Ayub 2:6

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ¹  he is ²  in your power; ³  only preserve ⁴  his life.”

Ayub 3:17

3:17 There ⁵  the wicked ⁶  cease ⁷  from turmoil, ⁸ 

and there the weary ⁹  are at rest.

Ayub 5:12

5:12 He frustrates ¹⁰  the plans ¹¹  of the crafty ¹² 

so that ¹³  their hands cannot accomplish

what they had planned! ¹⁴ 

Ayub 5:18

5:18 For ¹⁵  he ¹⁶  wounds, ¹⁷  but he also bandages;

he strikes, but his hands also heal.

Ayub 6:29

6:29 Relent, ¹⁸  let there be no falsehood; ¹⁹ 

reconsider, ²⁰  for my righteousness is intact! ²¹ 

Ayub 10:2

10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn ²²  me;

tell me ²³  why you are contending ²⁴  with me.’

Ayub 12:9

12:9 Which of all these ²⁵  does not know

that the hand of the Lord ²⁶  has done ²⁷  this,

Ayub 13:10-11

13:10 He would certainly rebuke ²⁸  you

if you secretly ²⁹  showed partiality!

13:11 Would not his splendor ³⁰  terrify ³¹  you

and the fear he inspires ³²  fall on you?

Ayub 15:25

15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, ³³ 

and vaunts himself ³⁴  against the Almighty,

Ayub 19:3

19:3 These ten times ³⁵  you have been reproaching me; ³⁶ 

you are not ashamed to attack me! ³⁷ 

Ayub 19:6

19:6 know ³⁸  then that God has wronged me ³⁹ 

and encircled ⁴⁰  me with his net. ⁴¹ 

Ayub 21:28

21:28 For you say,

‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, ⁴² 

and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ ⁴³ 

Ayub 22:30

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, ⁴⁴ 

who will escape ⁴⁵  through the cleanness of your hands.”

Ayub 24:17

24:17 For all of them, ⁴⁶  the morning is to them

like deep darkness;

they are friends with the terrors of darkness.

Ayub 24:19

24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away

the melted snow; ⁴⁷ 

so the grave ⁴⁸  takes away those who have sinned. ⁴⁹ 

Ayub 24:21

24:21 He preys on ⁵⁰  the barren and childless woman, ⁵¹ 

and does not treat the widow well.

Ayub 28:12

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

Ayub 29:13-14

29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, ⁵² 

and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; ⁵³ 

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ⁵⁴ 

my just dealing ⁵⁵  was like a robe and a turban;

Ayub 30:21

30:21 You have become cruel to me; ⁵⁶ 

with the strength of your hand you attack me. ⁵⁷ 

Ayub 31:18

31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan ⁵⁸  like a father,

and from my mother’s womb ⁵⁹ 

I guided the widow! ⁶⁰ 

Ayub 32:22

32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, ⁶¹ 

if I did, ⁶²  my Creator would quickly do away with me. ⁶³ 

Ayub 33:10

33:10 ⁶⁴ Yet God ⁶⁵  finds occasions ⁶⁶  with me;

he regards me as his enemy!

Ayub 33:15

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

Ayub 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ⁶⁷ 

Ayub 36:22

36:22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power;

who is a teacher ⁶⁸  like him?

Ayub 38:13

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ⁶⁹ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

Ayub 38:15

38:15 Then from the wicked the light is withheld,

and the arm raised in violence ⁷⁰  is broken. ⁷¹ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.

[2:6]  ² tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ⁴ sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.

[3:17]  ⁵ sn The reference seems to be death, or Sheol, the place where the infant who is stillborn is either buried (the grave) or resides (the place of departed spirits) and thus does not see the light of the sun.

[3:17]  ⁶ sn The wicked are the ungodly, those who are not members of the covenant (normally) and in this context especially those who oppress and torment other people.

[3:17]  ⁷ tn The parallelism uses the perfect verb in the first parallel part, and the imperfect opposite it in the second. Since the verse projects to the grave or Sheol (“there”) where the action is perceived as still continuing or just taking place, both receive an English present tense translation (GKC 312 §106.l).

[3:17]  ⁸ tn Here the noun רֹגז (rogez) refers to the agitation of living as opposed to the peaceful rest of dying. The associated verb רָגַז (ragaz) means “to be agitated, excited.” The expression indicates that they cease from troubling, meaning all the agitation of their own lives.

[3:17]  ⁹ tn The word יָגִיעַ (yagia’) means “exhausted, wearied”; it is clarified as a physical exhaustion by the genitive of specification (“with regard to their strength”).

[5:12]  ¹⁰ tn The Hiphil form מֵפֵר (mefer) is the participle from פָּרַר (parar, “to annul; to frustrate; to break”). It continues the doxological descriptions of God; but because of the numerous verses in this section, it may be clearer to start a new sentence with this form (rather than translating it “who…”).

