Ayub 3:3

3:3 “Let the day on which ¹  I was born ²  perish,

and the night that said, ³ 

‘A man ⁴  has been conceived!’ ⁵ 

Ayub 3:15

3:15 or with princes who possessed gold, ⁶ 

who filled their palaces ⁷  with silver.

Ayub 6:6-7

6:6 Can food that is tasteless ⁸  be eaten without salt?

Or is there any taste in the white ⁹  of an egg?

6:7 I ¹⁰  have refused ¹¹  to touch such things; ¹² 

they are like loathsome food to me. ¹³ 

Ayub 6:9

6:9 And that God would be willing ¹⁴  to crush me,

that he would let loose ¹⁵  his hand

and ¹⁶  kill me. ¹⁷ 

Ayub 6:16

6:16 They ¹⁸  are dark ¹⁹  because of ice;

snow is piled ²⁰  up over them. ²¹ 

Ayub 6:18

6:18 Caravans ²²  turn aside from their routes;

they go ²³  into the wasteland ²⁴  and perish. ²⁵ 

Ayub 6:20-21

6:20 They were distressed, ²⁶ 

because each one had been ²⁷  so confident;

they arrived there, ²⁸  but were disappointed.

6:21 For now ²⁹  you have become like these streams that are no help; ³⁰ 

you see a terror, ³¹  and are afraid.

Ayub 6:26

6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,

and treat ³²  the words of a despairing man as wind?

Ayub 8:13

8:13 Such is the destiny ³³  of all who forget God;

the hope of the godless ³⁴  perishes,

Ayub 12:25

12:25 They grope about in darkness ³⁵  without light;

he makes them stagger ³⁶  like drunkards.

Ayub 13:28

13:28 So I ³⁷  waste away like something rotten, ³⁸ 

like a garment eaten by moths.

Ayub 14:9

14:9 at the scent ³⁹  of water it will flourish ⁴⁰ 

and put forth ⁴¹  shoots like a new plant.

Ayub 15:24

15:24 Distress and anguish ⁴²  terrify him;

they prevail against him

like a king ready to launch an attack, ⁴³ 

Ayub 15:26

15:26 defiantly charging against him ⁴⁴ 

with a thick, strong shield! ⁴⁵ 

Ayub 19:24

19:24 that with an iron chisel and with lead ⁴⁶ 

they were engraved in a rock forever!

Ayub 21:13

21:13 They live out ⁴⁷  their years in prosperity

and go down ⁴⁸  to the grave ⁴⁹  in peace.

Ayub 21:31-32

21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;

no one repays him for what ⁵⁰  he has done. ⁵¹ 

21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,

and watch is kept ⁵²  over the funeral mound, ⁵³ 

Ayub 22:16

22:16 men ⁵⁴  who were carried off ⁵⁵  before their time, ⁵⁶ 

when the flood ⁵⁷  was poured out ⁵⁸ 

on their foundations? ⁵⁹ 

Ayub 23:17

23:17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,

because of the thick darkness

that covered my face. ⁶⁰ 

Ayub 24:3

24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;

they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.

Ayub 24:23

24:23 God ⁶¹  may let them rest in a feeling of security, ⁶² 

but he is constantly watching ⁶³  all their ways. ⁶⁴ 

Ayub 26:6

26:6 The underworld ⁶⁵  is naked before God; ⁶⁶ 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ⁶⁷ 

Ayub 30:29

30:29 I have become a brother to jackals

and a companion of ostriches. ⁶⁸ 

Ayub 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Ayub 31:8

31:8 then let me sow ⁶⁹  and let another eat,

and let my crops ⁷⁰  be uprooted.

Ayub 31:20

31:20 whose heart did not bless me ⁷¹ 

as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, ⁷² 

Ayub 31:39

31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, ⁷³ 

or caused the death ⁷⁴  of its owners, ⁷⁵ 

Ayub 33:18

33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption, ⁷⁶ 

his very life from crossing over ⁷⁷  the river.

