Ayub 9:14

The Impossibility of Facing God in Court

9:14 “How much less, ¹  then, can I answer him ² 

and choose my words ³  to argue ⁴  with ⁵  him! ⁶ 

Ayub 9:19

9:19 If it is a matter of strength, ⁷ 

most certainly ⁸  he is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice,

he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ ⁹ 

Ayub 12:13-16

12:13 “With God ¹⁰  are wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his. ¹¹ 

12:14 If ¹²  he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;

if he imprisons a person, there is no escape. ¹³ 

12:15 If he holds back the waters, then they dry up; ¹⁴ 

if he releases them, ¹⁵  they destroy ¹⁶  the land.

12:16 With him are strength and prudence; ¹⁷ 

both the one who goes astray ¹⁸ 

and the one who misleads are his.

Ayub 26:12-14

26:12 By his power he stills ¹⁹  the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster ²⁰  to pieces. ²¹ 

26:13 By his breath ²²  the skies became fair;

his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. ²³ 

26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! ²⁴ 

How faint is the whisper ²⁵  we hear of him!

But who can understand the thunder of his power?”

Ayub 37:23

37:23 As for the Almighty, ²⁶  we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice ²⁷  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

[9:14]  ¹ tn The construction אַף כִּי־אָנֹכִי (’af ki ’anokhi) is an expression that means either “how much more” or “how much less.” Here it has to mean “how much less,” for if powerful forces like Rahab are crushed beneath God’s feet, how could Job contend with him?

[9:14]  ² tn The imperfect verb here is to be taken with the nuance of a potential imperfect. The idea of “answer him” has a legal context, i.e., answering God in a court of law. If God is relentless in his anger toward greater powers, then Job realizes it is futile for him.

[9:14]  ³ sn In a legal controversy with God it would be essential to choose the correct words very carefully (humanly speaking); but the calmness and presence of mind to do that would be shattered by the overwhelming terror of God’s presence.

[9:14]  ⁴ tn The verb is supplied in this line.

[9:14]  ⁵ tn The preposition אִם (’im, “with”) carries the idea of “in contest with” in a number of passages (compare vv. 2, 3; 16:21).

[9:14]  ⁶ tn The LXX goes a different way after changing the first person to the third: “Oh then that he would hearken to me, or judge my cause.”

[9:19]  ⁷ tn The MT has only “if of strength.”

[9:19]  ⁸ tn “Most certainly” translates the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh).

[9:19]  ⁹ tn The question could be taken as “who will summon me?” (see Jer 49:19 and 50:44). This does not make immediate sense. Some have simply changed the suffix to “who will summon him.” If the MT is retained, then supplying something like “he will say” could make the last clause fit the whole passage. Another option is to take it as “Who will reveal it to me?” – i.e., Job could be questioning his friends’ qualifications for being God’s emissaries to bring God’s charges against him (cf. KJV, NKJV; and see 10:2 where Job uses the same verb in the Hiphil to request that God reveal what his sin has been that has led to his suffering).

[9:19]  sn Job is saying that whether it is a trial of strength or an appeal to justice, he is unable to go against God.

[12:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:13]  ¹¹ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 91) says, “These attributes of God’s [sic] confound and bring to nought everything bearing the same name among men.”

[12:14]  ¹² tn The use of הֵן (hen, equivalent to הִנֵּה, hinneh, “behold”) introduces a hypothetical condition.

[12:14]  ¹³ tn The verse employs antithetical ideas: “tear down” and “build up,” “imprison” and “escape.” The Niphal verbs in the sentences are potential imperfects. All of this is to say that humans cannot reverse the will of God.

[12:15]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has a clarification: “he will dry the earth.”

[12:15]  ¹⁵ sn The verse is focusing on the two extremes of drought and flood. Both are described as being under the power of God.

[12:15]  ¹⁶ tn The verb הָפַךְ (hafakh) means “to overthrow; to destroy; to overwhelm.” It was used in Job 9:5 for “overturning” mountains. The word is used in Genesis for the destruction of Sodom.

[12:16]  ¹⁷ tn The word תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah) is here rendered “prudence.” Some object that God’s power is intended here, and so a word for power and not wisdom should be included. But v. 13 mentioned wisdom. The point is that it is God’s efficient wisdom that leads to success. One could interpret this as a metonymy of cause, the intended meaning being victory or success.

[12:16]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text uses a wordplay here: שֹׁגֵג (shogeg) is “the one going astray,” i.e., the one who is unable to guard and guide his life. The second word is מַשְׁגֶּה (mashgeh), from a different but historically related root שָׁגָה (shagah), which here in the Hiphil means “the one who misleads, causes to go astray.” These two words are designed to include everybody – all are under the wisdom of God.

[26:12]  ¹⁹ tn The verb רָגַע (raga’) has developed a Semitic polarity, i.e., having totally opposite meanings. It can mean “to disturb; to stir up” or “to calm; to still.” Gordis thinks both meanings have been invoked here. But it seems more likely that “calm” fits the context better.

[26:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Rahab” (רָהַב), the mythical sea monster that represents the forces of chaos in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the translation the words “the great sea monster” have been supplied appositionally in order to clarify “Rahab.”

[26:12]  ²¹ sn Here again there are possible mythological allusions or polemics. The god Yam, “Sea,” was important in Ugaritic as a god of chaos. And Rahab is another name for the monster of the deep (see Job 9:13).

[26:13]  ²² tn Or “wind”; or perhaps “Spirit.” The same Hebrew word, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context.

[26:13]  ²³ sn Here too is a reference to pagan views indirectly. The fleeing serpent was a designation for Leviathan, whom the book will simply describe as an animal, but the pagans thought to be a monster of the deep. God’s power over nature is associated with defeat of pagan gods (see further W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan; idem, BASOR 53 [1941]: 39).

[26:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the ends of his ways,” meaning “the fringes.”

[26:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “how little is the word.” Here “little” means a “fraction” or an “echo.”

[37:23]  ²⁶ tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.

[37:23]  ²⁷ tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” as a disjunctive clause starting the second half of the verse (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”