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 10:20

10:20 Are not my days few? ⁴ 

Cease, ⁵  then, and leave ⁶  me alone, ⁷ 

that I may find a little comfort, ⁸ 

Mazmur 39:1

Psalm 39 ⁹ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ¹⁰  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ¹¹ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ¹² 

[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.”

[10:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “are not my days few; cease/let it cease….” The versions have “the days of my life” (reading יְמֵי חֶלְדִי [yÿme kheldi] instead of יָמַי וַחֲדָל [yamay vakhadal]). Many commentators and the RSV, NAB, and NRSV accept this reading. The Kethib is an imperfect or jussive, “let it cease/ it will cease.” The Qere is more intelligible for some interpreters – “cease” (as in 7:16). For a discussion of the readings, see D. W. Thomas, “Some Observations on the Hebrew Root hadal,” VTSup 4 [1057]: 14). But the text is not impossible as it stands.

[10:20]  ⁵ tn Taking the form as the imperative with the ו (vav), the sentence follows the direct address to God (as in v. 18 as well as 7:16). This requires less changes. See the preceding note regarding the plausibility of the jussive. The point of the verse is clear in either reading – his life is short, and he wants the suffering to stop.

[10:20]  ⁶ tn In the different suggestions for the line, the י (yod) of this word is believed to belong to the preceding word making “my life.” That would here leave an imperative rather than an imperfect. But if the Qere is read, then it would be an imperative anyway, and there would be no reason for the change.

[10:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “put from me,” an expression found nowhere else. The Qere has a ו (vav) and not a י (yod), forming an imperative rather than an imperfect. H. H. Rowley suggests that there is an ellipsis here, “hand” needing to be supplied. Job wanted God to take his hand away from him. That is plausible, but difficult.

[10:20]  ⁸ tn The verb בָּלַג (balag) in the Hiphil means “to have cheer [or joy]” (see 7:27; Ps 39:14). The cohortative following the imperatives shows the purpose or result – “in order that.”

[39:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ¹² sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.