Ayub 8:22

8:22 Those who hate you ¹  will be clothed with shame, ² 

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

Ayub 18:6

18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;

his lamp above him is extinguished. ³ 

Ayub 18:14

18:14 He is dragged from the security of his tent, ⁴ 

and marched off ⁵  to the king ⁶  of terrors.

Ayub 5:24

5:24 And ⁷  you will know ⁸  that your home ⁹ 

will be secure, ¹⁰ 

and when you inspect ¹¹  your domains,

you will not be missing ¹²  anything.

Ayub 11:14

11:14 if ¹³  iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, ¹⁴ 

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

Ayub 15:34

15:34 For the company of the godless is barren, ¹⁵ 

and fire ¹⁶  consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 18:15

18:15 Fire resides in his tent; ¹⁸ 

over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.

Ayub 22:23

22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; ¹⁹ 

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

Ayub 29:4

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time, ²⁰ 

when God’s intimate friendship ²¹  was experienced in my tent,

Ayub 12:6

12:6 But ²²  the tents of robbers are peaceful,

and those who provoke God are confident ²³  –

who carry their god in their hands. ²⁴ 

Ayub 19:12

19:12 His troops ²⁵  advance together;

they throw up ²⁶  a siege ramp against me,

and they camp around my tent.

Ayub 20:26

20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; ²⁷ 

a fire which has not been kindled ²⁸ 

will consume him

and devour what is left in his tent.

Ayub 21:28

21:28 For you say,

‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, ²⁹ 

and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ ³⁰ 

Ayub 31:31

31:31 if ³¹  the members of my household ³²  have never said, ³³ 

‘If only there were ³⁴  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ³⁵  meat!’ –

[8:22]  ¹ sn These verses show several points of similarity with the style of the Book of Psalms. “Those who hate you” and the “evil-doers” are fairly common words to describe the ungodly in the Psalms. “Those who hate you” are enemies of the righteous man because of the parallelism in the verse. By this line Bildad is showing Job that he and his friends are not among those who are his enemies, and that Job himself is really among the righteous. It is an appealing way to end the discourse. See further G. W. Anderson, “Enemies and Evil-doers in the Book of Psalms,” BJRL 48 (1965/66): 18-29.

[8:22]  ² tn “Shame” is compared to a garment that can be worn. The “shame” envisioned here is much more than embarrassment or disgrace – it is utter destruction. For parallels in the Psalms, see Pss 35:26; 132:18; 109:29.

[18:6]  ³ tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”

[18:6]  sn This thesis of Bildad will be questioned by Job in 21:17 – how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?

[18:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “from his tent, his security.” The apposition serves to modify the tent as his security.

[18:14]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil of צָעַד (tsa’ad, “to lead away”). The problem is that the form is either a third feminine (Rashi thought it was referring to Job’s wife) or the second person. There is a good deal of debate over the possibility of the prefix t- being a variant for the third masculine form. The evidence in Ugaritic and Akkadian is mixed, stronger for the plural than the singular. Gesenius has some samples where the third feminine form might also be used for the passive if there is no expressed subject (see GKC 459 §144.b), but the evidence is not strong. The simplest choices are to change the prefix to a י (yod), or argue that the ת (tav) can be masculine, or follow Gesenius.

[18:14]  ⁶ sn This is a reference to death, the king of all terrors. Other identifications are made in the commentaries: Mot, the Ugaritic god of death; Nergal of the Babylonians; Molech of the Canaanites, the one to whom people sent emissaries.

[5:24]  ⁷ sn Verses 19-23 described the immunity from evil and trouble that Job would enjoy – if he were restored to peace with God. Now, v. 24 describes the safety and peace of the homestead and his possessions if he were right with God.

[5:24]  ⁸ tn The verb is again the perfect, but in sequence to the previous structure so that it is rendered as a future. This would be the case if Job were right with God.

[5:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “tent.”

[5:24]  ¹⁰ tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) means “peace; safety; security; wholeness.” The same use appears in 1 Sam 25:6; 2 Sam 20:9.

