Ayub 4:9

4:9 By the breath ¹  of God they perish, ² 

and by the blast ³  of his anger they are consumed.

Ayub 4:11

4:11 The mighty lion ⁴  perishes ⁵  for lack of prey,

and the cubs of the lioness ⁶  are scattered.

Ayub 4:14-15

4:14 a trembling ⁷  gripped me – and a terror! –

and made all my bones shake. ⁸ 

4:15 Then a breath of air ⁹  passes ¹⁰  by my face;

it makes ¹¹  the hair of my flesh stand up.

Ayub 5:10

5:10 he gives ¹²  rain on the earth, ¹³ 

and sends ¹⁴  water on the fields; ¹⁵ 

Ayub 5:16

5:16 Thus the poor have hope,

and iniquity ¹⁶  shuts its mouth. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 6:9

6:9 And that God would be willing ¹⁸  to crush me,

that he would let loose ¹⁹  his hand

and ²⁰  kill me. ²¹ 

Ayub 6:18

6:18 Caravans ²²  turn aside from their routes;

they go ²³  into the wasteland ²⁴  and perish. ²⁵ 

Ayub 7:18

7:18 And that you visit ²⁶  them every morning,

and try ²⁷  them every moment? ²⁸ 

Ayub 17:4

17:4 Because ²⁹  you have closed their ³⁰  minds to understanding,

therefore you will not exalt them. ³¹ 

Ayub 17:6

17:6 He has made me ³²  a byword ³³  to people,

I am the one in whose face they spit. ³⁴ 

Ayub 18:9

18:9 A trap ³⁵  seizes him by the heel;

a snare ³⁶  grips him.

Ayub 19:23

Job’s Assurance of Vindication

19:23 “O that ³⁷  my words were written down,

O that they were written on a scroll, ³⁸ 

Ayub 20:6

20:6 Even though his stature ³⁹  reaches to the heavens

and his head touches the clouds,

Ayub 21:8

21:8 Their children ⁴⁰  are firmly established

in their presence, ⁴¹ 

their offspring before their eyes.

Ayub 26:6

26:6 The underworld ⁴²  is naked before God; ⁴³ 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ⁴⁴ 

Ayub 28:25

28:25 When he made ⁴⁵  the force of the wind

and measured ⁴⁶  the waters with a gauge.

Ayub 31:22

31:22 then ⁴⁷  let my arm fall from the shoulder, ⁴⁸ 

let my arm be broken off at the socket. ⁴⁹ 

Ayub 33:30

33:30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

Ayub 34:23

34:23 For he does not still consider a person, ⁵⁰ 

that he should come before God in judgment.

Ayub 36:28

36:28 which the clouds pour down

and shower on humankind abundantly.

Ayub 37:18

37:18 will you, with him, spread out ⁵¹  the clouds,

solid as a mirror of molten metal?

Ayub 38:2

38:2 “Who is this ⁵²  who darkens counsel ⁵³ 

with words without knowledge?

Ayub 38:10

38:10 when I prescribed ⁵⁴  its limits,

and set ⁵⁵  in place its bolts and doors,

Ayub 38:26

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ⁵⁶ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ⁵⁷ 

Ayub 38:38

38:38 when the dust hardens ⁵⁸  into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

Ayub 41:22

41:22 Strength lodges in its neck,

and despair ⁵⁹  runs before it.

[4:9]  ¹ tn The LXX in the place of “breath” has “word” or “command,” probably to limit the anthropomorphism. The word is מִנִּשְׁמַת (minnishmat) comprising מִן (min) + נִשְׁמַת (nishmat, the construct of נְשָׁמָה [nÿshamah]): “from/at the breath of.” The “breath of God” occurs frequently in Scripture. In Gen 2:7 it imparts life; but here it destroys it. The figure probably does indicate a divine decree from God (e.g., “depart from me”) – so the LXX may have been simply interpreting.

[4:9]  ² sn The statement is saying that if some die by misfortune it is because divine retribution or anger has come upon them. This is not necessarily the case, as the NT declares (see Luke 13:1-5).

