Ayub 3:24

3:24 For my sighing comes in place of ¹  my food, ² 

and my groanings ³  flow forth like water. ⁴ 

Ayub 4:14

4:14 a trembling ⁵  gripped me – and a terror! –

and made all my bones shake. ⁶ 

Ayub 19:2

19:2 “How long will you torment me ⁷ 

and crush ⁸  me with your words? ⁹ 

Ayub 24:25

24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar

and reduce my words to nothing?” ¹⁰ 

Ayub 29:21

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People ¹¹  listened to me and waited silently; ¹² 

they kept silent for my advice.

Ayub 31:24

31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold

or said to pure gold,

‘You are my security!’

Ayub 33:7

33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,

nor should my pressure ¹³  be heavy on you. ¹⁴ 

[3:24]  ¹ tn For the prepositional לִפְנֵי (lifne), the temporal meaning “before” (“my sighing comes before I eat”) makes very little sense here (as the versions have it). The meaning “in place of, for” fits better (see 1 Sam 1:16, “count not your handmaid for a daughter of Belial”).

[3:24]  ² sn The line means that Job’s sighing, which results from the suffering (metonymy of effect) is his constant, daily food. Parallels like Ps 42:3 which says “my tears have been my bread/food” shows a similar figure.

[3:24]  ³ tn The word normally describes the “roaring” of a lion (Job 4:10); but it is used for the loud groaning or cries of those in distress (Pss 22:1; 32:3).

[3:24]  ⁴ tn This second colon is paraphrased in the LXX to say, “I weep being beset with terror.” The idea of “pouring forth water” while groaning can be represented by “I weep.” The word “fear, terror” anticipates the next verse.

[4:14]  ⁵ tn The two words פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”) and רְעָדָה (rÿ’adah, “terror”) strengthen each other as synonyms (see also Ps 55:6). The subject of the verb קָרָא (qara’, “befall, encounter”) is פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”); its compound subject has been placed at the end of the colon.

[4:14]  ⁶ tn The subject of the Hiphil verb הִפְחִיד (hifkhid, “dread”) is פַּחַד (pakhad, “trembling”), which is why it is in the singular. The cognate verb intensifies and applies the meaning of the noun. BDB 808 s.v. פַּחַד Hiph translates it “fill my bones with dread.” In that sense “bones” would have to be a metonymy of subject representing the framework of the body, so that the meaning is that his whole being was filled with trembling.

[19:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “torment my soul,” with “soul” representing the self or individual. The MT has a verb from יָגָה (yagah, “to afflict; to torment”). This is supported by the versions. But the LXX has “to tire” which is apparently from יָגַע (yaga’). The form in the MT is unusual because it preserves the final (original) yod in the Hiphil (see GKC 214 §75.gg). So this unusual form has been preserved, and is the correct reading. A modal nuance for the imperfect fits best here: “How long do you intend to do this?”

[19:2]  ⁸ tn The MT has דָּכָא (dakha’), “to crush” in the Piel. The LXX, however, has a more general word which means “to destroy.”

[19:2]  ⁹ tn The LXX adds to the verse: “only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.”

[24:25]  ¹⁰ tn The word אַל (’al, “not”) is used here substantivally (“nothing”).

[29:21]  ¹¹ tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.

[29:21]  ¹² 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.

[33:7]  ¹³ tc The noun means “my pressure; my burden” in the light of the verb אָכֲף (’akhaf, “to press on; to grip tightly”). In the parallel passages the text used “hand” and “rod” in the hand to terrify. The LXX has “hand” here for this word. But simply changing it to “hand” is ruled out because the verb is masculine.

[33:7]  ¹⁴ tn See Job 9:34 and 13:21.