Ayub 16:7

16:7 Surely now he ¹  has worn me out,

you have devastated my entire household.

Ayub 19:9

19:9 He has stripped me of my honor

and has taken the crown off my head. ² 

Ayub 30:13

30:13 They destroy ³  my path;

they succeed in destroying me ⁴ 

without anyone assisting ⁵  them.

Ayub 30:18

30:18 With great power God ⁶  grasps my clothing; ⁷ 

he binds me like the collar ⁸  of my tunic.

Ayub 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Ayub 38:27

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ⁹ 

[16:7]  ¹ tn In poetic discourse there is often an abrupt change from person to another. See GKC 462 §144.p. Some take the subject of this verb to be God, others the pain (“surely now it has worn me out”).

[19:9]  ² sn The images here are fairly common in the Bible. God has stripped away Job’s honorable reputation. The crown is the metaphor for the esteem and dignity he once had. See 29:14; Isa 61:3; see Ps 8:5 [6].

[30:13]  ³ tn This verb נָתְסוּ (natÿsu) is found nowhere else. It is probably a variant of the verb in Job 19:10. R. Gordis (Job, 333-34) notes the Arabic noun natsun (“thorns”), suggesting a denominative idea “they have placed thorns in my path.” Most take it to mean they ruin the way of escape.

[30:13]  ⁴ tc The MT has “they further my misfortune.” The line is difficult, with slight textual problems. The verb יֹעִילוּ (yo’ilu) means “to profit,” and so “to succeed” or “to set forward.” Good sense can be made from the MT as it stands, and many suggested changes are suspect.

[30:13]  ⁵ tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[30:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:18]  ⁷ tc This whole verse is difficult. The first problem is that this verb in the MT means “is disguised [or disfigured],” indicating that Job’s clothes hang loose on him. But many take the view that the verb is a phonetic variant of חָבַשׁ (khavash, “to bind; to seize”) and that the Hitpael form is a conflation of the third and second person because of the interchange between them in the passage (R. Gordis, Job, 335). The commentaries list a number of conjectural emendations, but the image in the verse is probably that God seizes Job by the garment and throws him down.

[30:18]  ⁸ tn The phrase “like the collar” is difficult, primarily because their tunics did not have collars. A translation of “neck” would suit better. Some change the preposition to בּ (bet), getting a translation “by the neck of my tunic.”

[38:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).