[4:9]  ³ tn The word רוּחַ (ruakh) is now parallel to נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah); both can mean “breath” or “wind.” To avoid using “breath” for both lines, “blast” has been employed here. The word is followed by אַפוֹ (’afo) which could be translated “his anger” or “his nostril.” If “nostril” is retained, then it is a very bold anthropomorphism to indicate the fuming wrath of God. It is close to the picture of the hot wind coming off the desert to scorch the plants (see Hos 13:15).

[4:11]  ⁴ tn The word לַיִשׁ (layish) traditionally rendered “strong lion,” occurs only here and in Prov 30:30 and Isa 30:6. It has cognates in several of the Semitic languages, and so seems to indicate lion as king of the beasts.

[4:11]  ⁵ tn The form of the verb is the Qal active participle; it stresses the characteristic action of the verb as if a standard universal truth.

[4:11]  ⁶ tn The text literally has “sons of the lioness.”

[4:14]  ⁷ tn The two words פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”) and רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “terror”) strengthen each other as synonyms (see also Ps 55:6). The subject of the verb קָרָא (qara’, “befall, encounter”) is פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”); its compound subject has been placed at the end of the colon.

[4:14]  ⁸ tn The subject of the Hiphil verb הִפְחִיד (hifkhid, “dread”) is פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”), which is why it is in the singular. The cognate verb intensifies and applies the meaning of the noun. BDB 808 s.v. פַּחַד Hiph translates it “fill my bones with dread.” In that sense “bones” would have to be a metonymy of subject representing the framework of the body, so that the meaning is that his whole being was filled with trembling.

[4:15]  ⁹ tn The word רוּחַ (ruakh) can be “spirit” or “breath.” The implication here is that it was something that Eliphaz felt – what he saw follows in v. 16. The commentators are divided on whether this is an apparition, a spirit, or a breath. The word can be used in either the masculine or the feminine, and so the gender of the verb does not favor the meaning “spirit.” In fact, in Isa 21:1 the same verb חָלַף (khalaf, “pass on, through”) is used with the subject being a strong wind or hurricane “blowing across.” It may be that such a wind has caused Eliphaz’s hair to stand on end here. D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 111) also concludes it means “wind,” noting that in Job a spirit or spirits would be called רְפָאִים (rÿfa’im), אֶלֹהִים (’elohim) or אוֹב (’ov).

[4:15]  ¹⁰ tn The verbs in this verse are imperfects. In the last verse the verbs were perfects when Eliphaz reported the fear that seized him. In this continuation of the report the description becomes vivid with the change in verbs, as if the experience were in progress.

[4:15]  ¹¹ tn The subject of this verb is also רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”), since it can assume either gender. The “hair of my flesh” is the complement and not the subject; therefore the Piel is to be retained and not changed to a Qal as some suggest (and compare with Ps 119:120).

[5:10]  ¹² tn Heb “who gives.” The participle continues the doxology here. But the article is necessary because of the distance between this verse and the reference to God.

[5:10]  sn He gives rain. The use of the verb “gives” underscores the idea that rain is a gift from God. This would be more keenly felt in the Middle East where water is scarce.

[5:10]  ¹³ tn In both halves of the verse the literal rendering would be “upon the face of the earth” and “upon the face of the fields.”

[5:10]  ¹⁴ tn The second participle is simply coordinated to the first and therefore does not need the definite article repeated (see GKC 404 §126.b).

[5:10]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term חוּצוֹת (khutsot) basically means “outside,” or what is outside. It could refer to streets if what is meant is outside the house; but it refers to fields here (parallel to the more general word) because it is outside the village. See Ps 144:13 for the use of the expression for “countryside.” The LXX gives a much wider interpretation: “what is under heaven.”

[5:16]  ¹⁶ tn Other translations render this “injustice” (NIV, NRSV, CEV) or “unrighteousness” (NASB).

[5:16]  ¹⁷ tn The verse summarizes the result of God’s intervention in human affairs, according to Eliphaz’ idea that even-handed justice prevails. Ps 107:42 parallels v. 16b.

[6:9]  ¹⁸ tn The verb יָאַל (ya’al) in the Hiphil means “to be willing, to consent, to decide.” It is here the jussive followed by the dependent verb with a (ו) vav: “that God would be willing and would crush me” means “to crush me.” Gesenius, however, says that the conjunction introduces coordination rather than subordination; he says the principal idea is introduced in the second verb, the first verb containing the definition of the manner of the action (see GKC 386 §120.d).

