Ayub 36:13-15

36:13 The godless at heart ¹  nourish anger, ² 

they do not cry out even when he binds them.

36:14 They die ³  in their youth,

and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes. ⁴ 

36:15 He delivers the afflicted by ⁵  their ⁶  afflictions,

he reveals himself to them ⁷  by their suffering.

[36:13]  ¹ tn The expression “godless [or hypocrite] in heart” is an intensification of the description. It conveys that they are intentionally godless. See Matt 23:28.

[36:13]  ² tn Heb “they put anger.” This is usually interpreted to mean they lay up anger, or put anger in their hearts.

[36:14]  ³ tn The text expresses this with “their soul dies.”

[36:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “among the male prostitutes” who were at the temple – the “holy ones,” with “holy” being used in that sense of “separated to that form of temple service.” So uncleanness and shame are some of the connotations of the reference. Some modern translations give the general sense only: “their life ends in shame” (NRSV); “and perish among the reprobate” (NAB); “die…after wasting their lives in immoral living” (NLT).

[36:15]  ⁵ tn The preposition בּ (bet) in these two lines is not location but instrument, not “in” but “by means of.” The affliction and the oppression serve as a warning for sin, and therefore a means of salvation.

[36:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “his.”

[36:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “he uncovers their ear.”