  sn Job is saying that whether it is a trial of strength or an appeal to justice, he is unable to go against God.

[13:15]  ¹⁵ tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (lo’, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated – as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (’akhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).

[13:15]  ¹⁶ tn On אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.

[13:15]  ¹⁷ tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.

[16:8]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is קָמַט (qamat) which is used only here and in 22:16; it means “to seize; to grasp.” By God’s seizing him, Job means his afflictions.

[16:8]  ¹⁹ tn The subject is “my calamity.”

[16:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb is used in Ps 109:24 to mean “to be lean”; and so “leanness” is accepted here for the noun by most. Otherwise the word is “lie, deceit.” Accordingly, some take it here as “my slanderer” or “my liar” (gives evidence against me).

[21:14]  ²¹ tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”

[21:14]  ²² sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.

[22:17]  ²³ tn The form in the text is “to them.” The LXX and the Syriac versions have “to us.”

[27:5]  ²⁴ tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”

[27:5]  ²⁵ tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.

[29:12]  ²⁶ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[31:40]  ²⁷ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.

[32:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “for your words.”

[32:11]  ²⁹ tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.

[37:13]  ³⁰ tn Heb “rod,” i.e., a rod used for punishment.

[37:13]  ³¹ tn This is interpretive; Heb “he makes find it.” The lightning could be what is intended here, for it finds its mark. But R. Gordis (Job, 429) suggests man is the subject – let him find what it is for, i.e., the fate appropriate for him.

[38:11]  ³² tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.

[38:11]  ³³ tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).

[38:11]  ³⁴ tn The MT literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The LXX has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused – but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.

[39:1]  ³⁵ tn The text uses the infinitive as the object: “do you know the giving birth of?”

[39:1]  ³⁶ tn Or “ibex.”

[39:10]  ³⁷ tn Some commentators think that the addition of the “wild ox” here is a copyist’s error, making the stich too long. They therefore delete it. Also, binding an animal to the furrow with ropes is unusual. So with a slight emendation Kissane came up with “Will you bind him with a halter of cord?” While the MT is unusual, the sense is understandable, and no changes, even slight ones, are absolutely necessary.

[41:30]  ³⁸ tn Heb “under him.”

[41:30]  ³⁹ tn Here only the word “sharp” is present, but in passages like Isa 41:15 it is joined with “threshing sledge.” Here and in Amos 1:3 and Isa 28:27 the word stands alone, but represents the “sledge.”