Ayub 6:14

Disappointing Friends

6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness ¹  should come from his friend ² 

even if ³  he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

Ayub 8:11

8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall ⁴  where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish ⁵  without water?

Ayub 9:12

9:12 If he snatches away, ⁶  who can turn him back? ⁷ 

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Ayub 13:9

13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine ⁸  you?

Or as one deceives ⁹  a man would you deceive him?

Ayub 23:8

The Inaccessibility and Power of God

23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,

and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

Ayub 24:2

24:2 Men ¹⁰  move boundary stones;

they seize the flock and pasture them. ¹¹ 

Ayub 24:9

24:9 The fatherless child is snatched ¹²  from the breast, ¹³ 

the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. ¹⁴ 

Ayub 30:24

The Contrast With the Past

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man ¹⁵ 

when he cries for help in his distress. ¹⁶ 

Ayub 31:34

31:34 because I was terrified ¹⁷  of the great multitude, ¹⁸ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ¹⁹ 

Ayub 32:11

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; ²⁰ 

I listened closely to your wise thoughts, ²¹ while you were searching for words.

Ayub 34:32

34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. ²² 

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’

Ayub 34:34

34:34 Men of understanding say to me –

any wise man listening to me says –

Ayub 35:11

35:11 who teaches us ²³  more than ²⁴  the wild animals of the earth,

and makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?’

Ayub 36:26

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! ²⁵ 

The number of his years is unsearchable.

Ayub 38:25

38:25 Who carves out a channel for the heavy rains,

and a path for the rumble of thunder,

Ayub 38:37

38:37 Who by wisdom can count the clouds,

and who can tip over ²⁶  the water jars of heaven,

Ayub 39:1-2

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way ²⁷ 

the mountain goats ²⁸  give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,

and do you know the time they give birth? ²⁹ 

Ayub 39:21

39:21 It ³⁰  paws the ground in the valley, ³¹ 

exulting mightily, ³² 

it goes out to meet the weapons.

Ayub 40:5

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ³³ 

[6:14]  ¹ tn In this context חֶסֶד (khesed) could be taken as “loyalty” (“loyalty should be shown by his friend”).

[6:14]  ² tn The Hebrew of this verse is extremely difficult, and while there are many suggestions, none of them has gained a consensus. The first colon simply has “to the despairing // from his friend // kindness.” Several commentators prefer to change the first word לַמָּס (lammas, “to the one in despair”) to some sort of verb; several adopt the reading “the one who withholds/he withholds mercy from his friend forsakes….” The point of the first half of the verse seems to be that one should expect kindness (or loyalty) from a friend in times of suffering.

[6:14]  ³ tn The relationship of the second colon to the first is difficult. The line just reads literally “and the fear of the Almighty he forsakes.” The ו (vav) could be interpreted in several different ways: “else he will forsake…,” “although he forsakes…,” “even the one who forsakes…,” or “even if he forsakes…” – the reading adopted here. If the first colon receives the reading “His friend has scorned compassion,” then this clause would be simply coordinated with “and forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” The sense of the verse seems to say that kindness/loyalty should be shown to the despairing, even to the one who is forsaking the fear of the Lord, meaning, saying outrageous things, like Job has been doing.

[8:11]  ⁴ sn H. H. Rowley observes the use of the words for plants that grow in Egypt and suspects that Bildad either knew Egypt or knew that much wisdom came from Egypt. The first word refers to papyrus, which grows to a height of six feet (so the verb means “to grow tall; to grow high”). The second word refers to the reed grass that grows on the banks of the river (see Gen 41:2, 18).

[8:11]  ⁵ tn The two verbs, גָּאָה (ga’ah) and שָׂגָה (sagah), have almost the same meanings of “flourish, grow, become tall.”

