Ayub 1:12

1:12 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then, ¹  everything he has is ²  in your power. ³  Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!” ⁴  So Satan went out ⁵  from the presence of the Lord. ⁶ 

Ayub 26:14

26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! ⁷ 

How faint is the whisper ⁸  we hear of him!

But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

Ayub 33:23

33:23 If there is an angel beside him,

one mediator ⁹  out of a thousand,

to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness; ¹⁰ 

[1:12]  ¹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “behold”) introduces a foundational clause upon which the following volitional clause is based.

[1:12]  ² tn The versions add a verb here: “delivered to” or “abandoned to” the hand of Satan.

[1:12]  ³ tn Heb “in your hand.” The idiom means that it is now Satan’s to do with as he pleases.

[1:12]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew word order emphatically holds out Job’s person as the exception: “only upon him do not stretch forth your hand.”

[1:12]  ⁵ tn The Targum to Job adds “with permission” to show that he was granted leave from God’s presence.

[1:12]  ⁶ sn So Satan, having received his permission to test Job’s sincerity, goes out from the Lord’s presence. But Satan is bound by the will of the Most High not to touch Job himself. The sentence gives the impression that Satan’s departure is with a certain eagerness and confidence.

[26:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “the ends of his ways,” meaning “the fringes.”

[26:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “how little is the word.” Here “little” means a “fraction” or an “echo.”

[33:23]  ⁹ sn The verse is describing the way God can preserve someone from dying by sending a messenger (translated here as “angel”), who could be human or angelic. This messenger will interpret/mediate God’s will. By “one … out of a thousand” Elihu could have meant either that one of the thousands of messengers at God’s disposal might be sent or that the messenger would be unique (see Eccl 7:28; and cp. Job 9:3).

[33:23]  ¹⁰ tn This is a smoother reading. The MT has “to tell to a man his uprightness,” to reveal what is right for him. The LXX translated this word “duty”; the choice is adopted by some commentaries. However, that is too far from the text, which indicates that the angel/messenger is to call the person to uprightness.