Ayub 29:21

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People ¹  listened to me and waited silently; ² 

they kept silent for my advice.

Ayub 33:1

Elihu Invites Job’s Attention

33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,

and hear ³  everything I have to say! ⁴ 

Ayub 33:31

33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

Ayub 34:2

34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;

hear ⁵  me, you learned men. ⁶ 

[29:21]  ¹ tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.

[29:21]  ² tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.

[33:1]  ³ tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”

[33:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear all my words.”

[34:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “give ear to me.”

[34:2]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”