[5:12]  ¹¹ tn The word is related to the verb “to think; to plan; to devise,” and so can mean “thoughts; plans; imagination.” Here it refers to the plan of the crafty that must be frustrated (see also Isa 44:25 for the contrast).

[5:12]  ¹² tn The word עֲרוּמִים (’arumim) means “crafty” or “shrewd.” It describes the shrewdness of some to achieve their ends (see Gen 3:1, where the serpent is more cunning than all the creatures, that is, he knows where the dangers are and will attempt to bring down the innocent). In the next verse it describes the clever plans of the wise – those who are wise in their own sight.

[5:12]  ¹³ tn The consecutive clause showing result or purpose is simply introduced with the vav and the imperfect/jussive (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[5:12]  ¹⁴ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is a technical word from wisdom literature. It has either the idea of the faculty of foresight, or of prudence in general (see 12:6; 26:3). It can be parallel in the texts to “wisdom,” “counsel,” “help,” or “strength.” Here it refers to what has been planned ahead of time.

[5:18]  ¹⁵ sn Verses 18-23 give the reasons why someone should accept the chastening of God – the hand that wounds is the same hand that heals. But, of course, the lines do not apply to Job because his suffering is not due to divine chastening.

[5:18]  ¹⁶ tn The addition of the independent pronoun here makes the subject emphatic, as if to say, “For it is he who makes….”

[5:18]  ¹⁷ tn The imperfect verbs in this verse describe the characteristic activities of God; the classification as habitual imperfect fits the idea and is to be rendered with the English present tense.

[6:29]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew verb שֻׁבוּ (shuvu) would literally be “return.” It has here the sense of “to begin again; to adopt another course,” that is, proceed on another supposition other than my guilt (A. B. Davidson, Job, 49). The LXX takes the word from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit, dwell”) reading “sit down now.”

[6:29]  ¹⁹ tn The word עַוְלָה (’avlah) is sometimes translated “iniquity.” The word can mean “perversion, wickedness, injustice” (cf. 16:11). But here he means in regard to words. Unjust or wicked words would be words that are false and destroy.

[6:29]  ²⁰ tn The verb here is also שֻׁבוּ (shuvu), although there is a Kethib-Qere reading. See R. Gordis, “Some Unrecognized Meanings of the Root Shub,” JBL 52 (1933): 153-62.

[6:29]  ²¹ tn The text has simply “yet my right is in it.” A. B. Davidson (Job, 49, 50) thinks this means that in his plea against God, Job has right on his side. It may mean this; it simply says “my righteousness is yet in it.” If the “in it” does not refer to Job’s cause, then it would simply mean “is present.” It would have very little difference either way.

[10:2]  ²² tn The negated jussive is the Hiphil jussive of רָשַׁע (rasha’); its meaning then would be literally “do not declare me guilty.” The negated jussive stresses the immediacy of the request.

[10:2]  ²³ tn The Hiphil imperative of יָדַע (yada’) would more literally be “cause me to know.” It is a plea for God to help him understand the afflictions.

[10:2]  ²⁴ tn The verb is רִיב (riv), meaning “to dispute; to contend; to strive; to quarrel” – often in the legal sense. The precise words chosen in this verse show that the setting is legal. The imperfect verb here is progressive, expressing what is currently going on.

[12:9]  ²⁵ tn This line could also be translated “by all these,” meaning “who is not instructed by nature?” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 93). But D. J. A. Clines points out that the verses have presented the animals as having knowledge and communicating it, so the former reading would be best (Job [WBC], 279).

[12:9]  ²⁶ tc Some commentators have trouble with the name “Yahweh” in this verse, which is not the pattern in the poetic section of Job. Three mss of Kennicott and two of de Rossi have “God.” If this is so the reminiscence of Isaiah 41:20 led the copyist to introduce the tetragrammaton. But one could argue equally that the few mss with “God” were the copyists’ attempt to correct the text in accord with usage elsewhere.

[12:9]  ²⁷ sn The expression “has done this” probably refers to everything that has been discussed, namely, the way that God in his wisdom rules over the world, but specifically it refers to the infliction of suffering in the world.

[13:10]  ²⁸ tn The verbal idea is intensified with the infinitive absolute. This is the same verb used in v. 3; here it would have the sense of “rebuke, convict.”

[13:10]  sn Peake’s observation is worth noting, namely, that as Job attacks the unrighteousness of God boldly he nonetheless has confidence in God’s righteousness that would not allow liars to defend him.

[13:10]  ²⁹ sn The use of the word “in secret” or “secretly” suggests that what they do is a guilty action (31:27a).

[13:11]  ³⁰ sn The word translated “his majesty” or “his splendor” (שְׂאֵתוֹ, sÿ’eto) forms a play on the word “show partiality” (תִּשָּׂאוּן, tissa’un) in the last verse. They are both from the verb נָשַׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”).

