Ayub 9:7

9:7 he who commands the sun and ¹  it does not shine ² 

and seals up ³  the stars;

Ayub 13:3

13:3 But I wish to speak ⁴  to the Almighty, ⁵ 

and I desire to argue ⁶  my case ⁷  with God.

Ayub 19:6

19:6 know ⁸  then that God has wronged me ⁹ 

and encircled ¹⁰  me with his net. ¹¹ 

Ayub 22:14

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, ¹² 

as he goes back and forth

in the vault ¹³  of heaven.’ ¹⁴ 

Ayub 25:3-4

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ¹⁵ 

On whom does his light ¹⁶  not rise?

25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?

How can one born of a woman be pure? ¹⁷ 

Ayub 26:12

26:12 By his power he stills ¹⁸  the sea;

by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster ¹⁹  to pieces. ²⁰ 

Ayub 34:14

34:14 If God ²¹  were to set his heart on it, ²² 

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

Ayub 35:7

35:7 If you are righteous, what do you give to God,

or what does he receive from your hand?

Ayub 36:10

36:10 And he reveals ²³  this ²⁴  for correction,

and says that they must turn ²⁵  from evil.

Ayub 37:7

37:7 He causes everyone to stop working, ²⁶ 

so that all people ²⁷  may know ²⁸  his work.

[9:7]  ¹ tn The form could also be subordinated, “that it shine not” (see further GKC 323 §109.g).

[9:7]  ² tn The verb זָרַח (zarakh) means “rise.” This is the ordinary word for the sunrise. But here it probably has the idea of “shine; glisten,” which is also attested in Hebrew and Aramaic.

[9:7]  sn There are various views on the meaning of this line in this verse. Some think it refers to some mysterious darkness like the judgment in Egypt (Exod 10:21-23), or to clouds building (3:5), often in accompaniment of earthquakes (see Joel 2:10, 3:15-16; Isa 13:10-13). It could also refer to an eclipse. All this assumes that the phenomenon here is limited to the morning or the day; but it could simply be saying that God controls light and darkness.

[9:7]  ³ tn The verb חָתַם (khatam) with בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) before its complement, means “to seal; to wall up; to enclose.” This is a poetic way of saying that God prevents the stars from showing their light.

[13:3]  ⁴ tn The verb is simply the Piel imperfect אֲדַבֵּר (’adabber, “I speak”). It should be classified as a desiderative imperfect, saying, “I desire to speak.” This is reinforced with the verb “to wish, desire” in the second half of the verse.

[13:3]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew title for God here is אֶל־שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”).

[13:3]  ⁶ tn The infinitive absolute functions here as the direct object of the verb “desire” (see GKC 340 §113.b).

[13:3]  ⁷ tn The infinitive הוֹכֵחַ (hokheakh) is from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh), which means “to argue, plead, debate.” It has the legal sense here of arguing a case (cf. 5:17).

[19:6]  ⁸ tn The imperative is used here to introduce a solemn affirmation. This verse proves that Job was in no way acknowledging sin in v. 4. Here Job is declaring that God has wronged him, and in so doing, perverted justice.

[19:6]  ⁹ tn The Piel of עָוַת (’avat) means “to warp justice” (see 8:3), or here, to do wrong to someone (see Ps 119:78). The statement is chosen to refute the question that Bildad asked in his first speech.

[19:6]  ¹⁰ tn The verb נָקַף (naqaf) means “to turn; to make a circle; to encircle.” It means that God has encircled or engulfed Job with his net.

[19:6]  ¹¹ tn The word מְצוּדוֹ (mÿtsudo) is usually connected with צוּד (tsud, “to hunt”), and so is taken to mean “a net.” Gordis and Habel, however, interpret it to mean “siegeworks” thrown up around a city – but that would require changing the ד (dalet) to a ר (resh) (cf. NLT, “I am like a city under siege”). The LXX, though, has “bulwark.” Besides, the previous speech used several words for “net.”

[22:14]  ¹² tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”

[22:14]  ¹³ sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.

[22:14]  ¹⁴ sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.

[25:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ¹⁶ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[25:4]  ¹⁷ sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).

[26:12]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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).

[34:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ²² tc This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yasim, “if he [God] recalls”). But this would require leaving out “his heart,” and would also require redividing the verse to make “his spirit” the object. It makes better parallelism, but may require too many changes.

[36:10]  ²³ tn The idiom once again is “he uncovers their ear.”

[36:10]  ²⁴ tn The revelation is in the preceding verse, and so a pronoun must be added to make the reference clear.

[36:10]  ²⁵ tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn; to return”) is one of the two major words in the OT for “repent” – to return from evil. Here the imperfect should be obligatory – they must do it.

[37:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “by the hand of every man he seals.” This line is intended to mean with the heavy rains God suspends all agricultural activity.

[37:7]  ²⁷ tc This reading involves a change in the text, for in MT “men” is in the construct. It would be translated, “all men whom he made” (i.e., all men of his making”). This is the translation followed by the NIV and NRSV. Olshausen suggested that the word should have been אֲנָשִׁים (’anashim) with the final ם (mem) being lost to haplography.

[37:7]  ²⁸ tn D. W. Thomas suggested a meaning of “rest” for the verb, based on Arabic. He then reads אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) for man, and supplies a ם (mem) to “his work” to get “that every man might rest from his work [in the fields].”