Ayub 40:7-14

40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task ¹  like a man.

I will question you and you will inform me!

40:8 Would you indeed annul ²  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, ³ 

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,

and clothe yourself with glory and honor!

40:11 Scatter abroad ⁴  the abundance ⁵  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ⁶  and bring him low;

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;

crush the wicked on the spot! ⁷ 

40:13 Hide them in the dust ⁸  together,

imprison ⁹  them ¹⁰  in the grave. ¹¹ 

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge ¹²  to you

that your own right hand can save you. ¹³ 

[40:7]  ¹ tn See note on “task” in 38:3.

[40:8]  ² tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.

[40:9]  ³ tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[40:11]  ⁴ tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ⁶ tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.

[40:12]  ⁷ tn The expression translated “on the spot” is the prepositional phrase תַּחְתָּם (takhtam, “under them”). “Under them” means in their place. But it can also mean “where someone stands, on the spot” (see Exod 16:29; Jos 6:5; Judg 7:21, etc.).

[40:13]  ⁸ tn The word “dust” can mean “ground” here, or more likely, “grave.”

[40:13]  ⁹ tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) means “to bind.” In Arabic the word means “to bind” in the sense of “to imprison,” and that fits here.

[40:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “their faces.”

[40:13]  ¹¹ tn The word is “secret place,” the place where he is to hide them, i.e., the grave. The text uses the word “secret place” as a metonymy for the grave.

[40:14]  ¹² tn The verb is usually translated “praise,” but with the sense of a public declaration or acknowledgment. It is from יָדָה (yadah, in the Hiphil, as here, “give thanks, laud”).

[40:14]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb has the nuance of potential imperfect: “can save; is able to save.”