Ayub 6:19

6:19 The caravans of Tema ¹  looked intently ²  for these streams; ³ 

the traveling merchants ⁴  of Sheba hoped for them.

Ayub 8:13

8:13 Such is the destiny ⁵  of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless ⁶  perishes,

Ayub 16:22

16:22 For the years that lie ahead are few, ⁷ 

and then I will go on the way of no return. ⁸ 

Ayub 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ⁹  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ¹⁰  over my paths.

Ayub 22:15

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ¹¹ 

that evil men have walked –

Ayub 31:32

31:32 But ¹²  no stranger had to spend the night outside,

for I opened my doors to the traveler ¹³  –

Ayub 34:11

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ¹⁴ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ¹⁵ 

[6:19]  ¹ sn Tema is the area of the oasis SE of the head of the Gulf of Aqaba; Sheba is in South Arabia. In Job 1:15 the Sabeans were raiders; here they are traveling merchants.

[6:19]  ² tn The verb נָבַט (navat) means “to gaze intently”; the looking is more intentional, more of a close scrutiny. It forms a fine parallel to the idea of “hope” in the second part. The NIV translates the second verb קִוּוּ (qivvu) as “look in hope.” In the previous verbs the imperfect form was used, expressing what generally happens (so the English present tense was used). Here the verb usage changes to the perfect form. It seems that Job is narrating a typical incident now – they looked, but were disappointed.

[6:19]  ³ tn The words “for these streams” are supplied from context to complete the thought and make the connection with the preceding context.

[6:19]  ⁴ tn In Ps 68:24 this word has the meaning of “processions”; here that procession is of traveling merchants forming convoys or caravans.

[8:13]  ⁵ tn The word אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot) means “ways” or “paths” in the sense of tracks of destiny or fate. The word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way, road, path”) is used in a similar way (Isa 40:27; Ps 37:5). However, many commentators emend the text to read אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) in harmony with the LXX. But Prov 1:19 (if not emended as well) confirms the primary meaning here without changing the text (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 199).

[8:13]  ⁶ tn The word חָנֵף (khanef) is often translated “hypocrite.” But the root verb means “to be profane,” and this would be done by idolatry or bloodshed. It describes an irreligious person, a godless person. In Dan 11:32 the word seems to mean “make someone pagan.” The word in this verse is parallel to “those who forget God.”

[16:22]  ⁷ tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”

[16:22]  ⁸ tn The verbal expression “I will not return” serves here to modify the journey that he will take. It is “the road [of] I will not return.”

[19:8]  ⁹ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ¹⁰ tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[22:15]  ¹¹ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[31:32]  ¹² tn This verse forms another parenthesis. Job stops almost at every point now in the conditional clauses to affirm his purity and integrity.

[31:32]  ¹³ tn The word in the MT, אֹרחַ (’orakh, “way”), is a contraction from אֹרֵחַ (’oreakh, “wayfarer”); thus, “traveler.” The same parallelism is found in Jer 14:8. The reading here “on/to the road” is meaningless otherwise.

[34:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.