Ayub 12:7

Knowledge of God’s Wisdom ¹ 

12:7 “But now, ask the animals and they ²  will teach you,

or the birds of the sky and they will tell you.

Ayub 18:19

18:19 He has neither children nor descendants ³  among his people,

no survivor in those places he once stayed. ⁴ 

Ayub 21:33

21:33 The clods of the torrent valley ⁵  are sweet to him;

behind him everybody follows in procession,

and before him goes a countless throng.

Ayub 28:3

28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; ⁶ 

he searches the farthest recesses

for the ore in the deepest darkness. ⁷ 

Ayub 28:8

28:8 Proud beasts ⁸  have not set foot on it,

and no lion has passed along it.

Ayub 30:28

30:28 I go about blackened, ⁹  but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

[12:7]  ¹ sn As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 216) observes, in this section Job argues that respected tradition “must not be accepted uncritically.”

[12:7]  ² tn The singular verb is used here with the plural collective subject (see GKC 464 §145.k).

[18:19]  ³ tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”

[18:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.

[21:33]  ⁵ tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.

[28:3]  ⁶ sn The text appears at first to be saying that by opening up a mine shaft, or by taking lights down below, the miner dispels the darkness. But the clause might be more general, meaning that man goes deep into the earth as if it were day.

[28:3]  ⁷ tn The verse ends with “the stone of darkness and deep darkness.” The genitive would be location, describing the place where the stones are found.

[28:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “the sons of pride.” In Job 41:26 the expression refers to carnivorous wild beasts.

[30:28]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the word קֹדֵר (qoder) followed by the Piel perfect of הָלַךְ (halakh, “I go about”). The adjective “blackened” refers to Job’s skin that has been marred by the disease. Adjectives are often used before verbs to describe some bodily condition (see GKC 374-75 §118.n).