Ayub 6:11

6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? ¹ 

and what is my end, ² 

that I should prolong my life?

Ayub 7:19

7:19 Will you never ³  look away from me, ⁴ 

will you not let me alone ⁵ 

long enough to swallow my spittle?

Ayub 16:3

16:3 Will ⁶  there be an end to your ⁷  windy words? ⁸ 

Or what provokes ⁹  you that you answer? ¹⁰ 

Ayub 38:36

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, ¹¹ 

or has imparted understanding to the mind?

[6:11]  ¹ sn Now, in vv. 11-13, Job proceeds to describe his hopeless condition. In so doing, he is continuing his defense of his despair and lament. The section begins with these rhetorical questions in which Job affirms that he does not have the strength to wait for the blessings that Eliphaz is talking about.

[6:11]  ² tn The word translated “my end” is קִצִּי (qitsi). It refers to the termination of his life. In Ps 39:5 it is parallel to “the measure of my days.” In a sense, Job is asking what future he has. To him, the “end” of his affliction can only be death.

[7:19]  ³ tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

[7:19]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

[7:19]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”

[16:3]  ⁶ tn Disjunctive questions are introduced with the sign of the interrogative; the second part is introduced with אוֹ (’o, see GKC 475 §150.g).

[16:3]  ⁷ tn In v. 3 the second person singular is employed rather than the plural as in vv. 2 and 4. The singular might be an indication that the words of v. 3 were directed at Eliphaz specifically.

[16:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “words of wind.”

[16:3]  ⁹ tn The Hiphil of מָרַץ (marats) does not occur anywhere else. The word means “to compel; to force” (see 6:25).

[16:3]  ¹⁰ tn The LXX seems to have gone a different way: “What, is there any reason in vain words, or what will hinder you from answering?”

[38:36]  ¹¹ tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature – clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.