[9:12]  ⁶ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 133) surveys the usages and concludes that the verb חָתַף (khataf) normally describes the wicked actions of a man, especially by treachery or trickery against another. But a verb חָתַף (khataf) is found nowhere else; a noun “robber” is found in Prov 23:28. Dhorme sees no reason to emend the text, because he concludes that the two verbs are synonymous. Job is saying that if God acts like a plunderer, there is no one who can challenge what he does.

[9:12]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect (potential again) from שׁוּב (shuv). In this stem it can mean “turn back, refute, repel” (BDB 999 s.v. Hiph.5).

[13:9]  ⁸ tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.

[13:9]  ⁹ tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.

[24:2]  ¹⁰ tn The line is short: “they move boundary stones.” So some commentators have supplied a subject, such as “wicked men.” The reason for its being wicked men is that to move the boundary stone was to encroach dishonestly on the lands of others (Deut 19:14; 27:17).

[24:2]  ¹¹ tc The LXX reads “and their shepherd.” Many commentators accept this reading. But the MT says that they graze the flocks that they have stolen. The difficulty with the MT reading is that there is no suffix on the final verb – but that is not an insurmountable difference.

[24:9]  ¹² tn The verb with no expressed subject is here again taken in the passive: “they snatch” becomes “[child] is snatched.”

[24:9]  ¹³ tn This word is usually defined as “violence; ruin.” But elsewhere it does mean “breast” (Isa 60:16; 66:11), and that is certainly what it means here.

[24:9]  ¹⁴ tc The MT has a very brief and strange reading: “they take as a pledge upon the poor.” This could be taken as “they take a pledge against the poor” (ESV). Kamphausen suggested that instead of עַל (’al, “against”) one should read עוּל (’ul, “suckling”). This is supported by the parallelism. “They take as pledge” is also made passive here.

[30:24]  ¹⁵ tc Here is another very difficult verse, as is attested by the differences among commentaries and translations. The MT has “surely not against a ruinous heap will he [God] put forth his [God’s] hand.” But A. B. Davidson takes Job as the subject, reading “does not one stretch out his hand in his fall?” The RSV suggests a man walking in the ruins and using his hand for support. Dillmann changed it to “drowning man” to say “does not a drowning man stretch out his hand?” Beer has “have I not given a helping hand to the poor?” Dhorme has, “I did not strike the poor man with my hand.” Kissane follows this but retains the verb form, “one does not strike the poor man with his hand.”

[30:24]  ¹⁶ tc The second colon is also difficult; it reads, “if in his destruction to them he cries.” E. Dhorme (Job, 425-26) explains how he thinks “to them” came about, and he restores “to me.” This is the major difficulty in the line, and Dhorme’s suggestion is the simplest resolution.

[31:34]  ¹⁷ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ¹⁹ sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

[32:11]  ²⁰ tn Heb “for your words.”

[32:11]  ²¹ tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.

[34:32]  ²² tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”

[35:11]  ²³ tn The form in the text, the Piel participle from אָלַף (’alaf, “teach”) is written in a contracted form; the full form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ (mÿ’allÿfenu).

[35:11]  ²⁴ tn Some would render this “teaches us by the beasts.” But Elihu is stressing the unique privilege humans have.

[36:26]  ²⁵ tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”

[38:37]  ²⁶ tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”

[39:1]  ²⁷ tn The text uses the infinitive as the object: “do you know the giving birth of?”

[39:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “ibex.”

[39:2]  ²⁹ tn Here the infinitive is again a substantive: “the time of their giving birth.”

[39:21]  ³⁰ tc The Hebrew text has a plural verb, “they paw.” For consistency and for stylistic reasons this is translated as a singular.

[39:21]  ³¹ tn The armies would prepare for battles that were usually fought in the valleys, and so the horse was ready to charge. But in Ugaritic the word `mk means “force” as well as “valley.” The idea of “force” would fit the parallelism here well (see M. Dahood, “Value of Ugaritic for textual criticism,” Bib 40 [1959]: 166).

[39:21]  ³² tn Or “in strength.”

[40:5]  ³³ tn Heb “I will not add.”