Ayub 5:1

5:1 “Call now! ¹  Is there anyone who will answer you? ² 

To which of the holy ones ³  will you turn? ⁴ 

Ayub 9:16

9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me, ⁵ 

I would not believe ⁶ 

that he would be listening to my voice –

Ayub 17:14

17:14 If I cry ⁷  to corruption, ⁸  ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

Ayub 19:16

19:16 I summon ⁹  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ¹⁰  him with my own mouth.

Ayub 27:10

27:10 Will he find delight ¹¹  in the Almighty?

Will he call out to God at all times?

[5:1]  ¹ tn Some commentators transpose this verse with the following paragraph, placing it after v. 7 (see E. Dhorme, Job, 62). But the reasons for this are based on the perceived development of the argument and are not that compelling.

[5:1]  sn The imperative is here a challenge for Job. If he makes his appeal against God, who is there who will listen? The rhetorical questions are intended to indicate that no one will respond, not even the angels. Job would do better to realize that he is guilty and his only hope is in God.

[5:1]  ² tn The participle with the suffix could be given a more immediate translation to accompany the imperative: “Call now! Is anyone listening to you?”

[5:1]  ³ tn The LXX has rendered “holy ones” as “holy angels” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT). The LXX has interpreted the verb in the colon too freely: “if you will see.”

[5:1]  ⁴ sn The point being made is that the angels do not represent the cries of people to God as if mediating for them. But if Job appealed to any of them to take his case against God, there would be no response whatsoever for that.

[9:16]  ⁵ sn The idea of “answer” in this line is that of responding to the summons, i.e., appearing in court. This preterite and the perfect before it have the nuance of hypothetical perfects since they are in conditional clauses (GKC 330 §111.x). D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 219) translates literally, “If I should call and he should answer.”

[9:16]  ⁶ tn The Hiphil imperfect in the apodosis of this conditional sentence expresses what would (not) happen if God answered the summons.

[17:14]  ⁷ tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.

[17:14]  ⁸ tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.

[19:16]  ⁹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[27:10]  ¹¹ tn See the note on 22:26 where the same verb is employed.