Ayub 12:23

12:23 He makes nations great, ¹  and destroys them;

he extends the boundaries of nations

and disperses ²  them. ³ 

Ayub 15:32

15:32 Before his time ⁴  he will be paid in full, ⁵ 

and his branches will not flourish. ⁶ 

Ayub 16:12

16:12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. ⁷ 

He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. ⁸ 

He has made me his target;

Ayub 18:18

18:18 He is driven ⁹  from light into darkness

and is banished from the world.

Ayub 20:8

20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, ¹⁰ 

and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.

Ayub 22:9

22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,

and the arms ¹¹  of the orphans you crushed. ¹² 

Ayub 24:2-3

24:2 Men ¹³  move boundary stones;

they seize the flock and pasture them. ¹⁴ 

24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;

they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

Ayub 24:22

24:22 But God ¹⁵  drags off the mighty by his power;

when God ¹⁶  rises up against him, he has no faith in his life. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 27:23

27:23 It claps ¹⁸  its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place. ¹⁹ 

Ayub 30:5

30:5 They were banished from the community ²⁰  –

people ²¹  shouted at them

like they would shout at thieves ²²  –

Ayub 30:8

30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, ²³ 

they were driven out of the land with whips. ²⁴ 

Ayub 37:11

37:11 He loads the clouds with moisture; ²⁵ 

he scatters his lightning through the clouds.

Ayub 39:7

39:7 It scorns the tumult in the town;

it does not hear the shouts of a driver. ²⁶ 

Ayub 41:28

41:28 Arrows ²⁷  do not make it flee;

slingstones become like chaff to it.

[12:23]  ¹ tn The word מַשְׂגִּיא (masgi’, “makes great”) is a common Aramaic word, but only occurs in Hebrew here and in Job 8:11 and 36:24. Some mss have a change, reading the form from שָׁגָה (shagah, “leading astray”). The LXX omits the line entirely.

[12:23]  ² tn The difficulty with the verb נָחָה (nakhah) is that it means “to lead; to guide,” but not “to lead away” or “to disperse,” unless this passage provides the context for such a meaning. Moreover, it never has a negative connotation. Some vocalize it וַיַּנִּיחֶם (vayyannikhem), from נוּחַ (nuakh), the causative meaning of “rest,” or “abandon” (Driver, Gray, Gordis). But even there it would mean “leave in peace.” Blommerde suggests the second part is antithetical parallelism, and so should be positive. So Ball proposed וַיִּמְחֶם (vayyimkhem) from מָחָה (makhah): “and he cuts them off.”

[12:23]  ³ sn The rise and fall of nations, which does not seem to be governed by any moral principle, is for Job another example of God’s arbitrary power.

[15:32]  ⁴ tn Heb “before his day.”

[15:32]  ⁵ tn Those who put the last colon of v. 31 with v. 32 also have to change the verb תִּמָּלֵא (timmale’, “will be fulfilled”). E. Dhorme (Job, 225) says, “a mere glance at the use of yimmal…abundantly proves that the original text had timmal (G, Syr., Vulg), which became timmale’ through the accidental transposition of the ‘alep of bÿsi’o…in verse 31….” This, of course, is possible, if all the other changes up to now are granted. But the meaning of a word elsewhere in no way assures it should be the word here. The LXX has “his harvest shall perish before the time,” which could translate any number of words that might have been in the underlying Hebrew text. A commercial metaphor is not out of place here, since parallelism does not demand that the same metaphor appear in both lines.

[15:32]  ⁶ tn Now, in the second half of the verse, the metaphor of a tree with branches begins.

[16:12]  ⁷ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to shake.” In the Hiphil it means “to break; to shatter” (5:12; 15:4). The Pilpel means “to break in pieces,” and in the Poel in Jer 23:29 “to smash up.” So Job was living at ease, and God shattered his life.

[16:12]  ⁸ tn Here is another Pilpel, now from פָּצַץ (patsats) with a similar meaning to the other verb. It means “to dash into pieces” and even scatter the pieces. The LXX translates this line, “he took me by the hair of the head and plucked it out.”

[18:18]  ⁹ tn The verbs in this verse are plural; without the expressed subject they should be taken in the passive sense.

[20:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and they do not find him.” The verb has no expressed subject, and so here is equivalent to a passive. The clause itself is taken adverbially in the sentence.

[22:9]  ¹¹ tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.

[22:9]  ¹² tn The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yÿdukka’, “was [were] crushed”). GKC 388 §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.

[24:2]  ¹³ tn The line is short: “they move boundary stones.” So some commentators have supplied a subject, such as “wicked men.” The reason for its being wicked men is that to move the boundary stone was to encroach dishonestly on the lands of others (Deut 19:14; 27:17).

[24:2]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX reads “and their shepherd.” Many commentators accept this reading. But the MT says that they graze the flocks that they have stolen. The difficulty with the MT reading is that there is no suffix on the final verb – but that is not an insurmountable difference.

[24:22]  ¹⁵ tn God has to be the subject of this clause. None is stated in the Hebrew text, but “God” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[24:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “life” at the end of the line.

[24:22]  ¹⁷ tn This line has been given a number of interpretations due to its cryptic form. The verb יָקוּם (yaqum) means “he rises up.” It probably is meant to have God as the subject, and be subordinated as a temporal clause to what follows. The words “against him” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to specify the object and indicate that “rise up” is meant in a hostile sense. The following verb וְלֹא־יַאֲמִין (vÿlo’-ya’amin), by its very meaning of “and he does not believe,” cannot have God as the subject, but must refer to the wicked.

[27:23]  ¹⁸ tn If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands…men will whistle upon him.”

[27:23]  ¹⁹ tn Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).

[30:5]  ²⁰ tn The word גֵּו (gev) is an Aramaic term meaning “midst,” indicating “midst [of society].” But there is also a Phoenician word that means “community” (DISO 48).

[30:5]  ²¹ tn The form simply is the plural verb, but it means those who drove them from society.

[30:5]  ²² tn The text merely says “as thieves,” but it obviously compares the poor to the thieves.

[30:8]  ²³ tn The “sons of the senseless” (נָבָל, naval) means they were mentally and morally base and defective; and “sons of no-name” means without honor and respect, worthless (because not named).

[30:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they were whipped from the land” (cf. ESV) or “they were cast out from the land” (HALOT 697 s.v. נכא). J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 397) follows Gordis suggests that the meaning is “brought lower than the ground.”

[37:11]  ²⁵ tn The word “moisture” is drawn from רִי (ri) as a contraction for רְוִי (rÿvi). Others emended the text to get “hail” (NAB) or “lightning,” or even “the Creator.” For these, see the various commentaries. There is no reason to change the reading of the MT when it makes perfectly good sense.

[39:7]  ²⁶ sn The animal is happier in open countryside than in a busy town, and on its own rather than being driven by a herdsman.

[41:28]  ²⁷ tn Heb “the son of the bow.”