Ayub 23:7

23:7 There ¹  an upright person

could present his case ²  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Ayub 31:28

31:28 then this ³  also would be iniquity to be judged, ⁴ 

for I would have been false ⁵  to God above.

Ayub 36:17

36:17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked,

judgment and justice take hold of you.

[23:7]  ¹ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ² 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.”

[31:28]  ³ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ⁴ tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.

[31:28]  ⁵ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.