Ayub 10:18

An Appeal for Relief

10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?

I should have died ¹ 

and no eye would have seen me!

Ayub 12:6

12:6 But ²  the tents of robbers are peaceful,

and those who provoke God are confident ³  –

who carry their god in their hands. ⁴ 

Ayub 15:30

15:30 He will not escape the darkness; ⁵ 

a flame will wither his shoots

and he will depart

by the breath of God’s mouth. ⁶ 

Ayub 20:26

20:26 Total darkness waits to receive his treasures; ⁷ 

a fire which has not been kindled ⁸ 

will consume him

and devour what is left in his tent.

Ayub 21:30

21:30 that the evil man is spared

from the day of his misfortune,

that he is delivered ⁹ 

from the day of God’s wrath?

Ayub 22:19

22:19 The righteous see their destruction ¹⁰  and rejoice;

the innocent mock them scornfully, ¹¹  saying,

Ayub 27:5

27:5 I will never ¹²  declare that you three ¹³  are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

Ayub 33:17

33:17 to turn a person from his sin, ¹⁴ 

and to cover a person’s pride. ¹⁵ 

Ayub 40:12

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

crush the wicked on the spot! ¹⁶ 

[10:18]  ¹ tn The two imperfect verbs in this section are used to stress regrets for something which did not happen (see GKC 317 §107.n).

[12:6]  ² tn The verse gives the other side of the coin now, the fact that the wicked prosper.

[12:6]  ³ tn The plural is used to suggest the supreme degree of arrogant confidence (E. Dhorme, Job, 171).

[12:6]  ⁴ sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.

[15:30]  ⁵ tn Some editions and commentators delete the first line of this verse, arguing that it is simply a paraphrase of v. 22a, and that it interrupts the comparison with a tree that falls (although that comparison only starts next).

[15:30]  ⁶ tn This last line in the verse is the difficult one. The MT has “he shall depart by the breath of his mouth.” If this reading stands, then it must be understood that it is the breath of God’s mouth that is intended. In place of “his mouth” the LXX has “flower” (reading פִּרהוֹ [pirho, properly, “his fruit”] instead of פִּיו piv), and “fall” instead of “depart.” Modern commentators and a number of English versions (e.g., RSV, NRSV, TEV) alter יָסוּר (yasur, “depart”) to something like יְסֹעַר (yÿso’ar, from סָעַר [sa’ar, “to drive away”]), or the like, to get “will be swept away.” The result is a reading: “and his blossom will be swept away by the wind.” The LXX may have read the Hebrew exactly, but harmonized it with v. 33 (see H. Heater, A Septuagint Translation Technique in the Book of Job [CBQMS]: 61-62).

[20:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “all darkness is hidden for his laid up things.” “All darkness” refers to the misfortunes and afflictions that await. The verb “hidden” means “is destined for.”

[20:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “not blown upon,” i.e., not kindled by man. But G. R. Driver reads “unquenched” (“Hebrew notes on the ‘Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach’,” JBL 53 [1934]: 289).

[21:30]  ⁹ tn The verb means “to be led forth.” To be “led forth in the day of trouble” means to be delivered.

[22:19]  ¹⁰ tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).

[22:19]  ¹¹ sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.

[27:5]  ¹² tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”

[27:5]  ¹³ tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.

[33:17]  ¹⁴ tc The MT simply has מַעֲשֶׂה (ma’aseh, “deed”). The LXX has “from his iniquity” which would have been מֵעַוְלָה (me’avlah). The two letters may have dropped out by haplography. The MT is workable, but would have to mean “[evil] deeds.”

[33:17]  ¹⁵ tc Here too the sense of the MT is difficult to recover. Some translations took it to mean that God hides pride from man. Many commentators changed יְכַסֶּה (yÿkhasseh, “covers”) to יְכַסֵּחַ (yÿkhasseakh, “he cuts away”), or יְכַלֶּה (yÿkhalleh, “he puts an end to”). The various emendations are not all that convincing.

[40:12]  ¹⁶ 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.).