[6:9]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is used for loosening shoe straps in Isa 58:6, and of setting prisoners free in Pss 105:20 and 146:7. Job thinks that God’s hand has been restrained for some reason, and so desires that God be free to destroy him.

[6:9]  ²⁰ tn The final verb is an imperfect (or jussive) following the jussive (of נָתַר, natar); it thus expresses the result (“and then” or “so that”) or the purpose (“in order that”). Job longs for death, but it must come from God.

[6:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “and cut me off.” The LXX reads this verse as “Let the Lord begin and wound me, but let him not utterly destroy me.” E. Dhorme (Job, 81) says the LXX is a paraphrase based on a pun with “free hand.” Targum Job has, “God has begun to make me poor; may he free his hand and make me rich,” apparently basing the reading on a metaphorical interpretation.

[6:18]  ²² tn This is the usual rendering of the Hebrew אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “way, path”). It would mean that the course of the wadi would wind down and be lost in the sand. Many commentators either repoint the text to אֹרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot) when in construct (as in Isa 21:13), or simply redefine the existing word to mean “caravans” as in the next verse, and translate something like “caravans deviate from their route.” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 160-61) allows that “caravans” will be introduced in the next verse, but urges retention of the usual sense here. The two verses together will yield the same idea in either case – the river dries up and caravans looking for the water deviate from their course looking for it.

[6:18]  ²³ tn The verb literally means “to go up,” but here no real ascent is intended for the wasteland. It means that they go inland looking for the water. The streams wind out into the desert and dry up in the sand and the heat. A. B. Davidson (Job, 47) notes the difficulty with the interpretation of this verse as a reference to caravans is that Ibn Ezra says that it is not usual for caravans to leave their path and wander inland in search of water.

[6:18]  ²⁴ tn The word תֹּהוּ (tohu) was used in Genesis for “waste,” meaning without shape or structure. Here the term refers to the trackless, unending wilderness (cf. 12:24).

[6:18]  ²⁵ sn If the term “paths” (referring to the brook) is the subject, then this verb would mean it dies in the desert; if caravaneers are intended, then when they find no water they perish. The point in the argument would be the same in either case. Job is saying that his friends are like this water, and he like the caravaneer was looking for refreshment, but found only that the brook had dried up.

[7:18]  ²⁶ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) is a very common one in the Bible; while it is frequently translated “visit,” the “visit” is never comparable to a social call. When God “visits” people it always means a divine intervention for blessing or cursing – but the visit always changes the destiny of the one visited. Here Job is amazed that God Almighty would be so involved in the life of mere human beings.

[7:18]  ²⁷ tn Now the verb “to test” is introduced and gives further explanation to the purpose of the “visit” in the parallel line (see the same parallelism in Ps 17:3). The verb בָּחַן (bakhan) has to do with passing things through the fire or the crucible to purify the metal (see Job 23:10; Zech 13:3); metaphorically it means “to examine carefully” and “to purify by testing.”

[7:18]  ²⁸ sn The amazing thing is the regularity of the testing. Job is at first amazed that God would visit him; but even more is he amazed that God is testing him every moment. The employment of a chiasm with the two temporal adverbial phrases as the central elements emphasizes the regularity.

[17:4]  ²⁹ tn This half-verse gives the reason for the next half-verse.

[17:4]  ³⁰ sn The pronoun their refers to Job’s friends. They have not pledged security for him because God has hidden or sealed off their understanding.

[17:4]  ³¹ tn The object “them” is supplied. This is the simplest reading of the line, taking the verb is an active Polel. Some suggest that the subject is “their hand” and the verb is to be translated “is not raised.” This would carry through the thought of the last verse, but it is not necessary to the point.

[17:6]  ³² tn The verb is the third person, and so God is likely the subject. The LXX has “you have made me.” So most commentators clarify the verb in some such way. However, without an expressed subject it can also be taken as a passive.

[17:6]  ³³ tn The word “byword” is related to the word translated “proverb” in the Bible (מָשָׁל, mashal). Job’s case is so well known that he is synonymous with afflictions and with abuse by people.

[17:6]  ³⁴ tn The word תֹפֶת (tofet) is a hapax legomenon. The expression is “and a spitting in/to the face I have become,” i.e., “I have become one in whose face people spit.” Various suggestions have been made, including a link to Tophet, but they are weak. The verse as it exists in the MT is fine, and fits the context well.

