Ayub 13:8-9

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ¹ 

Will you argue the case ²  for God?

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

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

[13:8]  ¹ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

[13:8]  ² tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

[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.