Ayub 11:8

11:8 It is higher ¹  than the heavens – what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol ²  – what can you know?

Ayub 14:13

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that ³  you would hide me in Sheol, ⁴ 

and conceal me till your anger has passed! ⁵ 

O that you would set me a time ⁶ 

and then remember me! ⁷ 

Ayub 17:16

17:16 Will ⁸  it ⁹  go down to the barred gates ¹⁰  of death?

Will ¹¹  we descend ¹²  together into the dust?”

Ayub 26:6

26:6 The underworld ¹³  is naked before God; ¹⁴ 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ¹⁵ 

Ayub 38:17

38:17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? ¹⁶ 

Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? ¹⁷ 

[11:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew says “heights of heaven, what can you do?” A. B. Davidson suggested this was an exclamation and should be left that way. But most commentators will repoint גָּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם (govhe shamayim, “heights of heaven”) to גְּבֹהָה מִשָּׁמַיִם (gÿvohah mishamayim, “higher than the heavens”) to match the parallel expression. The LXX may have rearranged the text: “heaven is high.”

[11:8]  ² tn Or “deeper than hell.” The word “Sheol” always poses problems for translation. Here because it is the opposite of heaven in this merism, “hell” would be a legitimate translation. It refers to the realm of the dead – the grave and beyond. The language is excessive; but the point is that God’s wisdom is immeasurable – and Job is powerless before it.

[14:13]  ³ tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”

[14:13]  sn After arguing that man will die without hope, Job expresses his desire that there be a resurrection, and what that would mean. The ancients all knew that death did not bring existence to an end; rather, they passed into another place, but they continued to exist. Job thinks that death would at least give him some respite from the wrath of God; but this wrath would eventually be appeased, and then God would remember the one he had hidden in Sheol just as he remembered Noah. Once that happened, it would be possible that Job might live again.

[14:13]  ⁴ sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.

[14:13]  ⁵ tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.

[14:13]  ⁶ tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”

[14:13]  ⁷ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.

[17:16]  ⁸ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ⁹ tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ¹¹ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹² tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[26:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ¹⁵ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).

[38:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “uncovered to you.”

[38:17]  ¹⁷ tn Some still retain the traditional phrase “shadow of death” in the English translation (cf. NIV). The reference is to the entrance to Sheol (see Job 10:21).