[18:9]  ³⁵ tn This word פָּח (pakh) specifically refers to the snare of the fowler – thus a bird trap. But its plural seems to refer to nets in general (see Job 22:10).

[18:9]  ³⁶ tn This word does not occur elsewhere. But another word from the same root means “plait of hair,” and so this term has something to do with a net like a trellis or lattice.

[19:23]  ³⁷ tn The optative is again expressed with the interrogative clause “Who will give that they be written?” Job wishes that his words be preserved long after his death.

[19:23]  ³⁸ tn While the sense of this line is clear, there is a small problem and a plausible solution. The last word is indeed סֶפֶר (sefer, “book”), usually understood here to mean “scroll.” But the verb that follows it in the verse is יֻחָקוּ (yukhaqu), from חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to carve”). While the meaning is clearly that Job wants his words to be retained, the idea of engraving in a book, although not impossible, is unusual. And so many have suggested that the Akkadian word siparru, “copper; brass,” is what is meant here (see Isa 30:8; Judg 5:14). The consonants are the same, and the vowel pattern is close to the original vowel pattern of this segholate noun. Writing on copper or bronze sheets has been attested from the 12th to the 2nd centuries, notably in the copper scroll, which would allow the translation “scroll” in our text (for more bibliography see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 432). But H. S. Gehman notes that in Phoenician our word can mean “inscription” (“SEÝFER, an inscription, in the book of Job,” JBL 63 [1944]: 303-7), making the proposed substitution unnecessary.

[20:6]  ³⁹ tn The word שִׂיא (si’) has been connected with the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”), and so interpreted here as “pride.” The form is parallel to “head” in the next part, and so here it refers to his stature, the part that rises up and is crowned. But the verse does describe the pride of such a person, with his head in the heavens.

[21:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “their seed.”

[21:8]  ⁴¹ tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).

[26:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ⁴³ tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ⁴⁴ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).

[28:25]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “he gave weight to the wind.” The form is the infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition. Some have emended it to change the preposition to the temporal בּ (bet) on the basis of some of the versions (e.g., Latin and Syriac) that have “who made.” This is workable, for the infinitive would then take on the finite tense of the previous verbs. An infinitive of purpose does not work well, for that would be saying God looked everywhere in order to give wind its proper weight (see R. Gordis, Job, 310).

[28:25]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb is the Piel perfect, meaning “to estimate the measure” of something. In the verse, the perfect verb continues the function of the infinitive preceding it, as if it had a ו (vav) prefixed to it. Whatever usage that infinitive had, this verb is to continue it (see GKC 352 §114.r).

[31:22]  ⁴⁷ sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.

[31:22]  ⁴⁸ tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”

[31:22]  ⁴⁹ tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.

[34:23]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “for he does not put upon man yet.” This has been given a wide variety of interpretations, all of which involve a lot of additional thoughts. The word עוֹד (’od, “yet, still”) has been replaced with מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “an appointed time,” Reiske and Wright), with the ם (mem) having dropped out by haplography. This makes good sense. If the MT is retained, the best interpretation would be that God does not any more consider (from “place upon the heart”) man, that he might appear in judgment.

[37:18]  ⁵¹ tn The verb means “to beat out; to flatten,” and the analogy in the next line will use molten metal. From this verb is derived the word for the “firmament” in Gen 1:6-8, that canopy-like pressure area separating water above and water below.

[38:2]  ⁵² tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here to emphasize the interrogative pronoun (see GKC 442 §136.c).

[38:2]  ⁵³ sn The referent of “counsel” here is not the debate between Job and the friends, but the purposes of God (see Ps 33:10; Prov 19:21; Isa 19:17). Dhorme translates it “Providence.”

[38:10]  ⁵⁴ tc The MT has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The LXX and the Vulgate have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).

[38:10]  ⁵⁵ tn Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.

[38:26]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”

[38:38]  ⁵⁸ tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.

[41:22]  ⁵⁹ tn This word, דְּאָבָה (dÿ’avah) is a hapax legomenon. But the verbal root means “to languish; to pine.” A related noun talks of dejection and despair in Deut 28:65. So here “despair” as a translation is preferable to “terror.”