Ayub 21:11

21:11 They allow their children to run ¹  like a flock;

their little ones dance about.

Ayub 29:20

29:20 My glory ²  will always be fresh ³  in me,

and my bow ever new in my hand.’

Ayub 31:1

Job Vindicates Himself

31:1 “I made a covenant with ⁴  my eyes;

how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? ⁵ 

Ayub 38:27

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ⁶ 

[21:11]  ¹ tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.

[29:20]  ² tn The word is “my glory,” meaning his high respect and his honor. Hoffmann proposed to read כִּידוֹן (kidon) instead, meaning “javelin” (as in 1 Sam 17:6), to match the parallelism (RQ 3 [1961/62]: 388). But the parallelism does not need to be so tight.

[29:20]  ³ tn Heb “new.”

[31:1]  ⁴ tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).

[31:1]  ⁵ tn This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated “not to pay attention.”

[38:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).