Ayub 8:5

8:5 But ¹  if you will look ²  to God,

and make your supplication ³  to the Almighty,

Ayub 11:13

11:13 “As for you, ⁴  if you prove faithful, ⁵ 

and if ⁶  you stretch out your hands toward him, ⁷ 

Ayub 13:3

13:3 But I wish to speak ⁸  to the Almighty, ⁹ 

and I desire to argue ¹⁰  my case ¹¹  with God.

Ayub 13:15

13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; ¹² 

I will surely ¹³  defend ¹⁴  my ways to his face!

Ayub 23:4

23:4 I would lay out my case ¹⁵  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

Ayub 39:1

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way ¹⁶ 

the mountain goats ¹⁷  give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

Mazmur 35:23

35:23 Rouse yourself, wake up ¹⁸  and vindicate me! ¹⁹ 

My God and Lord, defend my just cause! ²⁰ 

Mazmur 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ²¹ 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ²² 

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ²³ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²⁴ 

Why are wicked people successful? ²⁵ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ²⁶ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ²⁷ 

Why are wicked people successful? ²⁸ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

1 Korintus 4:4

4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord.

[8:5]  ¹ tn “But” is supplied to show the contrast between this verse and the preceding line.

[8:5]  ² tn The verb שִׁחַר (shikhar) means “to seek; to seek earnestly” (see 7:21). With the preposition אֶל (’el) the verb may carry the nuance of “to address; to have recourse to” (see E. Dhorme, Job, 114). The LXX connected it etymologically to “early” and read, “Be early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.”

[8:5]  ³ tn The verb תִּתְחַנָּן (titkhannan) means “to make supplication; to seek favor; to seek grace” (from חָנַן, khanan). Bildad is saying that there is only one way for Job to escape the same fate as his children – he must implore God’s mercy. Job’s speech had spoken about God’s seeking him and not finding him; but Bildad is speaking of the importance of Job’s seeking God.

[11:13]  ⁴ tn The pronoun is emphatic, designed to put Job in a different class than the hollow men – at least to raise the possibility of his being in a different class.

[11:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew uses the perfect of כּוּן (kun, “establish”) with the object “your heart.” The verb can be translated “prepare, fix, make firm” your heart. To fix the heart is to make it faithful and constant, the heart being the seat of the will and emotions. The use of the perfect here does not refer to the past, but should be given a future perfect sense – if you shall have fixed your heart, i.e., prove faithful. Job would have to make his heart secure, so that he was no longer driven about by differing views.

[11:13]  ⁶ tn This half-verse is part of the protasis and not, as in the RSV, the apodosis to the first half. The series of “if” clauses will continue through these verses until v. 15.

[11:13]  ⁷ sn This is the posture of prayer (see Isa 1:15). The expression means “spread out your palms,” probably meaning that the one praying would fall to his knees, put his forehead to the ground, and spread out his hands in front of him on the ground.

[13:3]  ⁸ tn The verb is simply the Piel imperfect אֲדַבֵּר (’adabber, “I speak”). It should be classified as a desiderative imperfect, saying, “I desire to speak.” This is reinforced with the verb “to wish, desire” in the second half of the verse.

[13:3]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew title for God here is אֶל־שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”).

[13:3]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute functions here as the direct object of the verb “desire” (see GKC 340 §113.b).

[13:3]  ¹¹ tn The infinitive הוֹכֵחַ (hokheakh) is from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh), which means “to argue, plead, debate.” It has the legal sense here of arguing a case (cf. 5:17).

[13:15]  ¹² tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (lo’, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated – as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (’akhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).

[13:15]  ¹³ tn On אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.

[13:15]  ¹⁴ tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.

[23:4]  ¹⁵ tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.

[39:1]  ¹⁶ tn The text uses the infinitive as the object: “do you know the giving birth of?”

[39:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “ibex.”

[35:23]  ¹⁸ sn Though he is confident that the Lord is aware of his situation (see v. 22a), the psalmist compares the Lord’s inactivity to sleep and urges him to wake up.

[35:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for my justice.”

[35:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for my cause.”

[50:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ²² sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

[12:1]  ²³ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[12:1]  ²⁶ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ²⁷ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”