Ayub 19:27

19:27 whom I will see for myself, ¹ 

and whom my own eyes will behold,

and not another. ² 

My heart ³  grows faint within me. ⁴ 

Ayub 28:7

28:7 a hidden path ⁵  no bird of prey knows –

no falcon’s ⁶  eye has spotted it.

Ayub 35:1

Elihu’s Third Speech ⁷ 

35:1 Then Elihu answered:

[19:27]  ¹ tn The emphasis is on “I” and “for myself.” No other will be seeing this vindication, but Job himself will see it. Of that he is confident. Some take לִי (li, “for myself”) to mean favorable to me, or on my side (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 143). But Job is expecting (not just wishing for) a face-to-face encounter in the vindication.

[19:27]  ² tn Hitzig offered another interpretation that is somewhat forced. The “other” (זָר, zar) or “stranger” would refer to Job. He would see God, not as an enemy, but in peace.

[19:27]  ³ tn Heb “kidneys,” a poetic expression for the seat of emotions.

[19:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “fail/grow faint in my breast.” Job is saying that he has expended all his energy with his longing for vindication.

[28:7]  ⁵ tn The “path” could refer to the mine shaft or it could refer to wisdom. The former seems more likely in the present context; the word “hidden is supplied in the translation to indicate the mines are “hidden” from sharp-eyed birds of prey above.

[28:7]  ⁶ sn The kind of bird mentioned here is debated. The LXX has “vulture,” and so some commentaries follow that. The emphasis on the sight favors the view that it is the falcon.

[35:1]  ⁷ sn This short speech falls into two sections: Elihu refutes Job’s claim that goodness avails nothing (35:2-8), asserting that when the cry of the afflicted goes unanswered they have not learned their lesson (35:9-16).