Ayub 6:15

6:15 My brothers ¹  have been as treacherous ²  as a seasonal stream, ³ 

and as the riverbeds of the intermittent streams ⁴ 

that flow away. ⁵ 

Ayub 8:11

8:11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall ⁶  where there is no marsh?

Can reeds flourish ⁷  without water?

Ayub 12:24

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth ⁸ 

of their understanding; ⁹ 

he makes them wander

in a trackless desert waste. ¹⁰ 

Ayub 24:18

24:18 ¹¹ “You say, ¹²  ‘He is foam ¹³  on the face of the waters; ¹⁴ 

their portion of the land is cursed

so that no one goes to their vineyard. ¹⁵ 

Ayub 28:4

28:4 Far from where people live ¹⁶  he sinks a shaft,

in places travelers have long forgotten, ¹⁷ 

far from other people he dangles and sways. ¹⁸ 

Ayub 31:40

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!” ¹⁹ 

The words of Job are ended.

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 ²⁰  the water jars of heaven,

Ayub 39:10

39:10 Can you bind the wild ox ²¹  to a furrow with its rope,

will it till the valleys, following after you?

[6:15]  ¹ sn Here the brothers are all his relatives as well as these intimate friends of Job. In contrast to what a friend should do (show kindness/loyalty), these friends have provided no support whatsoever.

[6:15]  ² tn The verb בָּגְדוּ (bagÿdu, “dealt treacherously) has been translated “dealt deceitfully,” but it is a very strong word. It means “to act treacherously [or deceitfully].” The deception is the treachery, because the deception is not innocent – it is in the place of a great need. The imagery will compare it to the brook that may or may not have water. If one finds no water when one expected it and needed it, there is deception and treachery. The LXX softens it considerably: “have not regarded me.”

[6:15]  ³ tn The Hebrew term used here is נָחַל (nakhal); this word differs from words for rivers or streams in that it describes a brook with an intermittent flow of water. A brook where the waters are not flowing is called a deceitful brook (Jer 15:18; Mic 1:14); one where the waters flow is called faithful (Isa 33:16).

[6:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and as a stream bed of brooks/torrents.” The word אָפִיק (’afiq) is the river bed or stream bed where the water flows. What is more disconcerting than finding a well-known torrent whose bed is dry when one expects it to be gushing with water (E. Dhorme, Job, 86)?

[6:15]  ⁵ tn The verb is rather simple – יַעֲבֹרוּ (ya’avoru). But some translate it “pass away” or “flow away,” and others “overflow.” In the rainy season they are deep and flowing, or “overflow” their banks. This is a natural sense to the verb, and since the next verse focuses on this, some follow this interpretation (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 15). But this idea does not parallel the first part of v. 15. So it makes better sense to render it “flow away” and see the reference to the summer dry spells when one wants the water but is disappointed.

[8:11]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The two verbs, גָּאָה (ga’ah) and שָׂגָה (sagah), have almost the same meanings of “flourish, grow, become tall.”

[12:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”

[12:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “heart.”

[12:24]  ¹⁰ tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).

[24:18]  ¹¹ tc Many commentators find vv. 18-24 difficult on the lips of Job, and so identify this unit as a misplaced part of the speech of Zophar. They describe the enormities of the wicked. But a case can also be made for retaining it in this section. Gordis thinks it could be taken as a quotation by Job of his friends’ ideas.

[24:18]  ¹² tn The verb “say” is not in the text; it is supplied here to indicate that this is a different section.

[24:18]  ¹³ tn Or “is swift.”

[24:18]  ¹⁴ sn The wicked person is described here as a spray or foam upon the waters, built up in the agitation of the waters but dying away swiftly.

[24:18]  ¹⁵ tn The text reads, “he does not turn by the way of the vineyards.” This means that since the land is cursed, he/one does not go there. Bickell emended “the way of the vineyards” to “the treader of the vineyard” (see RSV, NRSV). This would mean that “no wine-presser would turn towards” their vineyards.

[28:4]  ¹⁶ tc The first part of this verse, “He cuts a shaft far from the place where people live,” has received a lot of attention. The word for “live” is גָּר (gar). Some of the proposals are: “limestone,” on the basis of the LXX; “far from the light,” reading נֵר (ner); “by a foreign people,” taking the word to means “foreign people”; “a foreign people opening shafts”; or taking gar as “crater” based on Arabic. Driver puts this and the next together: “a strange people who have been forgotten cut shafts” (see AJSL 3 [1935]: 162). L. Waterman had “the people of the lamp” (“Note on Job 28:4,” JBL 71 [1952]: 167ff). And there are others. Since there is really no compelling argument in favor of one of these alternative interpretations, the MT should be preserved until shown to be wrong.

[28:4]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “forgotten by the foot.” This means that there are people walking above on the ground, and the places below, these mines, are not noticed by the pedestrians above.

[28:4]  ¹⁸ sn This is a description of the mining procedures. Dangling suspended from a rope would be a necessary part of the job of going up and down the shafts.

[31:40]  ¹⁹ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.

[38:37]  ²⁰ tn The word actually means “to cause to lie down.”

[39:10]  ²¹ tn Some commentators think that the addition of the “wild ox” here is a copyist’s error, making the stich too long. They therefore delete it. Also, binding an animal to the furrow with ropes is unusual. So with a slight emendation Kissane came up with “Will you bind him with a halter of cord?” While the MT is unusual, the sense is understandable, and no changes, even slight ones, are absolutely necessary.