Ayub 8:7

8:7 Your beginning ¹  will seem so small,

since your future will flourish. ² 

Ayub 10:10

10:10 Did you not pour ³  me out like milk,

and curdle ⁴  me like cheese? ⁵ 

Ayub 11:14

11:14 if ⁶  iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, ⁷ 

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

Ayub 35:16

35:16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose; ⁸ 

without knowledge he multiplies words.”

[8:7]  ¹ tn The reference to “your beginning” is a reference to Job’s former estate of wealth and peace. The reference to “latter end” is a reference to conditions still in the future. What Job had before will seem so small in comparison to what lies ahead.

[8:7]  ² tn The verb has the idea of “to grow”; here it must mean “to flourish; to grow considerably” or the like. The statement is not so much a prophecy; rather Bildad is saying that “if Job had recourse to God, then….” This will be fulfilled, of course, at the end of the book.

[10:10]  ³ tn The verb נָתַךְ (natakh) means “to flow,” and in the Hiphil, “to cause to flow.”

[10:10]  ⁴ tn This verb קָפָא (qafa’) means “to coagulate.” In the Hiphil it means “to stiffen; to congeal.”

[10:10]  ⁵ tn The verbs in v. 10 are prefixed conjugations; since the reference is to the womb, these would need to be classified as preterites.

[10:10]  sn These verses figuratively describe the formation of the embryo in the womb.

[11:14]  ⁶ tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).

[11:14]  ⁷ tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.

[35:16]  ⁸ tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel) means “vanity; futility; to no purpose.”