Ayub 5:20

5:20 In time of famine ¹  he will redeem you from death,

and in time of war from the power of the sword. ² 

Ayub 9:24

9:24 If a land ³  has been given

into the hand of a wicked man, ⁴ 

he covers ⁵  the faces of its judges; ⁶ 

if it is not he, then who is it? ⁷ 

Ayub 20:25

20:25 When he pulls it out ⁸  and it comes out of his back,

the gleaming point ⁹  out of his liver,

terrors come over him.

Ayub 28:17

28:17 Neither gold nor crystal ¹⁰  can be compared with it,

nor can a vase ¹¹  of gold match its worth.

[5:20]  ¹ sn Targum Job here sees an allusion to the famine of Egypt and the war with Amalek.

[5:20]  ² tn Heb “from the hand of the sword.” This is idiomatic for “the power of the sword.” The expression is also metonymical, meaning from the effect of the sword, which is death.

[9:24]  ³ tn Some would render this “earth,” meaning the whole earth, and having the verse be a general principle for all mankind. But Job may have in mind the more specific issue of individual land.

[9:24]  ⁴ sn The details of the verse are not easy to explain, but the meaning of the whole verse seems to be about the miscarriage of justice in the courts and the failure of God to do anything about it.

[9:24]  ⁵ tn The subject of the verb is God. The reasoning goes this way: it is the duty of judges to make sure that justice prevails, that restitution and restoration are carried through; but when the wicked gain control of the land of other people, and the judges are ineffective to stop it, then God must be veiling their eyes.

[9:24]  ⁶ sn That these words are strong, if not wild, is undeniable. But Job is only taking the implications of his friends’ speeches to their logical conclusion – if God dispenses justice in the world, and there is no justice, then God is behind it all. The LXX omitted these words, perhaps out of reverence for God.

[9:24]  ⁷ tn This seems to be a broken-off sentence (anacoluthon), and so is rather striking. The scribes transposed the words אֵפוֹא (’efo’) and הוּא (hu’) to make the smoother reading: “If it is not he, who then is it?”

[20:25]  ⁸ tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back,” a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.

[20:25]  ⁹ tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.

[28:17]  ¹⁰ tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.

[28:17]  ¹¹ tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.