Ayub 34:8

34:8 He goes about ⁷⁸  in company ⁷⁹  with evildoers,

he goes along ⁸⁰  with wicked men. ⁸¹ 

Ayub 34:30

34:30 so that the godless man should not rule,

and not lay snares for the people. ⁸² 

Ayub 34:35

34:35 that ⁸³  Job speaks without knowledge

and his words are without understanding. ⁸⁴ 

Ayub 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ⁸⁵  sang ⁸⁶  in chorus, ⁸⁷ 

and all the sons of God ⁸⁸  shouted for joy?

Ayub 38:9

38:9 when I made ⁸⁹  the storm clouds its garment,

and thick darkness its swaddling band, ⁹⁰ 

Ayub 38:23

38:23 which I reserve for the time of trouble,

for the day of war and battle? ⁹¹ 

Ayub 38:26-27

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ⁹² 

a desert where there are no human beings, ⁹³ 

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ⁹⁴ 

Ayub 38:38

38:38 when the dust hardens ⁹⁵  into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

Ayub 42:14

42:14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, ⁹⁶  the second Keziah, ⁹⁷  and the third Keren-Happuch. ⁹⁸ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn The relative clause is carried by the preposition with the resumptive pronoun: “the day [which] I was born in it” meaning “the day on which I was born” (see GKC 486-88 §155.f, i).

[3:3]  ² tn The verb is the Niphal imperfect. It may be interpreted in this dependent clause (1) as representing a future event from some point of time in the past – “the day on which I was born” or “would be born” (see GKC 316 §107.k). Or (2) it may simply serve as a preterite indicating action that is in the past.

[3:3]  ³ tn The MT simply has “and the night – it said….” By simple juxtaposition with the parallel construction (“on which I was born”) the verb “it said” must be a relative clause explaining “the night.” Rather than supply “in which” and make the verb passive (which is possible since no specific subject is provided, but leaves open the question of who said it), it is preferable to take the verse as a personification. First Job cursed the day; now he cursed the night that spoke about what it witnessed. See A. Ehrman, “A Note on the Verb ‘amar,” JQR 55 (1964/65): 166-67.

[3:3]  ⁴ tn The word is גֶּבֶר (gever, “a man”). The word usually distinguishes a man as strong, distinct from children and women. Translations which render this as “boy” (to remove the apparent contradiction of an adult being “conceived” in the womb) miss this point.

[3:3]  ⁵ sn The announcement at birth is to the fact that a male was conceived. The same parallelism between “brought forth/born” and “conceived” may be found in Ps 51:7 HT (51:5 ET). The motifs of the night of conception and the day of birth will be developed by Job. For the entire verse, which is more a wish or malediction than a curse, see S. H. Blank, “‘Perish the Day!’ A Misdirected Curse (Job 3:3),” Prophetic Thought, 61-63.

[3:15]  ⁶ tn The expression simply has “or with princes gold to them.” The noun is defined by the noun clause serving as a relative clause (GKC 486 §155.e).

[3:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “filled their houses.” There is no reason here to take “houses” to mean tombs; the “houses” refer to the places the princes lived (i.e., palaces). The reference is not to the practice of burying treasures with the dead. It is simply saying that if Job had died he would have been with the rich and famous in death.

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “a tasteless thing”; the word “food” is supplied from the context.

[6:6]  ⁹ tn Some commentators are not satisfied with the translation “white of an egg”; they prefer something connected to “slime of purslane” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 59; cf. NRSV “juice of mallows”). This meaning is based on the Syriac and Arabic version of Sa`adia. The meaning “white of the egg” comes from the rabbinic interpretation of “slime of the yolk.” Others carry the idea further and interpret it to mean “saliva of dreams” or after the LXX “in dream words.” H. H. Rowley does not think that the exact edible object can be identified. The idea of the slimy glaring white around the yolk of an egg seems to fit best. This is another illustration of something that is tasteless or insipid.

