Ayub 9:28

9:28 I dread ¹  all my sufferings, ² 

for ³  I know that you do not hold me blameless. ⁴ 

Ayub 10:2

10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn ⁵  me;

tell me ⁶  why you are contending ⁷  with me.’

Ayub 33:6

33:6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;

I too have been molded ⁸  from clay.

Ayub 36:19

36:19 Would your wealth ⁹  sustain you,

so that you would not be in distress, ¹⁰ 

even all your mighty efforts? ¹¹ 

[9:28]  ¹ tn The word was used in Job 3:25; it has the idea of “dread, fear, tremble at.” The point here is that even if Job changes his appearance, he still dreads the sufferings, because he knows that God is treating him as a criminal.

[9:28]  ² sn See Job 7:15; see also the translation by G. Perles, “I tremble in every nerve” (“The Fourteenth Edition of Gesenius-Buhl’s Dictionary,” JQR 18 [1905/06]: 383-90).

[9:28]  ³ tn The conjunction “for” is supplied in the translation.

[9:28]  ⁴ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 73) appropriately notes that Job’s afflictions were the proof of his guilt in the estimation of God. If God held him innocent, he would remove the afflictions.

[10:2]  ⁵ tn The negated jussive is the Hiphil jussive of רָשַׁע (rasha’); its meaning then would be literally “do not declare me guilty.” The negated jussive stresses the immediacy of the request.

[10:2]  ⁶ tn The Hiphil imperative of יָדַע (yada’) would more literally be “cause me to know.” It is a plea for God to help him understand the afflictions.

[10:2]  ⁷ tn The verb is רִיב (riv), meaning “to dispute; to contend; to strive; to quarrel” – often in the legal sense. The precise words chosen in this verse show that the setting is legal. The imperfect verb here is progressive, expressing what is currently going on.

[33:6]  ⁸ tn The verb means “nipped off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay when molding a vessel.

[36:19]  ⁹ tn The form in the MT is “your cry (for help).” See J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 472-73) and E. Dhorme (Job, 547-48) on the difficulties.

[36:19]  ¹⁰ tn This part has only two words לֹא בְצָר (lo’ bÿtsar, “not in distress”). The negated phrase serves to explain the first colon.

[36:19]  ¹¹ tc For the many suggestions and the reasoning here, see the commentaries.