Ayub 3:13

3:13 For now ¹  I would be lying down

and ²  would be quiet, ³ 

I would be asleep and then at peace ⁴ 

Ayub 4:20

4:20 They are destroyed ⁵  between morning and evening; ⁶ 

they perish forever ⁷  without anyone regarding it. ⁸ 

Ayub 10:1

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ⁹  am weary ¹⁰  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ¹¹ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Ayub 20:11

20:11 His bones ¹²  were full of his youthful vigor, ¹³ 

but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.

Ayub 21:25

21:25 And another man ¹⁴  dies in bitterness of soul, ¹⁵ 

never having tasted ¹⁶  anything good.

Ayub 31:13

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

or my female servants

when they disputed ¹⁷  with me,

Ayub 31:26

31:26 if I looked at the sun ¹⁸  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

Ayub 41:4

41:4 Will it make a pact ¹⁹  with you,

so you could take it ²⁰  as your slave for life?

Ayub 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ²¹ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

[3:13]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn The last part uses the impersonal verb “it would be at rest for me.”

[4:20]  ⁵ tn The form יֻכַּתּוּ (yukkatu) is the Hophal imperfect of the root כָּתַת (katat, “to be pounded, pulverized, reduced to ashes” [Jer 46:5; Mic 1:7]). It follows the Aramaic formation (see GKC 182 §67.y). This line appears to form a parallelism with “they are crushed like a moth,” the third unit of the last verse; but it has its own parallel idea in this verse. See D. J. A. Clines, “Verb Modality and the Interpretation of Job 4:20, 21,” VT 30 (1980): 354-57.

[4:20]  ⁶ tn Or “from morning to evening.” The expression “from morning to evening” is probably not a merism, but rather describes the time between the morning and the evening, as in Isa 38:12: “from day to night you make an end of me.”

[4:20]  ⁷ sn The second colon expresses the consequence of this day-long reducing to ashes – they perish forever! (see 20:7 and 14:20).

[4:20]  ⁸ tn This rendering is based on the interpretation that מִבְּלִי מֵשִׂים (mibbÿli mesim) uses the Hiphil participle of שִׂים (sim, “set”) with an understood object “heart” to gain the idiom of “taking to heart, considering, regarding it” – hence, “without anyone regarding it.” Some commentators have attempted to resolve the difficulty by emending the text, a procedure that has no more support than positing the ellipses. One suggested emendation does have the LXX in its favor, namely, a reading of מֹשִׁיעַ (moshia’, “one who saves”) in place of מֵשִׂים (mesim, “one who sets”). This would lead to “without one who saves they perish forever” (E. Dhorme, Job, 55).

[10:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ¹¹ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[20:11]  ¹² tn “Bones” is often used metonymically for the whole person, the bones being the framework, meaning everything inside, as well as the body itself.

[20:11]  ¹³ sn This line means that he dies prematurely – at the height of his youthful vigor.

[21:25]  ¹⁴ tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”

[21:25]  ¹⁵ tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”

[21:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “eaten what is good.” It means he died without having enjoyed the good life.

[31:13]  ¹⁷ 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.

[31:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[41:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”

[41:4]  ²⁰ tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”

[42:6]  ²¹ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).