[6:7]  ¹⁰ tn The traditional rendering of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) is “my soul.” But since נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) means the whole person, body and soul, it is best to translate it with its suffix simply as an emphatic pronoun.

[6:7]  ¹¹ tn For the explanation of the perfect verb with its completed action in the past and its remaining effects, see GKC 311 §106.g.

[6:7]  ¹² tn The phrase “such things” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied.

[6:7]  ¹³ tn The second colon of the verse is difficult. The word דְּוֵי (dÿve) means “sickness of” and yields a meaning “like the sickness of my food.” This could take the derived sense of דָּוָה (davah) and mean “impure” or “corrupt” food. The LXX has “for I loathe my food as the smell of a lion” and so some commentators emend “they” (which has no clear antecedent) to mean “I loathe it [like the sickness of my food].” Others have more freely emended the text to “my palate loathes my food” (McNeile) or “my bowels resound with suffering” (I. Eitan, “An unknown meaning of RAHAMIÝM,” JBL 53 [1934]: 271). Pope has “they are putrid as my flesh [= my meat].” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 159) prefers the suggestion in BHS, “it [my soul] loathes them as my food.” E. Dhorme (Job, 80) repoints the second word of the colon to get כְּבֹדִי (kÿvodi, “my glory”): “my heart [glory] loathes/is sickened by my bread.”

[6:9]  ¹⁴ tn The verb יָאַל (ya’al) in the Hiphil means “to be willing, to consent, to decide.” It is here the jussive followed by the dependent verb with a (ו) vav: “that God would be willing and would crush me” means “to crush me.” Gesenius, however, says that the conjunction introduces coordination rather than subordination; he says the principal idea is introduced in the second verb, the first verb containing the definition of the manner of the action (see GKC 386 §120.d).

[6:9]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is used for loosening shoe straps in Isa 58:6, and of setting prisoners free in Pss 105:20 and 146:7. Job thinks that God’s hand has been restrained for some reason, and so desires that God be free to destroy him.

[6:9]  ¹⁶ tn The final verb is an imperfect (or jussive) following the jussive (of נָתַר, natar); it thus expresses the result (“and then” or “so that”) or the purpose (“in order that”). Job longs for death, but it must come from God.

[6:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and cut me off.” The LXX reads this verse as “Let the Lord begin and wound me, but let him not utterly destroy me.” E. Dhorme (Job, 81) says the LXX is a paraphrase based on a pun with “free hand.” Targum Job has, “God has begun to make me poor; may he free his hand and make me rich,” apparently basing the reading on a metaphorical interpretation.

[6:16]  ¹⁸ tn The article on the participle joins this statement to the preceding noun; it can have the sense of “they” or “which.” The parallel sense then can be continued with a finite verb (see GKC 404 §126.b).

[6:16]  ¹⁹ tn The participle הַקֹּדְרים (haqqodÿrim), often rendered “which are black,” would better be translated “dark,” for it refers to the turbid waters filled with melting ice or melting snow, or to the frozen surface of the water, but not waters that are muddied. The versions failed to note that this referred to the waters introduced in v. 15.

[6:16]  ²⁰ tn The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit’allem) has been translated “is hid” or “hides itself.” But this does not work easily in the sentence with the preposition “upon them.” Torczyner suggested “pile up” from an Aramaic root עֲלַם (’alam), and E. Dhorme (Job, 87) defends it without changing the text, contending that the form we have was chosen for alliterative value with the prepositional phrase before it.

[6:16]  ²¹ tn The LXX paraphrases the whole verse: “They who used to reverence me now come against me like snow or congealed ice.”

[6:18]  ²² tn This is the usual rendering of the Hebrew אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot, “way, path”). It would mean that the course of the wadi would wind down and be lost in the sand. Many commentators either repoint the text to אֹרְחוֹת (’orÿkhot) when in construct (as in Isa 21:13), or simply redefine the existing word to mean “caravans” as in the next verse, and translate something like “caravans deviate from their route.” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 160-61) allows that “caravans” will be introduced in the next verse, but urges retention of the usual sense here. The two verses together will yield the same idea in either case – the river dries up and caravans looking for the water deviate from their course looking for it.

