Ayub 6:11

6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? ¹ 

and what is my end, ² 

that I should prolong my life?

Ayub 8:10

8:10 Will they not ³  instruct you and ⁴  speak to you,

and bring forth words ⁵ 

from their understanding? ⁶ 

Ayub 19:16

19:16 I summon ⁷  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ⁸  him with my own mouth.

Ayub 24:6

24:6 They reap fodder ⁹  in the field,

and glean ¹⁰  in the vineyard of the wicked.

Ayub 31:14

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ¹¹ 

when he intervenes, ¹² 

how will I respond to him?

Ayub 32:7

32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age ¹³  should speak, ¹⁴ 

and length of years ¹⁵  should make wisdom known.’

Ayub 34:4

34:4 Let us evaluate ¹⁶  for ourselves what is right; ¹⁷ 

let us come to know among ourselves what is good.

[6:11]  ¹ sn Now, in vv. 11-13, Job proceeds to describe his hopeless condition. In so doing, he is continuing his defense of his despair and lament. The section begins with these rhetorical questions in which Job affirms that he does not have the strength to wait for the blessings that Eliphaz is talking about.

[6:11]  ² tn The word translated “my end” is קִצִּי (qitsi). It refers to the termination of his life. In Ps 39:5 it is parallel to “the measure of my days.” In a sense, Job is asking what future he has. To him, the “end” of his affliction can only be death.

[8:10]  ³ tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”

[8:10]  ⁴ tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”

[8:10]  ⁵ tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Heb “from their heart.”

[19:16]  ⁷ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[24:6]  ⁹ tc The word בְּלִילוֹ (bÿlilo) means “his fodder.” It is unclear to what this refers. If the suffix is taken as a collective, then it can be translated “they gather/reap their fodder.” The early versions all have “they reap in a field which is not his” (taking it as בְּלִי לוֹ, bÿli lo). A conjectural emendation would change the word to בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “in the night”). But there is no reason for this.

[24:6]  ¹⁰ tn The verbs in this verse are uncertain. In the first line “reap” is used, and that would be the work of a hired man (and certainly not done at night). The meaning of this second verb is uncertain; it has been taken to mean “glean,” which would be the task of the poor.

[31:14]  ¹¹ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ¹² tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[32:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “days.”

[32:7]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect here is to be classified as an obligatory imperfect.

[32:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “abundance of years.”

[34:4]  ¹⁶ sn Elihu means “choose after careful examination.”

[34:4]  ¹⁷ tn The word is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) again, with the sense of what is right or just.