Ayub 21:3

21:3 Bear with me ¹  and I ²  will speak,

and after I have spoken ³  you may mock. ⁴ 

Mazmur 52:8

52:8 But I ⁵  am like a flourishing ⁶  olive tree in the house of God;

I continually ⁷  trust in God’s loyal love.

[21:3]  ¹ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).

[21:3]  ² tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”

[21:3]  ³ tn The adverbial clauses are constructed of the preposition “after” and the Piel infinitive construct with the subjective genitive suffix: “my speaking,” or “I speak.”

[21:3]  ⁴ tn The verb is the imperfect of לָעַג (la’ag). The Hiphil has the same basic sense as the Qal, “to mock; to deride.” The imperfect here would be modal, expressing permission. The verb is in the singular, suggesting that Job is addressing Zophar; however, most of the versions put it into the plural. Note the singular in 16:3 between the plural in 16:1 and 16:4.

[52:8]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive construction (vav [ו] + subject) highlights the contrast between the evildoer’s destiny (vv. 5-7) and that of the godly psalmist’s security.

[52:8]  ⁶ tn Or “luxuriant, green, leafy.”

[52:8]  ⁷ tn Or, hyperbolically, “forever and ever.”