[6:18]  ²³ tn The verb literally means “to go up,” but here no real ascent is intended for the wasteland. It means that they go inland looking for the water. The streams wind out into the desert and dry up in the sand and the heat. A. B. Davidson (Job, 47) notes the difficulty with the interpretation of this verse as a reference to caravans is that Ibn Ezra says that it is not usual for caravans to leave their path and wander inland in search of water.

[6:18]  ²⁴ tn The word תֹּהוּ (tohu) was used in Genesis for “waste,” meaning without shape or structure. Here the term refers to the trackless, unending wilderness (cf. 12:24).

[6:18]  ²⁵ sn If the term “paths” (referring to the brook) is the subject, then this verb would mean it dies in the desert; if caravaneers are intended, then when they find no water they perish. The point in the argument would be the same in either case. Job is saying that his friends are like this water, and he like the caravaneer was looking for refreshment, but found only that the brook had dried up.

[6:20]  ²⁶ tn The verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh) basically means “to be ashamed”; however, it has a wider range of meaning such as “disappointed” or “distressed.” The feeling of shame or distress is because of their confidence that they knew what they were doing. The verb is strengthened here with the parallel חָפַר (khafar, “to be confounded, disappointed”).

[6:20]  ²⁷ tn The perfect verb has the nuance of past perfect here, for their confidence preceded their disappointment. Note the contrast, using these verbs, in Ps 22:6: “they trusted in you and they were not put to shame [i.e., disappointed].”

[6:20]  ²⁸ tn The LXX misread the prepositional phrase as the noun “their cities”; it gives the line as “They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.”

[6:21]  ²⁹ tn There is a textual problem in this line, an issue of Kethib-Qere. Some read the form with the Qere as the preposition with a suffix referring to “the river,” with the idea “you are like it.” Others would read the form with the Kethib as the negative “not,” meaning “for now you are nothing.” The LXX and the Syriac read the word as “to me.” RSV follows this and changes כִּי (ki, “for”) to כֵּן (ken, “thus”). However, such an emendation is unnecessary since כִּי (ki) itself can be legitimately employed as an emphatic particle. In that case, the translation would be, “Indeed, now you are” in the sense of “At this time you certainly are behaving like those streams.” The simplest reading is “for now you have become [like] it.” The meaning seems clear enough in the context that the friends, like the river, proved to be of no use. But D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 161) points out that the difficulty with this is that all references so far to the rivers have been in the plural.

[6:21]  ³⁰ tn The perfect of הָיָה (hayah) could be translated as either “are” or “have been” rather than “have become” (cf. Joüon 2:373 §113.p with regard to stative verbs). “Like it” refers to the intermittent stream which promises water but does not deliver. The LXX has a paraphrase: “But you also have come to me without pity.”

[6:21]  ³¹ tn The word חֲתַת (khatat) is a hapax legomenon. The word חַת (khat) means “terror” in 41:25. The construct form חִתַּת (khittat) is found in Gen 35:5; and חִתִּית (khittit) is found in Ezek 26:17, 32:23). The Akkadian cognate means “terror.” It probably means that in Job’s suffering they recognized some dreaded thing from God and were afraid to speak any sympathy toward him.

[6:26]  ³² tn This, in the context, is probably the meaning, although the Hebrew simply has the line after the first half of the verse read: “and as/to wind the words of a despairing man.” The line could be translated “and the words of a despairing man, [which are] as wind.” But this translation follows the same approach as RSV, NIV, and NAB, which take the idiom of the verb (“think, imagine”) with the preposition on “wind” to mean “reckon as wind” – “and treat the words of a despairing man as wind.”

