Ayub 11:10

11:10 If he comes by ¹  and confines ²  you ³ 

and convenes a court, ⁴ 

then who can prevent ⁵  him?

Ayub 12:22

12:22 He reveals the deep things of darkness,

and brings deep shadows ⁶  into the light.

Ayub 20:14

20:14 his food is turned sour ⁷  in his stomach; ⁸ 

it becomes the venom of serpents ⁹  within him.

Ayub 20:20

20:20 For he knows no satisfaction in his appetite; ¹⁰ 

he does not let anything he desires ¹¹  escape. ¹² 

Ayub 22:4

22:4 Is it because of your piety ¹³  that he rebukes you

and goes to judgment with you? ¹⁴ 

Ayub 38:32

38:32 Can you lead out

the constellations ¹⁵  in their seasons,

or guide the Bear with its cubs? ¹⁶ 

Ayub 40:24

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, ¹⁷ 

or pierce its nose with a snare? ¹⁸ 

[11:10]  ¹ tn The verb יַחֲלֹף (yakhalof) is literally “passes by/through” (NIV “comes along” in the sense of “if it should so happen”). Many accept the emendation to יַחְתֹּף (yakhtof, “he seizes,” cf. Gordis, Driver), but there is not much support for these.

[11:10]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil of סָגַר (sagar, “to close; to shut”) and so here in this context it probably means something like “to shut in; to confine.” But this is a difficult meaning, and the sentence is cryptic. E. Dhorme (Job, 162) thinks this word and the next have to be antithetical, and so he suggests from a meaning “to keep confined” the idea of keeping a matter secret; and with the next verb, “to convene an assembly,” he offers “to divulge it.”

[11:10]  ³ tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation.

[11:10]  ⁴ tn The denominative Hiphil of קָהָל (qahal, “an assembly”) has the idea of “to convene an assembly.” In this context there would be the legal sense of convening a court, i.e., calling Job to account (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 255). See E. Ullendorff, “The Meaning of QHLT,” VT 12 (1962): 215; he defines the verb also as “argue, rebuke.”

[11:10]  ⁵ tn The verb means “turn him back.” Zophar uses Job’s own words (see 9:12).

[12:22]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word is traditionally rendered “shadow of death” (so KJV, ASV); see comments at Job 3:3.

[20:14]  ⁷ tn The perfect verb in the apodosis might express the suddenness of the change (see S. R. Driver, Tenses in Hebrew, 204), or it might be a constative perfect looking at the action as a whole without reference to inception, progress, or completion (see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d). The Niphal perfect simply means “is turned” or “turns”; “sour is supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[20:14]  ⁸ tn The word is “in his loins” or “within him.” Some translate more specifically “bowels.”

[20:14]  ⁹ sn Some commentators suggest that the ancients believed that serpents secreted poison in the gall bladder, or that the poison came from the gall bladder of serpents. In any case, there is poison (from the root “bitter”) in the system of the wicked person; it may simply be saying it is that type of poison.

[20:20]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “belly,” which represents his cravings, his desires and appetites. The “satisfaction” is actually the word for “quiet; peace; calmness; ease.” He was driven by greedy desires, or he felt and displayed an insatiable greed.

[20:20]  ¹¹ tn The verb is the passive participle of the verb חָמַד (khamad) which is one of the words for “covet; desire.” This person is controlled by his desires; there is no escape. He is a slave.

[20:20]  ¹² tn The verb is difficult to translate in this line. It basically means “to cause to escape; to rescue.” Some translate this verb as “it is impossible to escape”; this may work, but is uncertain. Others translate the verb in the sense of saving something else: N. Sarna says, “Of his most cherished possessions he shall save nothing” (“The Interchange of the Preposition bet and min in Biblical Hebrew,” JBL 78 [1959]: 315-16). The RSV has “he will save nothing in which he delights”; NIV has “he cannot save himself by his treasure.”

[22:4]  ¹³ tn The word “your fear” or “your piety” refers to Job’s reverence – it is his fear of God (thus a subjective genitive). When “fear” is used of religion, it includes faith and adoration on the positive side, fear and obedience on the negative.

[22:4]  ¹⁴ sn Of course the point is that God does not charge Job because he is righteous; the point is he must be unrighteous.

[38:32]  ¹⁵ tn The word מַזָּרוֹת (mazzarot) is taken by some to refer to the constellations (see 2 Kgs 23:5), and by others as connected to the word for “crown,” and so “corona.”

[38:32]  ¹⁶ sn See Job 9:9.

[40:24]  ¹⁷ tn The idea would be either (1) catch it while it is watching, or (2) in some way disabling its eyes before the attack. But others change the reading; Ball suggested “with hooks” and this has been adopted by some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV).

[40:24]  ¹⁸ tn Ehrlich altered the MT slightly to get “with thorns,” a view accepted by Driver, Dhorme and Pope.