Ayub 14:9

14:9 at the scent ¹  of water it will flourish ² 

and put forth ³  shoots like a new plant.

Ayub 31:8

31:8 then let me sow ⁴  and let another eat,

and let my crops ⁵  be uprooted.

[14:9]  ¹ tn The personification adds to the comparison with people – the tree is credited with the sense of smell to detect the water.

[14:9]  ² tn The sense of “flourish” for this verb is found in Ps 92:12,13[13,14], and Prov 14:11. It makes an appropriate parallel with “bring forth boughs” in the second half.

[14:9]  ³ tn Heb “and will make.”

[31:8]  ⁴ tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).

[31:8]  ⁵ tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.