Ayub 2:5

2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, ¹  and he will no doubt ²  curse you to your face!”

Ayub 3:13

3:13 For now ³  I would be lying down

and ⁴  would be quiet, ⁵ 

I would be asleep and then at peace ⁶ 

Ayub 6:29

6:29 Relent, ⁷  let there be no falsehood; ⁸ 

reconsider, ⁹  for my righteousness is intact! ¹⁰ 

Ayub 7:7

7:7 Remember ¹¹  that my life is but a breath,

that ¹²  my eyes will never again ¹³  see happiness.

Ayub 8:4

8:4 If ¹⁴  your children sinned against him,

he gave them over ¹⁵  to the penalty ¹⁶  of their sin.

Ayub 8:8

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ¹⁷  generation,

and pay attention ¹⁸  to the findings ¹⁹ 

of their ancestors; ²⁰ 

Ayub 9:34

9:34 who ²¹  would take his ²²  rod ²³  away from me

so that his terror ²⁴  would not make me afraid.

Ayub 10:2

10:2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn ²⁵  me;

tell me ²⁶  why you are contending ²⁷  with me.’

Ayub 10:14

10:14 If I sinned, then you would watch me

and you would not acquit me of my iniquity.

Ayub 17:16

17:16 Will ²⁸  it ²⁹  go down to the barred gates ³⁰  of death?

Will ³¹  we descend ³²  together into the dust?”

Ayub 22:22

22:22 Accept instruction ³³  from his mouth

and store up his words ³⁴  in your heart.

Ayub 27:7

The Condition of the Wicked

27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, ³⁵ 

my adversary ³⁶  like the unrighteous. ³⁷ 

Ayub 31:13

31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants

or my female servants

when they disputed ³⁸  with me,

Ayub 31:16

31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, ³⁹ 

or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

Ayub 31:19

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

Ayub 31:29

31:29 If ⁴⁰  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ⁴¹ 

or exulted ⁴²  because calamity ⁴³  found him –

[2:5]  ¹ sn The “bones and flesh” are idiomatic for the whole person, his physical and his psychical/spiritual being (see further H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 26-28).

[2:5]  ² sn This is the same oath formula found in 1:11; see the note there.

[3:13]  ³ tn The word עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) may have a logical nuance here, almost with the idea of “if that had been the case…” (IBHS 667-68 §39.3.4f). However, the temporal “now” is retained in translation since the imperfect verb following two perfects “suggests what Job’s present state would be if he had had the quiet of a still birth” (J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 95, n. 23). Cf. GKC 313 §106.p.

[3:13]  ⁴ tn The copula on the verb indicates a sequence for the imperfect: “and then I would….” In the second half of the verse it is paralleled by “then.”

[3:13]  ⁵ tn The text uses a combination of the perfect (lie down/sleep) and imperfect (quiet/rest). The particle עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) gives to the perfect verb its conditional nuance. It presents actions in the past that are not actually accomplished but seen as possible (GKC 313 §106.p).

[3:13]  ⁶ tn The last part uses the impersonal verb “it would be at rest for me.”

[6:29]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb שֻׁבוּ (shuvu) would literally be “return.” It has here the sense of “to begin again; to adopt another course,” that is, proceed on another supposition other than my guilt (A. B. Davidson, Job, 49). The LXX takes the word from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit, dwell”) reading “sit down now.”

[6:29]  ⁸ tn The word עַוְלָה (’avlah) is sometimes translated “iniquity.” The word can mean “perversion, wickedness, injustice” (cf. 16:11). But here he means in regard to words. Unjust or wicked words would be words that are false and destroy.

[6:29]  ⁹ tn The verb here is also שֻׁבוּ (shuvu), although there is a Kethib-Qere reading. See R. Gordis, “Some Unrecognized Meanings of the Root Shub,” JBL 52 (1933): 153-62.

[6:29]  ¹⁰ tn The text has simply “yet my right is in it.” A. B. Davidson (Job, 49, 50) thinks this means that in his plea against God, Job has right on his side. It may mean this; it simply says “my righteousness is yet in it.” If the “in it” does not refer to Job’s cause, then it would simply mean “is present.” It would have very little difference either way.

[7:7]  ¹¹ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ¹² tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ¹³ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[8:4]  ¹⁴ tn The AV and RV take the protasis down to the middle of v. 6. The LXX changes the “if” at the beginning of v. 5 to “then” and makes that verse the apodosis. If the apodosis comes in the second half of v. 4, then v. 4 would be a complete sentence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 71; A. B. Davidson, Job, 60). The particle אִם (’im) has the sense of “since” in this section.

[8:4]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is a Piel preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. The ו (vav) need not be translated if the second half of the verse is the apodosis of the first – since they sinned…he did this. The verb שִׁלֵּחַ (shilleakh) means “to expel; to thrust out” normally; here the sense of “deliver up” or “deliver over” fits the sentence well. The verse is saying that sin carries its own punishment, and so God merely delivered the young people over to it.

[8:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “into the hand of their rebellion.” The word “hand” often signifies “power.” The rebellious acts have the power to destroy, and so that is what happened – according to Bildad. Bildad’s point is that Job should learn from what happened to his family.

[8:8]  ¹⁷ sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ¹⁸ tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:34]  ²¹ tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ²² tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ²³ sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ²⁴ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[10:2]  ²⁵ tn The negated jussive is the Hiphil jussive of רָשַׁע (rasha’); its meaning then would be literally “do not declare me guilty.” The negated jussive stresses the immediacy of the request.

[10:2]  ²⁶ tn The Hiphil imperative of יָדַע (yada’) would more literally be “cause me to know.” It is a plea for God to help him understand the afflictions.

[10:2]  ²⁷ tn The verb is רִיב (riv), meaning “to dispute; to contend; to strive; to quarrel” – often in the legal sense. The precise words chosen in this verse show that the setting is legal. The imperfect verb here is progressive, expressing what is currently going on.

[17:16]  ²⁸ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ 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]  ³¹ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ³² 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.

[22:22]  ³³ tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.

[22:22]  ³⁴ tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).

[27:7]  ³⁵ sn Of course, he means like his enemy when he is judged, not when he is thriving in prosperity and luxury.

[27:7]  ³⁶ tn The form is the Hitpolel participle from קוּם (qum): “those who are rising up against me,” or “my adversary.”

[27:7]  ³⁷ tc The LXX made a free paraphrase: “No, but let my enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me as the destruction of transgressors.”

[31:13]  ³⁸ tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.

[31:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”

[31:29]  ⁴⁰ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ⁴¹ sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ⁴² tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ⁴³ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.