Ayub 17:15

17:15 where then ¹  is my hope?

And my hope, ²  who sees it?

Ayub 18:10

18:10 A rope is hidden for him ³  on the ground

and a trap for him ⁴  lies on the path.

Ayub 38:33

38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,

or can you set up their rule over the earth?

[17:15]  ¹ tn The adverb אֵפוֹ (’efo, “then”) plays an enclitic role here (see Job 4:7).

[17:15]  ² tn The repetition of “my hope” in the verse has thrown the versions off, and their translations have led commentators also to change the second one to something like “goodness,” on the assumption that a word cannot be repeated in the same verse. The word actually carries two different senses here. The first would be the basic meaning “hope,” but the second a metonymy of cause, namely, what hope produces, what will be seen.

[18:10]  ³ tn Heb “his rope.” The suffix must be a genitive expressing that the trap was for him, to trap him, and so an objective genitive.

[18:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “his trap.” The pronominal suffix is objective genitive here as well.