Ayub 15:22

15:22 He does not expect ¹  to escape from darkness; ² 

he is marked for the sword; ³ 

Ayub 17:12-13

17:12 These men ⁴  change ⁵  night into day;

they say, ⁶  ‘The light is near

in the face of darkness.’ ⁷ 

17:13 If ⁸  I hope for the grave to be my home,

if I spread out my bed in darkness,

Ayub 38:19

38:19 “In what direction ⁹  does light reside,

and darkness, where is its place,

[15:22]  ¹ tn This is the meaning of the Hiphil imperfect negated: “he does not believe” or “he has no confidence.” It is followed by the infinitive construct functioning as the direct object – he does not expect to return (to escape) from darkness.

[15:22]  sn The meaning of this line is somewhat in question. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 111) thinks it could mean that he is afraid he will not wake up from the night, or he dreads misfortune, thinking it will be final for him.

[15:22]  ² sn In the context of these arguments, “darkness” probably refers to calamity, and so the wicked can expect a calamity that is final.

[15:22]  ³ tn Heb “he is watched [or waited for] by the sword.” G. R. Driver reads it, “he is marked down for the sword” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 78). Ewald suggested “laid up for the sword.” Ball has “looks for the sword.” The MT has a passive participle from צָפָה (tsafah, “to observe, watch”) which can be retained in the text; the meaning of the form can then be understood as the result of the inspection (E. Dhorme, Job, 217).

[17:12]  ⁴ tn The verse simply has the plural, “they change.” But since this verse seems to be a description of his friends, a clarification of the referent in the translation is helpful.

[17:12]  ⁵ tn The same verb שִׂים (sim, “set”) is used this way in Isa 5:20: “…who change darkness into light.”

[17:12]  ⁶ tn The rest of the verse makes better sense if it is interpreted as what his friends say.

[17:12]  ⁷ tn This expression is open to alternative translations: (1) It could mean that they say in the face of darkness, “Light is near.” (2) It could also mean “The light is near the darkness” or “The light is nearer than the darkness.”

[17:13]  ⁸ tn The clause begins with אִם (’im) which here has more of the sense of “since.” E. Dhorme (Job, 253) takes a rather rare use of the word to get “Can I hope again” (see also GKC 475 §150.f for the caveat).

[38:19]  ⁹ tn The interrogative with דֶרֶךְ (derekh) means “in what road” or “in what direction.”