Ayub 7:19

7:19 Will you never ¹  look away from me, ² 

will you not let me alone ³ 

long enough to swallow my spittle?

Ayub 16:15

16:15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, ⁴ 

and buried ⁵  my horn ⁶  in the dust;

Ayub 19:11

19:11 Thus ⁷  his anger burns against me,

and he considers me among his enemies. ⁸ 

Ayub 29:16

29:16 I was a father ⁹  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

Ayub 30:21

30:21 You have become cruel to me; ¹⁰ 

with the strength of your hand you attack me. ¹¹ 

Ayub 32:14

32:14 Job ¹²  has not directed ¹³  his words to me,

and so I will not reply to him with your arguments. ¹⁴ 

Ayub 33:10

33:10 ¹⁵ Yet God ¹⁶  finds occasions ¹⁷  with me;

he regards me as his enemy!

[7:19]  ¹ tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

[7:19]  ² tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

[7:19]  ³ tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”

[16:15]  ⁴ sn The language is hyperbolic; Job is saying that the sackcloth he has put on in his lamentable state is now stuck to his skin as if he had stitched it into the skin. It is now a habitual garment that he never takes off.

[16:15]  ⁵ tn The Poel עֹלַלְתִּי (’olalti) from עָלַל (’alal, “to enter”) has here the meaning of “to thrust in.” The activity is the opposite of “raising high the horn,” a picture of dignity and victory.

[16:15]  ⁶ tn There is no English term that captures exactly what “horn” is meant to do. Drawn from the animal world, the image was meant to convey strength and pride and victory. Some modern commentators have made other proposals for the line. Svi Rin suggested from Ugaritic that the verb be translated “lower” or “dip” (“Ugaritic – Old Testament Affinities,” BZ 7 [1963]: 22-33).

[19:11]  ⁷ tn The verb is a nonpreterite vayyiqtol perhaps employed to indicate that the contents of v. 11 are a logical sequence to the actions described in v. 10.

[19:11]  ⁸ tn This second half of the verse is a little difficult. The Hebrew has “and he reckons me for him like his adversaries.” Most would change the last word to a singular in harmony with the versions, “as his adversary.” But some retain the MT pointing and try to explain it variously: Weiser suggests that the plural might have come from a cultic recitation of Yahweh’s deeds against his enemies; Fohrer thinks it refers to the primeval enemies; Gordis takes it as distributive, “as one of his foes.” If the plural is retained, this latter view makes the most sense.

[29:16]  ⁹ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[30:21]  ¹⁰ tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.

[30:21]  ¹¹ tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.

[32:14]  ¹² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:14]  ¹³ tn The verb עַרַךְ (’arakh) means “to arrange in order; to set forth; to direct; to marshal.” It is used in military contexts for setting the battle array; it is used in legal settings for preparing the briefs.

[32:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your words.”

[33:10]  ¹⁵ sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.

[33:10]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:10]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.