[8:13]  ³³ tn The word אָרְחוֹת (’orkhot) means “ways” or “paths” in the sense of tracks of destiny or fate. The word דֶּרֶךְ (derekh, “way, road, path”) is used in a similar way (Isa 40:27; Ps 37:5). However, many commentators emend the text to read אַחֲרִית (’akharit, “end”) in harmony with the LXX. But Prov 1:19 (if not emended as well) confirms the primary meaning here without changing the text (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 199).

[8:13]  ³⁴ tn The word חָנֵף (khanef) is often translated “hypocrite.” But the root verb means “to be profane,” and this would be done by idolatry or bloodshed. It describes an irreligious person, a godless person. In Dan 11:32 the word seems to mean “make someone pagan.” The word in this verse is parallel to “those who forget God.”

[12:25]  ³⁵ tn The word is an adverbial accusative.

[12:25]  ³⁶ tn The verb is the same that was in v. 24, “He makes them [the leaders still] wander” (the Hiphil of תָּעָה, ta’ah). But in this passage some commentators emend the text to a Niphal of the verb and put it in the plural, to get the reading “they reel to and fro.” But even if the verse closes the chapter and there is no further need for a word of divine causation, the Hiphil sense works well here – causing people to wander like a drunken man would be the same as making them stagger.

[13:28]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and he.” Some of the commentators move the verse and put it after Job 14:2, 3 or 6.

[13:28]  ³⁸ tn The word רָקָב (raqav) is used elsewhere in the Bible of dry rot in a house, or rotting bones in a grave. It is used in parallelism with “moth” both here and in Hos 5:12. The LXX has “like a wineskin.” This would be from רֹקֶב (roqev, “wineskin”). This word does not occur in the Hebrew Bible, but is attested in Sir 43:20 and in Aramaic. The change is not necessary.

[14:9]  ³⁹ tn The personification adds to the comparison with people – the tree is credited with the sense of smell to detect the water.

[14:9]  ⁴⁰ tn The sense of “flourish” for this verb is found in Ps 92:12,13[13,14], and Prov 14:11. It makes an appropriate parallel with “bring forth boughs” in the second half.

[14:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and will make.”

[15:24]  ⁴² tn If “day and darkness” are added to this line, then this verse is made into a tri-colon – the main reason for transferring it away from the last verse. But the newly proposed reading follows the LXX structure precisely, as if that were the approved construction. The Hebrew of MT has “distress and anguish terrify him.”

[15:24]  ⁴³ tn This last colon is deleted by some, moved to v. 26 by others, and the NEB puts it in brackets. The last word (translated here as “launch an attack”) occurs only here. HALOT 472 s.v. כִּידוֹר links it to an Arabic root kadara, “to rush down,” as with a bird of prey. J. Reider defines it as “perturbation” from the same root (“Etymological Studies in Biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127).

[15:26]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “he runs against [or upon] him with the neck.” The RSV takes this to mean “with a stiff neck.” Several commentators, influenced by the LXX’s “insolently,” have attempted to harmonize with some idiom for neck (“outstretched neck,” for example). Others have made more extensive changes. Pope and Anderson follow Tur-Sinai in accepting “with full battle armor.” But the main idea seems to be that of a headlong assault on God.

[15:26]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “with the thickness of the bosses of his shield.” The bosses are the convex sides of the bucklers, turned against the foe. This is a defiant attack on God.

[19:24]  ⁴⁶ sn There is some question concerning the use of the lead. It surely cannot be a second description of the tool, for a lead tool would be of no use in chiseling words into a rock. It was Rashi’s idea, followed by Dillmann and Duhm, that lead was run into the cut-out letters. The suggestion that they wrote on lead tablets does not seem to fit the verse (cf. NIV). See further A. Baker, “The Strange Case of Job’s Chisel,” CBQ 31 (1969): 370-79.

[21:13]  ⁴⁷ tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).

[21:13]  ⁴⁸ tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.

[21:13]  ⁴⁹ tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.

[21:31]  ⁵⁰ tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”

[21:31]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.

[21:32]  ⁵² tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.

