Ayub 19:15

19:15 My guests ¹  and my servant girls

consider ²  me a stranger;

I am a foreigner ³  in their eyes.

Ayub 23:7

23:7 There ⁴  an upright person

could present his case ⁵  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Ayub 26:1

Job’s Reply to Bildad ⁶ 

26:1 Then Job replied:

Ayub 31:23

31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, ⁷ 

and by reason of his majesty ⁸  I was powerless.

Ayub 34:32

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. ⁹ 

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

Ayub 36:1

Elihu’s Fourth Speech ¹⁰ 

36:1 Elihu said further: ¹¹ 

Ayub 37:6

37:6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall ¹²  to earth,’

and to the torrential rains, ¹³  ‘Pour down.’ ¹⁴ 

Ayub 38:11

38:11 when I said, ‘To here you may come ¹⁵ 

and no farther, ¹⁶ 

here your proud waves will be confined’? ¹⁷ 

Ayub 38:41

38:41 Who prepares prey for the raven,

when its young cry out to God

and wander about ¹⁸  for lack of food?

[19:15]  ¹ tn The Hebrew גָּרֵי בֵיתִי (gare beti, “the guests of my house”) refers to those who sojourned in my house – not residents, but guests.

[19:15]  ² tn The form of the verb is a feminine plural, which would seem to lend support to the proposed change of the lines (see last note to v. 14). But the form may be feminine primarily because of the immediate reference. On the other side, the suffix of “their eyes” is a masculine plural. So the evidence lies on both sides.

[19:15]  ³ tn This word נָכְרִי (nokhri) is the person from another race, from a strange land, the foreigner. The previous word, גֵּר (ger), is a more general word for someone who is staying in the land but is not a citizen, a sojourner.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”

[26:1]  ⁶ sn These two chapters will be taken together under this title, although most commentators would assign Job 26:5-14 to Bildad and Job 27:7-23 to Zophar. Those sections will be noted as they emerge. For the sake of outlining, the following sections will be marked off: Job’s scorn for Bildad (26:2-4); a better picture of God’s greatness (26:5-14); Job’s protestation of innocence (27:2-6); and a picture of the condition of the wicked (27:7-23).

[31:23]  ⁷ tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.

[31:23]  ⁸ tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).

[34:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”

[36:1]  ¹⁰ sn This very lengthy speech can be broken down into the following sections: the discipline of suffering (36:2-25), the work and wisdom of God (36:26–37:24).

[36:1]  ¹¹ tn The use of וַיֹּסֶף (vayyosef) is with the hendiadys construction: “and he added and said,” meaning “and he said again, further.”

[37:6]  ¹² tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”

[37:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew mss delete the second pair, and so many editors do. But the repetition may have served to stress the idea that the rains were heavy.

[37:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Be strong.”

[38:11]  ¹⁵ tn The imperfect verb receives the permission nuance here.

[38:11]  ¹⁶ tn The text has תֹסִיף (tosif, “and you may not add”), which is often used idiomatically (as in verbal hendiadys constructions).

[38:11]  ¹⁷ tn The MT literally says, “here he will put on the pride of your waves.” The verb has no expressed subject and so is made a passive voice. But there has to be some object for the verb “put,” such as “limit” or “boundary”; the translations “confined; halted; stopped” all serve to paraphrase such an idea. The LXX has “broken” at this point, suggesting the verse might have been confused – but “breaking the pride” of the waves would mean controlling them. Some commentators have followed this, exchanging the verb in v. 11 with this one.

[38:41]  ¹⁸ tn The verse is difficult, making some suspect that a line has dropped out. The little birds in the nest hardly go wandering about looking for food. Dhorme suggest “and stagger for lack of food.”