[5:24]  ¹¹ tn The verb is פָּקַד (paqad, “to visit”). The idea here is “to gather together; to look over; to investigate,” or possibly even “to number” as it is used in the book of Numbers. The verb is the perfect with the vav consecutive; it may be subordinated to the imperfect verb that follows to form a temporal clause.

[5:24]  ¹² tn The verb is usually rendered “to sin”; but in this context the more specific primary meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fail to find something.” Neither Job’s tent nor his possessions will be lost.

[11:14]  ¹³ tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).

[11:14]  ¹⁴ tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.

[15:34]  ¹⁵ tn The LXX renders this line: “for death is the witness of an ungodly man. “Death” represents “barren/sterile,” and “witness” represents “assembly.”

[15:34]  ¹⁶ sn This may refer to the fire that struck Job (cf. 1:16).

[15:34]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the tents of bribery.” The word “bribery” can mean a “gift,” but most often in the sense of a bribe in court. It indicates that the wealth and the possessions that the wicked man has gained may have been gained unjustly.

[18:15]  ¹⁸ tn This line is difficult as well. The verb, again a third feminine form, says “it dwells in his tent.” But the next part (מִבְּלִי לוֹ, mibbÿli lo) means something like “things of what are not his.” The best that can be made of the MT is “There shall live in his tent they that are not his” (referring to persons and animals; see J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 279). G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:161) refer “that which is naught of his” to weeds and wild animals. M. Dahood suggested a reading מַבֶּל (mabbel) and a connection to Akkadian nablu, “fire” (cf. Ugaritic nbl). The interchange of m and n is not a problem, and the parallelism with the next line makes good sense (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,” Bib 38 [1957]: 312ff.). Others suggest an emendation to get “night-hag” or vampire. This suggestion, as well as Driver’s “mixed herbs,” are linked to the idea of exorcism. But if a change is to be made, Dahood’s is the most compelling.

[22:23]  ¹⁹ tc The MT has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the LXX has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [tÿ’anneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”

[29:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “in the days of my ripeness.” The word חֹרֶף (khoref) denotes the time when the harvest is gathered in because the fruit is ripe. Since this is the autumn, many translate that way here – but “autumn” has a different connotation now. The text is pointing to a time when the righteous reaps what he has sown, and can enjoy the benefits. The translation “most productive time” seems to capture the point better than “autumn” or even “prime.”

[29:4]  ²¹ tc The word סוֹד (sod) in this verse is an infinitive construct, prefixed with the temporal preposition and followed by a subjective genitive. It forms a temporal clause. There is some disagreement about the form and its meaning. The confusion in the versions shows that they were paraphrasing to get the general sense. In the Bible the derived noun (from יָסַד, yasad) means (a) a circle of close friends; (b) intimacy. Others follow the LXX and the Syriac with a meaning of “protect,” based on a change from ד (dalet) to כּ (kaf), and assuming the root was סָכַךְ (sakhakh). This would mean, “when God protected my tent” (cf. NAB). D. W. Thomas tries to justify this meaning without changing the text (“The Interpretation of BSOÝD in Job 29:4,” JBL 65 [1946]: 63-66).

[12:6]  ²² tn The verse gives the other side of the coin now, the fact that the wicked prosper.

[12:6]  ²³ tn The plural is used to suggest the supreme degree of arrogant confidence (E. Dhorme, Job, 171).

[12:6]  ²⁴ sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.

[19:12]  ²⁵ sn Now the metaphor changes again. Since God thinks of Job as an enemy, he attacks with his troops, builds the siege ramp, and camps around him to besiege him. All the power and all the forces are at God’s disposal in his attack of Job.

[19:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” or “to throw up a ramp”; here the object is “their way.” The latter could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “as their way.” But as the object it fits just as well. Some delete the middle clause; the LXX has “Together his troops fell upon me, they beset my ways with an ambush.”

[20:26]  ²⁷ tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”

[20:26]  ²⁸ tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).

[21:28]  ²⁹ sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”

[21:28]  ³⁰ tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.

[31:31]  ³¹ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ³² tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ³³ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ³⁴ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.