Ayub 18:18
Konteks18:18 He is driven 1 from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.
Ayub 26:6
Konteks26:6 The underworld 2 is naked before God; 3
the place of destruction lies uncovered. 4
Ayub 11:8
Konteks11:8 It is higher 5 than the heavens – what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol 6 – what can you know?
Ayub 17:13
Konteks17:13 If 7 I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
Ayub 17:16
Konteks17:16 Will 8 it 9 go down to the barred gates 10 of death?
Will 11 we descend 12 together into the dust?”
Ayub 24:19
Konteks24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow; 13
so the grave 14 takes away those who have sinned. 15
Ayub 14:13
Konteks14:13 “O that 16 you would hide me in Sheol, 17
and conceal me till your anger has passed! 18
O that you would set me a time 19
and then remember me! 20
Ayub 7:9
Konteks7:9 As 21 a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, 22
so the one who goes down to the grave 23
does not come up again. 24
Ayub 18:4
Konteks18:4 You who tear yourself 25 to pieces in your anger,
will the earth be abandoned 26 for your sake?
Or will a rock be moved from its place? 27
Ayub 9:6
Konteks9:6 he who shakes the earth out of its place 28
so that its pillars tremble; 29
Ayub 21:13
Konteks21:13 They live out 30 their years in prosperity
and go down 31 to the grave 32 in peace.
Ayub 33:22
Konteks33:22 He 33 draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death. 34
Ayub 38:18
Konteks38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all!
Ayub 38:33
Konteks38:33 Do you know the laws of the heavens,
or can you set up their rule over the earth?
Ayub 3:14
Konteks3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth
who built for themselves places now desolate, 35
Ayub 14:10
Konteks14:10 But man 36 dies and is powerless; 37
he expires – and where is he? 38
Ayub 15:14
Konteks15:14 What is man that he should be pure,
or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
Ayub 20:4
Konteks20:4 “Surely you know 39 that it has been from old,
ever since humankind was placed 40 on the earth,
Ayub 21:21
Konteks21:21 For what is his interest 41 in his home
after his death, 42
when the number of his months
has been broken off? 43
Ayub 25:4
Konteks25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure? 44
Ayub 28:24
Konteks28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
Ayub 29:18
Konteks29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home, 45
my days as numerous as the grains of sand. 46
Ayub 33:28
Konteksfrom going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
Ayub 34:13
Konteks34:13 Who entrusted 48 to him the earth?
And who put him over 49 the whole world?
Ayub 37:3
Konteks37:3 Under the whole heaven he lets it go,
even his lightning to the far corners 50 of the earth.
Ayub 38:5-6
Konteks38:5 Who set its measurements – if 51 you know –
or who stretched a measuring line across it?
38:6 On what 52 were its bases 53 set,
or who laid its cornerstone –
Ayub 38:21
Konteks38:21 You know, for you were born before them; 54
and the number of your days is great!
Ayub 40:13
Konteks40:13 Hide them in the dust 55 together,
imprison 56 them 57 in the grave. 58
Ayub 10:18
Konteks10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died 59
and no eye would have seen me!
Ayub 12:24
Konteks12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth 60
of their understanding; 61
he makes them wander
in a trackless desert waste. 62
Ayub 15:7
Konteks15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
Ayub 20:7
Konteks20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; 63
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
Ayub 33:24
Konteks33:24 and if 64 God 65 is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare 66 him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’ 67
Ayub 37:12
Konteks37:12 The clouds 68 go round in circles,
wheeling about according to his plans,
to carry out 69 all that he commands them
over the face of the whole inhabited world.
Ayub 41:11
Konteks41:11 (Who has confronted 70 me that I should repay? 71
Everything under heaven belongs to me!) 72
Ayub 1:8
Konteks1:8 So the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered 73 my servant Job? There 74 is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away 75 from evil.”
Ayub 2:3
Konteks2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly 76 to his integrity, 77 so that 78 you stirred me up to destroy him 79 without reason.” 80
[18:18] 1 tn The verbs in this verse are plural; without the expressed subject they should be taken in the passive sense.
[26:6] 4 tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).
[11:8] 5 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] 6 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.
[17:13] 7 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).
[17:16] 8 sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.
[17:16] 9 tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.
[17:16] 10 tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”
[17:16] 11 tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.
[17:16] 12 tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.
