Ayub 7:11

Job Remonstrates with God

7:11 “Therefore, ¹  I will not refrain my mouth; ² 

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain ³  in the bitterness of my soul.

Ayub 12:7

Knowledge of God’s Wisdom ⁴ 

12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they ⁵  will teach you,

or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.

Ayub 18:19

18:19 He has neither children nor descendants ⁶  among his people,

no survivor in those places he once stayed. ⁷ 

Ayub 19:15

19:15 My guests ⁸  and my servant girls

consider ⁹  me a stranger;

I am a foreigner ¹⁰  in their eyes.

Ayub 23:14

23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me, ¹¹ 

and many such things are his plans. ¹² 

Ayub 28:8

28:8 Proud beasts ¹³  have not set foot on it,

and no lion has passed along it.

Ayub 31:23

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ¹⁴ 

and by reason of his majesty ¹⁵  I was powerless.

Ayub 36:18

36:18 Be careful that ¹⁶  no one entices you with riches;

do not let a large bribe ¹⁷  turn you aside.

Ayub 42:5

42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye has seen you. ¹⁸ 

[7:11]  ¹ tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.

[7:11]  ² sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

[7:11]  ³ tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb si^ah and the Nouns si^ah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).

[12:7]  ⁴ sn As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 216) observes, in this section Job argues that respected tradition “must not be accepted uncritically.”

[12:7]  ⁵ tn The singular verb is used here with the plural collective subject (see GKC 464 §145.k).

[18:19]  ⁶ tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”

[18:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.

[19:15]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew גָּרֵי בֵיתִי (gare beti, “the guests of my house”) refers to those who sojourned in my house – not residents, but guests.

[19:15]  ⁹ tn The form of the verb is a feminine plural, which would seem to lend support to the proposed change of the lines (see last note to v. 14). But the form may be feminine primarily because of the immediate reference. On the other side, the suffix of “their eyes” is a masculine plural. So the evidence lies on both sides.

[19:15]  ¹⁰ tn This word נָכְרִי (nokhri) is the person from another race, from a strange land, the foreigner. The previous word, גֵּר (ger), is a more general word for someone who is staying in the land but is not a citizen, a sojourner.

[23:14]  ¹¹ tn The text has “my decree,” which means “the decree [plan] for/against me.” The suffix is objective, equivalent to a dative of disadvantage. The Syriac and the Vulgate actually have “his decree.” R. Gordis (Job, 262) suggests taking it in the same sense as in Job 14:5: “my limit.”.

[23:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and many such [things] are with him.”

[23:14]  sn The text is saying that many similar situations are under God’s rule of the world – his plans are infinite.

[28:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “the sons of pride.” In Job 41:26 the expression refers to carnivorous wild beasts.

[31:23]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.

[31:23]  ¹⁵ tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).

[36:18]  ¹⁶ tn The first expression is idiomatic: the text says, “because wrath lest it entice you” – thus, beware.

[36:18]  ¹⁷ tn The word is כֹּפֶר (kofer), often translated “ransom,” but frequently in the sense of a bribe.

[42:5]  ¹⁸ sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.