Ayub 8:18

8:18 If he is uprooted ¹  from his place,

then that place ²  will disown him, saying, ³ 

‘I have never seen you!’

Ayub 15:29

15:29 He will not grow rich,

and his wealth will not endure,

nor will his possessions ⁴  spread over the land.

Ayub 20:7

20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; ⁵ 

those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’

Ayub 20:9

20:9 People ⁶  who had seen him will not see him again,

and the place where he was

will recognize him no longer.

Ayub 20:21

20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; ⁷ 

that is why his prosperity does not last. ⁸ 

Ayub 27:17

27:17 what he stores up ⁹  a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

[8:18]  ¹ tc Ball reads אֵל (’el, “God”) instead of אִם (’im, “if”): “God destroys it” – but there is no reason for this. The idea would be implied in the context. A. B. Davidson rightly points out that who destroys it is not important, but the fact that it is destroyed.

[8:18]  tn The Hebrew has “if one destroys it”; the indefinite subject allows for a passive interpretation. The verb means “swallow” in the Qal, but in the Piel it means “to engulf; to destroy; to ruin” (2:3; 10:8). It could here be rendered “removed from its place” (the place where it is rooted); since the picture is that of complete destruction, “uprooted” would be a good rendering.

[8:18]  ² tn Heb “it”; the referent (“his place” in the preceding line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  sn The place where the plant once grew will deny ever knowing it. Such is the completeness of the uprooting that there is not a trace left.

[8:18]  ³ tn Here “saying” is supplied in the translation.

[15:29]  ⁴ tn This word מִנְלָם (minlam) also is a hapax legomenon, although almost always interpreted to mean “possession” (with Arabic manal) and repointed as מְנֹלָם (mÿnolam). M. Dahood further changes “earth” to the netherworld, and interprets it to mean “his possessions will not go down to the netherworld (“Value of Ugaritic for Textual Criticism,” Bib 40 [1959]: 164-66). Others suggest it means “ear of grain,” either from the common word for “ears of grain” or a hapax legomenon in Deuteronomy 23:26 [25].

[20:7]  ⁵ tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.

[20:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “the eye that had seen him.” Here a part of the person (the eye, the instrument of vision) is put by metonymy for the entire person.

[20:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “for his eating,” which is frequently rendered “for his gluttony.” It refers, of course, to all the desires he has to take things from other people.

[20:21]  ⁸ sn The point throughout is that insatiable greed and ruthless plundering to satisfy it will be recompensed with utter and complete loss.

[27:17]  ⁹ tn The text simply repeats the verb from the last clause. It could be treated as a separate short clause: “He may store it up, but the righteous will wear it. But it also could be understood as the object of the following verb, “[what] he stores up the righteous will wear.” The LXX simply has, “All these things shall the righteous gain.”