Ayub 38:40

38:40 when they crouch in their dens,

when they wait in ambush in the thicket?

Ayub 39:3

39:3 They crouch, they bear ¹  their young,

they bring forth the offspring they have carried. ² 

Ayub 39:23

39:23 On it the quiver rattles;

the lance and javelin ³  flash.

Ayub 39:29

39:29 From there it spots ⁴  its prey, ⁵ 

its eyes gaze intently from a distance.

Ayub 40:1

Job’s Reply to God’s Challenge

40:1 Then the Lord answered Job:

Ayub 40:3

40:3 Then Job answered the Lord:

Ayub 40:6

The Lord’s Second Speech ⁶ 

40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

Ayub 40:16

40:16 Look ⁷  at its strength in its loins,

and its power in the muscles of its belly.

Ayub 40:18

40:18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,

its limbs like bars of iron.

[39:3]  ¹ tc The Hebrew verb used here means “to cleave,” and this would not have the object “their young.” Olshausen and others after him change the ח (khet) to ט (tet) and get a verb “to drop,” meaning “drop [= give birth to] young” as used in Job 21:10. G. R. Driver holds out for the MT, arguing it is an idiom, “to breach the womb” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 92-93).

[39:3]  ² tn Heb “they cast forth their labor pains.” This word usually means “birth pangs” but here can mean what caused the pains (metonymy of effect). This fits better with the parallelism, and the verb (“cast forth”). The words “their offspring” are supplied in the translation for clarity; direct objects were often omitted when clear from the context, although English expects them to be included.

[39:23]  ³ tn This may be the scimitar (see G. Molin, “What is a kidon?” JSS 1 [1956]: 334-37).

[39:29]  ⁴ tn The word means “search,” but can be used for a wide range of matters, including spying.

[39:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “food.”

[40:6]  ⁶ sn The speech can be divided into three parts: the invitation to Job to assume the throne and rule the world (40:7-14), the description of Behemoth (40:15-24), and the description of Leviathan (41:1-34).

[40:16]  ⁷ tn In both of these verses הִנֶּה (hinneh, “behold”) has the deictic force (the word is from Greek δείκνυμι, deiknumi, “to show”). It calls attention to something by pointing it out. The expression goes with the sudden look, the raised eye, the pointing hand – “O look!”