Ayub 13:20

13:20 Only in two things spare me, ¹  O God, ² 

and then I will not hide from your face:

Ayub 23:3

23:3 O that I knew ³  where I might find him, ⁴ 

that I could come ⁵  to his place of residence! ⁶ 

Ayub 33:24

33:24 and if ⁷  God ⁸  is gracious to him and says,

‘Spare ⁹  him from going down

to the place of corruption,

I have found a ransom for him,’ ¹⁰ 

Ayub 37:12

37:12 The clouds ¹¹  go round in circles,

wheeling about according to his plans,

to carry out ¹²  all that he commands them

over the face of the whole inhabited world.

Ayub 39:10

39:10 Can you bind the wild ox ¹³  to a furrow with its rope,

will it till the valleys, following after you?

[13:20]  ¹ tn The line reads “do not do two things.”

[13:20]  ² tn “God” is supplied to the verse, for the address is now to him. Job wishes to enter into dispute with God, but he first appeals that God not take advantage of him with his awesome power.

[23:3]  ³ tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

[23:3]  ⁴ tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

[23:3]  sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 159) quotes Strahan without reference: “It is the chief distinction between Job and his friends that he desires to meet God and they do not.”

[23:3]  ⁵ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

[23:3]  ⁶ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

[33:24]  ⁷ tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.

[33:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:24]  ⁹ tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (pada’, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (para’, “to let loose,” so Wright).

[33:24]  ¹⁰ sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.

[37:12]  ¹¹ tn The words “the clouds” are supplied from v. 11; the sentence itself actually starts: “and it goes round,” referring to the cloud.

[37:12]  ¹² tn Heb “that it may do.”

[39:10]  ¹³ tn Some commentators think that the addition of the “wild ox” here is a copyist’s error, making the stich too long. They therefore delete it. Also, binding an animal to the furrow with ropes is unusual. So with a slight emendation Kissane came up with “Will you bind him with a halter of cord?” While the MT is unusual, the sense is understandable, and no changes, even slight ones, are absolutely necessary.