[24:19] 13 tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”
[24:19] 15 tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”
[14:13] 16 tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”
[14:13] sn After arguing that man will die without hope, Job expresses his desire that there be a resurrection, and what that would mean. The ancients all knew that death did not bring existence to an end; rather, they passed into another place, but they continued to exist. Job thinks that death would at least give him some respite from the wrath of God; but this wrath would eventually be appeased, and then God would remember the one he had hidden in Sheol just as he remembered Noah. Once that happened, it would be possible that Job might live again.
[14:13] 17 sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.
[14:13] 18 tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.
[14:13] 19 tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”
[14:13] 20 tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.
[7:9] 21 tn The comparison is implied; “as” is therefore supplied in the translation.
[7:9] 22 tn The two verbs כָּלַה (kalah) and הָלַךְ (halakh) mean “to come to an end” and “to go” respectively. The picture is of the cloud that breaks up, comes to an end, is dispersed so that it is no longer a cloud; it then fades away or vanishes. This line forms a good simile for the situation of a man who comes to his end and disappears.
[7:9] 23 tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean “the grave,” “death,” or “Sheol” – the realm of departed spirits. In Job this is a land from which there is no return (10:21 and here). It is a place of darkness and gloom (10:21-22), a place where the dead lie hidden (14:13); as a place appointed for all no matter what their standing on earth might have been (30:23). In each case the precise meaning has to be determined. Here the grave makes the most sense, for Job is simply talking about death.
[7:9] 24 sn It is not correct to try to draw theological implications from this statement or the preceding verse (Rashi said Job was denying the resurrection). Job is simply stating that when people die they are gone – they do not return to this present life on earth. Most commentators and theologians believe that theological knowledge was very limited at such an early stage, so they would not think it possible for Job to have bodily resurrection in view. (See notes on ch. 14 and 19:25-27.)
[18:4] 25 tn The construction uses the participle and then 3rd person suffixes: “O tearer of himself in his anger.” But it is clearly referring to Job, and so the direct second person pronouns should be used to make that clear. The LXX is an approximation or paraphrase here: “Anger has possessed you, for what if you should die – would under heaven be desolate, or shall the mountains be overthrown from their foundations?”
[18:4] 26 tn There is a good deal of study on this word in this passage, and in Job in general. M. Dahood suggested a root עָזַב (’azav) meaning “to arrange; to rearrange” (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 303-9). But this is refuted by H. G. M. Williamson, “A Reconsideration of ’zb II in Biblical Hebrew,” ZAW 97 (1985): 74-85.
[18:4] 27 sn Bildad is asking if Job thinks the whole moral order of the world should be interrupted for his sake, that he may escape the punishment for wickedness.
[9:6] 28 sn Shakes the earth out of its place probably refers to earthquakes, although some commentators protest against this in view of the idea of the pillars. In the ancient world the poetical view of the earth is that it was a structure on pillars, with water around it and under it. In an earthquake the pillars were shaken, and the earth moved.
[9:6] 29 tn The verb הִתְפַלָּצ (hitfallats) is found only here, but the root seems clearly to mean “to be tossed; to be thrown about,” and so in the Hitpael “quiver; shake; tremble.” One of the three nouns from this root is פַּלָּצוּת (pallatsut), the “shudder” that comes with terror (see Job 21:6; Isa 21:4; Ezek 7:18; and Ps 55:6).
[21:13] 30 tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).
[21:13] 31 tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.
[21:13] 32 tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.
[33:22] 33 tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”
[33:22] 34 tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).
[3:14] 35 tn The difficult term חֳרָבוֹת (khoravot) is translated “desolate [places]”. The LXX confused the word and translated it “who gloried in their swords.” One would expect a word for monuments, or tombs (T. K. Cheyne emended it to “everlasting tombs” [“More Critical Gleanings in Job,” ExpTim 10 (1898/99): 380-83]). But this difficult word is of uncertain etymology and therefore cannot simply be made to mean “royal tombs.” The verb means “be desolate, solitary.” In Isa 48:21 there is the clear sense of a desert. That is the meaning of Assyrian huribtu. It may be that like the pyramids of Egypt these tombs would have been built in the desert regions. Or it may describe how they rebuilt ruins for themselves. He would be saying then that instead of lying here in pain and shame if he had died he would be with the great ones of the earth. Otherwise, the word could be interpreted as a metonymy of effect, indicating that the once glorious tomb now is desolate. But this does not fit the context – the verse is talking about the state of the great ones after their death.
