Ayub 8:17

8:17 It wraps its roots around a heap ¹  of stones ² 

and it looks ³  for a place among stones. ⁴ 

Ayub 31:30

31:30 I ⁵  have not even permitted my mouth ⁶  to sin

by asking ⁷  for his life through a curse –

Ayub 34:8

34:8 He goes about ⁸  in company ⁹  with evildoers,

he goes along ¹⁰  with wicked men. ¹¹ 

Ayub 36:14

36:14 They die ¹²  in their youth,

and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes. ¹³ 

[8:17]  ¹ tn Cheyne reads “spring” or “well” rather than “heap.” However, this does not fit the parallelism very well, and so he emends the second half as well. Nevertheless the Hebrew text needs no emending here.

[8:17]  ² tn The expression “of stones” is added for clarification of what the heap would be. It refers to the object around which the roots would grow. The parallelism with “house of stones” makes this reading highly probable.

[8:17]  ³ tn The idea is that the plant grows, looking for a place to grow among the stones. Some trees grow so tightly around the rocks and stones that they are impossible to uproot. The rocky ground where it grows forms “a house of stones.” The LXX supports an emendation from יְחֱזֶה (yÿkhezeh, “it looks”) to יִחְיֶה (yikhyeh, “it lives”). Others have tried to emend the text in a variety of ways: “pushes” (Budde), “cleave” (Gordis), “was opposite” (Driver), or “run against” (NEB, probably based on G. R. Driver). If one were to make a change, the reading with the LXX would be the easiest to defend, but there is no substantial reason to do that. The meaning is about the same without such a change.

[8:17]  ⁴ sn The idea seems to be that the stones around which the roots of the tree wrap themselves suggest strength and security for the tree, but uprooting comes to it nevertheless (v. 18). The point is that the wicked may appear to be living in security and flourishing, yet can be quickly destroyed (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 74).

[31:30]  ⁵ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ⁷ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.

[34:8]  ⁸ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ⁹ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[36:14]  ¹² tn The text expresses this with “their soul dies.”

[36:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “among the male prostitutes” who were at the temple – the “holy ones,” with “holy” being used in that sense of “separated to that form of temple service.” So uncleanness and shame are some of the connotations of the reference. Some modern translations give the general sense only: “their life ends in shame” (NRSV); “and perish among the reprobate” (NAB); “die…after wasting their lives in immoral living” (NLT).