[21:32]  ⁵³ tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.

[22:16]  ⁵⁴ tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”

[22:16]  ⁵⁵ tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”

[22:16]  ⁵⁶ tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.

[22:16]  ⁵⁷ tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).

[22:16]  ⁵⁸ tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).

[22:16]  ⁵⁹ tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.

[23:17]  ⁶⁰ tn This is a very difficult verse. The Hebrew text literally says: “for I have not been destroyed because of darkness, and because of my face [which] gloom has covered.” Most commentators omit the negative adverb, which gives the meaning that Job is enveloped in darkness and reduced to terror. The verb נִצְמַתִּי (nitsmatti) means “I have been silent” (as in Arabic and Aramaic), and so obviously the negative must be retained – he has not been silent.

[24:23]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:23]  ⁶² tn The expression לָבֶטַח (lavetakh, “in security”) precedes the verb that it qualifies – God “allows him to take root in security.” For the meaning of the verb, see Job 8:15.

[24:23]  ⁶³ tn Heb “his eyes are on.”

[24:23]  ⁶⁴ sn The meaning of the verse is that God may allow the wicked to rest in comfort and security, but all the time he is watching them closely with the idea of bringing judgment on them.

[26:6]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ⁶⁷ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).

[30:29]  ⁶⁸ sn The point of this figure is that Job’s cries of lament are like the howls and screeches of these animals, not that he lives with them. In Job 39:13 the female ostrich is called “the wailer.”

[31:8]  ⁶⁹ tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).

[31:8]  ⁷⁰ tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.

[31:20]  ⁷¹ tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).

[31:20]  ⁷² tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”

[31:39]  ⁷³ tn Heb “without silver.”

[31:39]  ⁷⁴ tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.

[31:39]  ⁷⁵ tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).

[33:18]  ⁷⁶ tn A number of interpreters and translations take this as “the pit” (see Job 17:14; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:18]  ⁷⁷ tc Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from passing through [or over].” The word שֶׁלַח (shelakh) does at times refer to a weapon, but most commentators look for a parallel with “the pit [or corruption].” One suggestion is שְׁאוֹלָה (shÿ’olah, “to Sheol”), proposed by Duhm. Dhorme thought it was שַׁלַח (shalakh) and referred to the passageway to the underworld (see M. Tsevat, VT 4 [1954]: 43; and Svi Rin, BZ 7 [1963]: 25). See discussion of options in HALOT 1517-18 s.v. IV שֶׁלַח. The idea of crossing the river of death fits the idea of the passage well, although the reading “to perish by the sword” makes sense and was followed by the NIV.

[34:8]  ⁷⁸ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ⁷⁹ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ⁸⁰ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ⁸¹ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:30]  ⁸² tn This last verse is difficult because it is unbalanced and cryptic. Some have joined the third line of v. 29 with this entire verse to make a couplet. But the same result is achieved by simply regarding this verse as the purpose of v. 29. But there still are some words that must be added. In the first colon, “[he is over the nations]…preventing from ruling.” And in the second colon, “laying” has to be supplied before “snares.”

[34:35]  ⁸³ tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.

[34:35]  ⁸⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”

[38:7]  ⁸⁵ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ⁸⁶ tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ⁸⁸ tn See Job 1:6.

[38:9]  ⁸⁹ tn The temporal clause here uses the infinitive from שִׂים (sim, “to place; to put; to make”). It underscores the sovereign placing of things.

[38:9]  ⁹⁰ tn This noun is found only here. The verb is in Ezek 16:4, and a related noun is in Ezek 30:21.

[38:23]  ⁹¹ sn The terms translated war and battle are different Hebrew words, but both may be translated “war” or “battle” depending on the context.

[38:26]  ⁹² tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ⁹³ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”

[38:27]  ⁹⁴ 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”).

[38:38]  ⁹⁵ tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.

[42:14]  ⁹⁶ sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.”

[42:14]  ⁹⁷ sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.”

[42:14]  ⁹⁸ sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.”