Ayub 2:10

2:10 But he replied, ¹  “You’re talking like one of the godless ²  women would do! Should we receive ³  what is good from God, and not also ⁴  receive ⁵  what is evil?” ⁶  In all this Job did not sin by what he said. ⁷ 

Ayub 26:4

26:4 To whom ⁸  did you utter these words?

And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? ⁹ 

Ayub 34:4-9

34:4 Let us evaluate ¹⁰  for ourselves what is right; ¹¹ 

let us come to know among ourselves what is good.

34:5 For Job says, ‘I am innocent, ¹² 

but God turns away my right.

34:6 Concerning my right, should I lie? ¹³ 

My wound ¹⁴  is incurable,

although I am without transgression.’ ¹⁵ 

34:7 What man is like Job,

who ¹⁶  drinks derision ¹⁷  like water!

34:8 He goes about ¹⁸  in company ¹⁹  with evildoers,

he goes along ²⁰  with wicked men. ²¹ 

34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man

when he makes his delight with God.’ ²² 

Ayub 35:2-4

35:2 “Do you think this to be ²³  just:

when ²⁴  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ²⁵ 

35:3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’ ²⁶ 

and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’ ²⁷ 

35:4 I ²⁸  will reply to you, ²⁹ 

and to your friends with you.

Ayub 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ³⁰ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

[2:10]  ¹ tn Heb “he said to her.”

[2:10]  ² tn The word “foolish” (נָבָל, naval) has to do with godlessness more than silliness (Ps 14:1). To be foolish in this sense is to deny the nature and the work of God in life its proper place. See A. Phillips, “NEBALA – A Term for Serious Disorderly Unruly Conduct,” VT 25 (1975): 237-41; and W. M. W. Roth, “NBL,” VT 10 (1960): 394-409.

[2:10]  ³ tn The verb קִבֵּל (qibbel) means “to accept, receive.” It is attested in the Amarna letters with the meaning “receive meekly, patiently.”

[2:10]  ⁴ tn The adverb גָּם (gam, “also, even”) is placed here before the first clause, but belongs with the second. It intensifies the idea (see GKC 483 §153). See also C. J. Labuschagne, “The Emphasizing Particle GAM and Its Connotations,” Studia Biblica et Semitica, 193-203.

[2:10]  ⁵ tn The two verbs in this sentence, Piel imperfects, are deliberative imperfects; they express the reasoning or deliberating in the interrogative sentences.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn A question need not be introduced by an interrogative particle or adverb. The natural emphasis on the words is enough to indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[2:10]  sn The Hebrew words טוֹב (tov, “good”) and רַע (ra’, “evil”) have to do with what affects life. That which is good benefits people because it produces, promotes and protects life; that which is evil brings calamity and disaster, it harms, pains, or destroys life.

[2:10]  ⁷ tn Heb “sin with his lips,” an idiom meaning he did not sin by what he said.

[26:4]  ⁸ tn The verse begins with the preposition and the interrogative: אֶת־מִי (’et-mi, “with who[se help]?”). Others take it as the accusative particle introducing the indirect object: “for whom did you utter…” (see GKC 371 §117.gg). Both are possible.

[26:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “has gone out from you.”

[34:4]  ¹⁰ sn Elihu means “choose after careful examination.”

[34:4]  ¹¹ tn The word is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) again, with the sense of what is right or just.

[34:5]  ¹² tn Heb “righteous,” but in this context it means to be innocent or in the right.

[34:6]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of כָּזַב (kazav), meaning “to lie.” It could be a question: “Should I lie [against my right?] – when I am innocent. If it is repointed to the Pual, then it can be “I am made to lie,” or “I am deceived.” Taking it as a question makes good sense here, and so emendations are unnecessary.

[34:6]  ¹⁴ tn The Hebrew text has only “my arrow.” Some commentators emend that word slightly to get “my wound.” But the idea could be derived from “arrows” as well, the wounds caused by the arrows. The arrows are symbolic of God’s affliction.

[34:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “without transgression”; but this is parallel to the first part where the claim is innocence.

[34:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he drinks,” but coming after the question this clause may be subordinated.

[34:7]  ¹⁷ tn The scorn or derision mentioned here is not against Job, but against God. Job scorns God so much, he must love it. So to reflect this idea, Gordis has translated it “blasphemy” (cf. NAB).

[34:8]  ¹⁸ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ¹⁹ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ²⁰ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:9]  ²² tn Gordis, however, takes this expression in the sense of “being in favor with God.”

[35:2]  ²³ tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ²⁴ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ²⁵ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”

[35:3]  ²⁶ tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.

[35:3]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”

[35:4]  ²⁸ tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.

[35:4]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.

[42:6]  ³⁰ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).