Ayub 4:20

4:20 They are destroyed ¹  between morning and evening; ² 

they perish forever ³  without anyone regarding it. ⁴ 

Ayub 5:26

5:26 You will come to your grave in a full age, ⁵ 

As stacks of grain are harvested in their season.

Ayub 8:19

8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way, ⁶ 

and out of the earth ⁷  others spring up. ⁸ 

Ayub 9:26

9:26 They glide by ⁹  like reed ¹⁰  boats,

like an eagle that swoops ¹¹  down on its prey. ¹² 

Ayub 22:3

22:3 Is it of any special benefit ¹³  to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless? ¹⁴ 

Ayub 22:15

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ¹⁵ 

that evil men have walked –

Ayub 22:28

22:28 Whatever you decide ¹⁶  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

Ayub 34:15

34:15 all flesh would perish together

and human beings would return to dust.

Ayub 35:2

35:2 “Do you think this to be ¹⁷  just:

when ¹⁸  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ¹⁹ 

[4:20]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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).

[5:26]  ⁵ tn The word translated “in a full age” has been given an array of meanings: “health; integrity”; “like a new blade of corn”; “in your strength [or vigor].” The numerical value of the letters in the word בְכֶלָח (bÿkhelakh, “in old age”) was 2, 20, 30, and 8, or 60. This led some of the commentators to say that at 60 one would enter the ripe old age (E. Dhorme, Job, 73).

[8:19]  ⁶ tn This line is difficult. If the MT stands as it is, the expression must be ironic. It would be saying that the joy (all the security and prosperity) of its way (its life) is short-lived – that is the way its joy goes. Most commentators are not satisfied with this. Dhorme, for one, changes מְשׂוֹשׂ (mÿsos, “joy”) to מְסוֹס (mÿsos, “rotting”), and gets “behold him lie rotting on the path.” The sibilants can interchange this way. But Dhorme thinks the MT was written the way it was because the word was thought to be “joy,” when it should have been the other way. The word “way” then becomes an accusative of place. The suggestion is rather compelling and would certainly fit the context. The difficulty is that a root סוּס (sus, “to rot”) has to be proposed. E. Dhorme does this by drawing on Arabic sas, “to be eaten by moths or worms,” thus “worm-eaten; decaying; rotting.” Cf. NIV “its life withers away”; also NAB “there he lies rotting beside the road.”

[8:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “dust.”

[8:19]  ⁸ sn As with the tree, so with the godless man – his place will soon be taken by another.

[9:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “they flee.”

[9:26]  ¹⁰ tn The word אֵבֶה (’eveh) means “reed, papyrus,” but it is a different word than was in 8:11. What is in view here is a light boat made from bundles of papyrus that glides swiftly along the Nile (cf. Isa 18:2 where papyrus vessels and swiftness are associated).

[9:26]  ¹¹ tn The verb יָטוּשׂ (yatus) is also a hapax legomenon; the Aramaic cognate means “to soar; to hover in flight.” The sentence here requires the idea of swooping down while in flight.

[9:26]  ¹² tn Heb “food.”

[22:3]  ¹³ tn The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.

[22:3]  ¹⁴ tn The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.

[22:15]  ¹⁵ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[22:28]  ¹⁶ tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[35:2]  ¹⁷ tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ¹⁸ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ¹⁹ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”