Ayub 14:16

The Present Condition ¹ 

14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; ² 

then you would not mark ³  my sin. ⁴ 

Ayub 16:17

16:17 although ⁵  there is no violence in my hands

and my prayer is pure.

Ayub 17:2

17:2 Surely mockery ⁶  is with me; ⁷ 

my eyes must dwell on their hostility. ⁸ 

Ayub 19:4

19:4 But even if it were ⁹  true that I have erred, ¹⁰ 

my error ¹¹  remains solely my concern!

Ayub 37:1

37:1 At this also my heart pounds

and leaps from its place.

[14:16]  ¹ sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.

[14:16]  ² tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.

[14:16]  ³ sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O Lord, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, in order that you might be feared.”

[14:16]  ⁴ tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.

[16:17]  ⁵ tn For the use of the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce concessive clauses, see GKC 499 §160.c.

[17:2]  ⁶ tn The noun is the abstract noun, “mockery.” It indicates that he is the object of derision. But many commentators either change the word to “mockers” (Tur-Sinai, NEB), or argue that the form in the text is a form of the participle (Gordis).

[17:2]  ⁷ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 243) interprets the preposition to mean “aimed at me.”

[17:2]  ⁸ tn The meaning of הַמְּרוֹתָם (hammÿrotam) is unclear, and the versions offer no help. If the MT is correct, it would probably be connected to מָרָה (marah, “to be rebellious”) and the derived form something like “hostility; provocation.” But some commentators suggest it should be related to מָרֹרוֹת (marorot, “bitter things”). Others have changed both the noun and the verb to obtain something like “My eye is weary of their contentiousness” (Holscher), or mine eyes are wearied by your stream of peevish complaints” (G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 78). There is no alternative suggestion that is compelling.

[19:4]  ⁹ tn Job has held to his innocence, so the only way that he could say “I have erred” (שָׁגִיתִי, shagiti) is in a hypothetical clause like this.

[19:4]  ¹⁰ tn There is a long addition in the LXX: “in having spoken words which it is not right to speak, and my words err, and are unreasonable.”

[19:4]  ¹¹ tn The word מְשׁוּגָה (mÿshugah) is a hapax legomenon. It is derived from שׁוּג (shug, “to wander; to err”) with root paralleling שָׁגַג (shagag) and שָׁגָה (shagah). What Job is saying is that even if it were true that he had erred, it did not injure them – it was solely his concern.