Ayub 11:8

11:8 It is higher ¹  than the heavens – what can you do?

It is deeper than Sheol ²  – what can you know?

Ayub 13:9

13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine ³  you?

Or as one deceives ⁴  a man would you deceive him?

Ayub 21:15-16

21:15 Who is the Almighty, that ⁵  we should serve him?

What would we gain

if we were to pray ⁶  to him?’ ⁷ 

21:16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. ⁸ 

The counsel of the wicked is far from me! ⁹ 

Ayub 22:18

22:18 But it was he ¹⁰  who filled their houses

with good things –

yet the counsel of the wicked ¹¹ 

was far from me. ¹² 

Ayub 23:13

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ¹³  and who can change ¹⁴  him?

Whatever he ¹⁵  has desired, he does.

Ayub 32:11

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; ¹⁶ 

I listened closely to your wise thoughts, ¹⁷ while you were searching for words.

Ayub 33:17

33:17 to turn a person from his sin, ¹⁸ 

and to cover a person’s pride. ¹⁹ 

Ayub 37:19

37:19 Tell us what we should ²⁰  say to him.

We cannot prepare a case ²¹ 

because of the darkness.

[11:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew says “heights of heaven, what can you do?” A. B. Davidson suggested this was an exclamation and should be left that way. But most commentators will repoint גָּבְהֵי שָׁמַיִם (govhe shamayim, “heights of heaven”) to גְּבֹהָה מִשָּׁמַיִם (gÿvohah mishamayim, “higher than the heavens”) to match the parallel expression. The LXX may have rearranged the text: “heaven is high.”

[11:8]  ² tn Or “deeper than hell.” The word “Sheol” always poses problems for translation. Here because it is the opposite of heaven in this merism, “hell” would be a legitimate translation. It refers to the realm of the dead – the grave and beyond. The language is excessive; but the point is that God’s wisdom is immeasurable – and Job is powerless before it.

[13:9]  ³ tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.

[13:9]  ⁴ tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.

[21:15]  ⁵ tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”

[21:15]  ⁶ tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.

[21:15]  ⁷ tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.

[21:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “is not in their hand.”

[21:16]  sn The implication of this statement is that their well-being is from God, which is the problem Job is raising in the chapter. A number of commentators make it a question, interpreting it to mean that the wicked enjoy prosperity as if it is their right. Some emend the text to say “his hands” – Gordis reads it, “Indeed, our prosperity is not in his hands.”

[21:16]  ⁹ sn Even though their life seems so good in contrast to his own plight, Job cannot and will not embrace their principles – “far be from me their counsel.”

[22:18]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.

[22:18]  ¹¹ tn See Job 10:3.

[22:18]  ¹² tc The LXX has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the MT is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14-16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 156).

[23:13]  ¹³ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “his soul.”

[32:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for your words.”

[32:11]  ¹⁷ tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.

[33:17]  ¹⁸ tc The MT simply has מַעֲשֶׂה (ma’aseh, “deed”). The LXX has “from his iniquity” which would have been מֵעַוְלָה (me’avlah). The two letters may have dropped out by haplography. The MT is workable, but would have to mean “[evil] deeds.”

[33:17]  ¹⁹ tc Here too the sense of the MT is difficult to recover. Some translations took it to mean that God hides pride from man. Many commentators changed יְכַסֶּה (yÿkhasseh, “covers”) to יְכַסֵּחַ (yÿkhasseakh, “he cuts away”), or יְכַלֶּה (yÿkhalleh, “he puts an end to”). The various emendations are not all that convincing.

[37:19]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect verb here carries the obligatory nuance, “what we should say?”

[37:19]  ²¹ tn The verb means “to arrange; to set in order.” From the context the idea of a legal case is included.