[13:11]  ³¹ tn On this verb in the Piel, see 7:14.

[13:11]  ³² tn Heb “His dread”; the suffix is a subjective genitive.

[15:25]  ³³ sn The symbol of the outstretched hand is the picture of attempting to strike someone, or shaking a fist at someone; it is a symbol of a challenge or threat (see Isa 5:25; 9:21; 10:4).

[15:25]  ³⁴ tn The Hitpael of גָּבַר (gavar) means “to act with might” or “to behave like a hero.” The idea is that the wicked boldly vaunts himself before the Lord.

[19:3]  ³⁵ sn The number “ten” is a general expression to convey that this has been done often (see Gen 31:7; Num 14:22).

[19:3]  ³⁶ tn The Hiphil of the verb כָּלַם (kalam) means “outrage; insult; shame.” The verbs in this verse are prefixed conjugations, and may be interpreted as preterites if the reference is to the past time. But since the action is still going on, progressive imperfects work well.

[19:3]  ³⁷ tn The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (see GKC 385-86 §120.c), or “you attack me shamelessly.” The verb חָכַר (hakhar) poses some difficulties for both the ancient versions and the modern commentators. The verb seems to be cognate to Arabic hakara, “to oppress; to ill-treat.” This would mean that there has been a transformation of ח (khet) to ה (he). Three Hebrew mss actually have the ח (khet). This has been widely accepted; other suggestions are irrelevant.

[19:6]  ³⁸ tn The imperative is used here to introduce a solemn affirmation. This verse proves that Job was in no way acknowledging sin in v. 4. Here Job is declaring that God has wronged him, and in so doing, perverted justice.

[19:6]  ³⁹ tn The Piel of עָוַת (’avat) means “to warp justice” (see 8:3), or here, to do wrong to someone (see Ps 119:78). The statement is chosen to refute the question that Bildad asked in his first speech.

[19:6]  ⁴⁰ tn The verb נָקַף (naqaf) means “to turn; to make a circle; to encircle.” It means that God has encircled or engulfed Job with his net.

[19:6]  ⁴¹ tn The word מְצוּדוֹ (mÿtsudo) is usually connected with צוּד (tsud, “to hunt”), and so is taken to mean “a net.” Gordis and Habel, however, interpret it to mean “siegeworks” thrown up around a city – but that would require changing the ד (dalet) to a ר (resh) (cf. NLT, “I am like a city under siege”). The LXX, though, has “bulwark.” Besides, the previous speech used several words for “net.”

[21:28]  ⁴² sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”

[21:28]  ⁴³ tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.

[22:30]  ⁴⁴ tc The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).

[22:30]  ⁴⁵ tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[24:17]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “together.”

[24:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”

[24:19]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “so Sheol.”

[24:19]  ⁴⁹ tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”

[24:21]  ⁵⁰ tc The form in the text is the active participle, “feed; graze; shepherd.” The idea of “prey” is not natural to it. R. Gordis (Job, 270) argues that third he (ה) verbs are often by-forms of geminate verbs, and so the meaning here is more akin to רָעַע (ra’a’, “to crush”). The LXX seems to have read something like הֵרַע (hera’, “oppressed”).

[24:21]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the childless [woman], she does not give birth.” The verbal clause is intended to serve as a modifier here for the woman. See on subordinate verbal clauses GKC 490 §156.d, f.

[29:13]  ⁵² tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).

[29:13]  ⁵³ tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.

[29:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.

[29:14]  ⁵⁵ tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.

[30:21]  ⁵⁶ tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.

[30:21]  ⁵⁷ tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.

[31:18]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.

[31:18]  ⁵⁹ tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”

[31:18]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.

[32:22]  ⁶¹ tn The construction uses a perfect verb followed by the imperfect. This is a form of subordination equivalent to a complementary infinitive (see GKC 385-86 §120.c).

[32:22]  ⁶² tn The words “if I did” are supplied in the translation to make sense out of the two clauses.

[32:22]  ⁶³ tn Heb “quickly carry me away.”

[33:10]  ⁶⁴ sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.

[33:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:10]  ⁶⁶ tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.

[34:22]  ⁶⁷ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”

[36:22]  ⁶⁸ tn The word מוֹרֶה (moreh) is the Hiphil participle from יָרַה (yarah). It is related to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “what is taught” i.e., the law).

[38:13]  ⁶⁹ sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.

[38:15]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “the raised arm.” The words “in violence” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[38:15]  ⁷¹ sn What is active at night, the violence symbolized by the raised arm, is broken with the dawn. G. R. Driver thought the whole verse referred to stars, and that the arm is the navigator’s term for the line of stars (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 4 [1953]: 208-12).