Ayub 6:22

Friends’ Fears

6:22 “Have I ¹  ever said, ²  ‘Give me something,

and from your fortune ³  make gifts ⁴  in my favor’?

Ayub 28:16

28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase ⁵  with the gold of Ophir,

with precious onyx ⁶  or sapphires.

Ayub 31:26

31:26 if I looked at the sun ⁷  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

Ayub 41:1

The Description of Leviathan

41:1 (40:25) ⁸  “Can you pull in ⁹  Leviathan with a hook,

and tie down ¹⁰  its tongue with a rope?

Ayub 41:3

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, ¹¹ 

will it speak to you with tender words? ¹² 

Ayub 41:7

41:7 Can you fill its hide with harpoons

or its head with fishing spears?

[6:22]  ¹ tn The Hebrew הֲכִי (hakhi) literally says “Is it because….”

[6:22]  ² sn For the next two verses Job lashes out in sarcasm against his friends. If he had asked for charity, for their wealth, he might have expected their cold response. But all he wanted was sympathy and understanding (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 63).

[6:22]  ³ tn The word כֹּחַ (koakh) basically means “strength, force”; but like the synonym חַיִל (khayil), it can also mean “wealth, fortune.” E. Dhorme notes that to the Semitic mind, riches bring power (Job, 90).

[6:22]  ⁴ tn Or “bribes.” The verb שִׁחֲדוּ (shikhadu) means “give a שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”).” The significance is simply “make a gift” (especially in the sense of corrupting an official [Ezek 16:33]). For the spelling of the form in view of the guttural, see GKC 169 §64.a.

[28:16]  ⁵ tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.

[28:16]  ⁶ tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”

[31:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[41:1]  ⁸ sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[41:1]  ⁹ tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.

[41:1]  ¹⁰ tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.

[41:3]  ¹¹ tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.

[41:3]  ¹² tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.