[14:10] 36 tn There are two words for “man” in this verse. The first (גֶּבֶר, gever) can indicate a “strong” or “mature man” or “mighty man,” the hero; and the second (אָדָם, ’adam) simply designates the person as mortal.
[14:10] 37 tn The word חָלַשׁ (khalash) in Aramaic and Syriac means “to be weak” (interestingly, the Syriac OT translated חָלַשׁ [khalash] with “fade away” here). The derived noun “the weak” would be in direct contrast to “the mighty man.” In the transitive sense the verb means “to weaken; to defeat” (Exod 17:13); here it may have the sense of “be lifeless, unconscious, inanimate” (cf. E. Dhorme, Job, 199). Many commentators emend the text to יַחֲלֹף (yakhalof, “passes on; passes away”). A. Guillaume tries to argue that the form is a variant of the other, the letters שׁ (shin) and פ (pe) being interchangeable (“The Use of halas in Exod 17:13, Isa 14:12, and Job 14:10,” JTS 14 [1963]: 91-92). G. R. Driver connected it to Arabic halasa, “carry off suddenly” (“The Resurrection of Marine and Terrestrial Creatures,” JSS 7 [1962]: 12-22). But the basic idea of “be weak, powerless” is satisfactory in the text. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 105) says, “Where words are so carefully chosen, it is gratuitous to substitute less expressive words as some editors do.”
[14:10] 38 tn This break to a question adds a startling touch to the whole verse. The obvious meaning is that he is gone. The LXX weakens it: “and is no more.”
[20:4] 39 tn The MT has “Do you not know?” The question can be interpreted as a rhetorical question affirming that Job must know this. The question serves to express the conviction that the contents are well-known to the audience (see GKC 474 §150.e).
[20:4] 40 tn Heb “from the putting of man on earth.” The infinitive is the object of the preposition, which is here temporal. If “man” is taken as the subjective genitive, then the verb would be given a passive translation. Here “man” is a generic, referring to “mankind” or “the human race.”
[21:21] 41 tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).
[21:21] 42 tn Heb “after him,” but clearly the meaning is “after he is gone.”
[21:21] 43 tc The rare word חֻצָּצוּ (khutsatsu) is probably a cognate of hassa in Arabic, meaning “to cut off.” There is also an Akkadian word “to cut in two” and “to break.” These fit the context here rather well. The other Hebrew words that are connected to the root חָצַצ (khatsats) do not offer any help.
[25:4] 44 sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).
[29:18] 45 tc The expression in the MT is “with my nest.” The figure is satisfactory for the context – a home with all the young together, a picture of unity and safety. In Isa 16:2 the word can mean “nestlings,” and with the preposition “with” that might be the meaning here, except that his children had grown up and lived in their own homes. The figure cannot be pushed too far. But the verse apparently has caused enormous problems, because the versions offer a variety of readings and free paraphrases. The LXX has “My age shall grow old as the stem of a palm tree, I shall live a long time.” The Vulgate has, “In my nest I shall die and like the palm tree increase my days.” G. R. Driver found an Egyptian word meaning “strength” (“Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 [1955]: 138-39). Several read “in a ripe old age” instead of “in my nest” (Pope, Dhorme; see P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). This requires the verb זָקַן (zaqan, “be old”), i.e., בִּזְקוּנַי (bizqunay, “in my old age”) instead of קִנִּי (qinni, “my nest”). It has support from the LXX.
[29:18] 46 tc For חוֹל (khol, “sand”) the LXX has a word that is “like the palm tree,” but which could also be translated “like the phoenix” (cf. NAB, NRSV). This latter idea was developed further in rabbinical teaching (see R. Gordis, Job, 321). See also M. Dahood, “Nest and phoenix in Job 29:18,” Bib 48 (1967): 542-44. But the MT yields an acceptable sense here.
[33:28] 47 sn See note on “him” in v. 24.
[34:13] 48 tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit; to appoint; to number.” Here it means “to entrust” for care and governing. The implication would be that there would be someone higher than God – which is what Elihu is repudiating by the rhetorical question. No one entrusted God with this.
[34:13] 49 tn The preposition is implied from the first half of the verse.
[37:3] 50 tn Heb “wings,” and then figuratively for the extremities of garments, of land, etc.
