If he is uprooted ¹  from his place, then that place ²  will disown him, saying, ³  ‘I have never seen you!’

biblegateway Job 8:18

"If he is removed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

If he is uprooted from his place, it will deny knowing him, saying, "I never saw you."

But when it is uprooted from its place, the ground denies it and says, ‘I never saw you!’

biblegateway Job 8:18

But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’

If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, 'I have never seen you.'

bibleoremus Job 8:18

If they are destroyed from their place, then it will deny them, saying, ‘I have never seen you.’

Then someone uproots it from its place, which disowns it, saying, “I have never known you.”

biblegateway Job 8:18

If he is destroyed from his place, Then it will deny him, saying , ‘I have not seen you.’

If he destroy him from his place, then [it] shall deny him, [saying], I have not seen thee.

biblegateway Job 8:18

If he is uprooted ¹  from his place, then that place ²  will disown him, saying, ³  ‘I have never seen you!’

¹ tc Ball reads אֵל (’el, “God”) instead of אִם (’im, “if”): “God destroys it” – but there is no reason for this. The idea would be implied in the context. A. B. Davidson rightly points out that who destroys it is not important, but the fact that it is destroyed.

¹ tn The Hebrew has “if one destroys it”; the indefinite subject allows for a passive interpretation. The verb means “swallow” in the Qal, but in the Piel it means “to engulf; to destroy; to ruin” (2:3; 10:8). It could here be rendered “removed from its place” (the place where it is rooted); since the picture is that of complete destruction, “uprooted” would be a good rendering.

² tn Heb “it”; the referent (“his place” in the preceding line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² sn The place where the plant once grew will deny ever knowing it. Such is the completeness of the uprooting that there is not a trace left.

³ tn Here “saying” is supplied in the translation.