[38:5] 51 tn The particle כּ (ki) is taken here for a conditional clause, “if you know” (see GKC 498 §159.dd). Others take it as “surely” with a biting irony.
[38:6] 52 tn For the interrogative serving as a genitive, see GKC 442 §136.b.
[38:6] 53 sn The world was conceived of as having bases and pillars, but these poetic descriptions should not be pressed too far (e.g., see Ps 24:2, which may be worded as much for its polemics against Canaanite mythology as anything).
[38:21] 54 tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.
[40:13] 55 tn The word “dust” can mean “ground” here, or more likely, “grave.”
[40:13] 56 tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) means “to bind.” In Arabic the word means “to bind” in the sense of “to imprison,” and that fits here.
[40:13] 57 tn Heb “their faces.”
[40:13] 58 tn The word is “secret place,” the place where he is to hide them, i.e., the grave. The text uses the word “secret place” as a metonymy for the grave.
[10:18] 59 tn The two imperfect verbs in this section are used to stress regrets for something which did not happen (see GKC 317 §107.n).
[12:24] 60 tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”
[12:24] 62 tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).
[20:7] 63 tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.
[33:24] 64 tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.
[33:24] 65 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[33:24] 66 tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (pada’, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (para’, “to let loose,” so Wright).
[33:24] 67 sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.
[37:12] 68 tn The words “the clouds” are supplied from v. 11; the sentence itself actually starts: “and it goes round,” referring to the cloud.
[37:12] 69 tn Heb “that it may do.”
[41:11] 70 tn The verb קָדַם (qadam) means “to come to meet; to come before; to confront” to the face.
[41:11] 71 sn The verse seems an intrusion (and so E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and many others change the pronouns to make it refer to the animal). But what the text is saying is that it is more dangerous to confront God than to confront this animal.
[41:11] 72 tn This line also focuses on the sovereign God rather than Leviathan. H. H. Rowley, however, wants to change לִי־חוּא (li-hu’, “it [belongs] to me”) into לֹא הוּא (lo’ hu’, “there is no one”). So it would say that there is no one under the whole heaven who could challenge Leviathan and live, rather than saying it is more dangerous to challenge God to make him repay.
[1:8] 73 tn The Hebrew has “have you placed your heart on Job?” This means “direct your mind to” (cf. BDB 963 s.v. I שׂוּם 2.b).
[1:8] sn The question is undoubtedly rhetorical, for it is designed to make Satan aware of Job as God extols his fine qualities.
[1:8] 74 tn The Hebrew conjunction כִּי (ki) need not be translated in this case or it might be taken as emphatic (cf. IBHS 665 §39.3.4e): “Certainly there is no one like him.”
[1:8] 75 tn The same expressions that appeared at the beginning of the chapter appear here in the words of God. In contrast to that narrative report about Job, the emphasis here is on Job’s present character, and so the participle form is translated here asa gnomic or characteristic present (“turns”). It modifies “man” as one who is turning from evil.
[2:3] 76 tn The form is the Hiphil participle, “make strong, seize, hold fast.” It is the verbal use here; joined with עֹדֶנּוּ (’odennu, “yet he”) it emphasizes that “he is still holding firmly.” The testing has simply strengthened Job in his integrity.
[2:3] 77 tn This is the same word used to describe Job as “blameless, pure.” Here it carries the idea of “integrity”; Job remained blameless, perfect.
[2:3] 78 tn The vav (ו) with the preterite is used here to express the logical conclusion or consequence of what was stated previously. God is saying that Job has maintained his integrity, so that now it is clear that Satan moved against him groundlessly (GKC 328 §111.l).
[2:3] 79 tn The verb literally means “to swallow”; it forms an implied comparison in the line, indicating the desire of Satan to ruin him completely. See A Guillaume, “A Note on the Root bala`,” JTS 13 (1962): 320-23; and N. M. Sarna, “Epic Substratum in the Prose of Job,”JBL 76 (1957): 13-25, for a discussion of the Ugaritic deity Mot swallowing up the enemy.
[2:3] 80 sn Once again the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”) is used. It means “graciously, gratis, free, without cause, for no reason.” Here the sense has to be gratuitously, for no reason.” The point of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”) and its derivatives is that the action is undeserved. In fact, they would deserve the opposite. Sinners seeking grace deserve punishment. Here, Job deserves reward, not suffering.