Ayub 6:24

No Sin Discovered

6:24 “Teach ¹  me and I, for my part, ²  will be silent;

explain to me ³  how I have been mistaken. ⁴ 

Ayub 7:13

7:13 If ⁵  I say, ⁶  “My bed will comfort me, ⁷ 

my couch will ease ⁸  my complaint,”

Ayub 8:18

8:18 If he is uprooted ⁹  from his place,

then that place ¹⁰  will disown him, saying, ¹¹ 

‘I have never seen you!’

Ayub 9:27

9:27 If I say, ¹²  ‘I will ¹³  forget my complaint,

I will change my expression ¹⁴  and be cheerful,’ ¹⁵ 

Ayub 12:11

12:11 Does not the ear test words,

as ¹⁶  the tongue ¹⁷  tastes food? ¹⁸ 

Ayub 20:3

20:3 When ¹⁹  I hear a reproof that dishonors ²⁰  me,

then my understanding ²¹  prompts me to answer. ²² 

Ayub 33:32

33:32 If you have any words, ²³  reply to me;

speak, for I want to justify you. ²⁴ 

Ayub 36:21

36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested ²⁵  by affliction.

[6:24]  ¹ tn The verb “teach” or “instruct” is the Hiphil הוֹרוּנִי (horuni), from the verb יָרָה (yarah); the basic idea of “point, direct” lies behind this meaning. The verb is cognate to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “instruction, teaching, law”).

[6:24]  ² tn The independent personal pronoun makes the subject of the verb emphatic: “and I will be silent.”

[6:24]  ³ tn The verb is הָבִינוּ (havinu, “to cause someone to understand”); with the ל (lamed) following, it has the sense of “explain to me.”

[6:24]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁגָה (shagah) has the sense of “wandering, getting lost, being mistaken.”

[7:13]  ⁵ tn The particle כִּי (ki) could also be translated “when,” but “if” might work better to introduce the conditional clause and to parallel the earlier reasoning of Job in v. 4 (using אִם, ’im). See GKC 336-37 §112.hh.

[7:13]  ⁶ tn The verb literally means “say,” but here the connotation must be “think” or “say to oneself” – “when I think my bed….”

[7:13]  ⁷ sn Sleep is the recourse of the troubled and unhappy. Here “bed” is metonymical for sleep. Job expects sleep to give him the comfort that his friends have not.

[7:13]  ⁸ tn The verb means “to lift up; to take away” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). When followed by the preposition בּ (bet) with the complement of the verb, the idea is “to bear a part; to take a share,” or “to share in the burden” (cf. Num 11:7). The idea then would be that the sleep would ease the complaint. It would not end the illness, but the complaining for a while.

[8:18]  ⁹ tc Ball reads אֵל (’el, “God”) instead of אִם (’im, “if”): “God destroys it” – but there is no reason for this. The idea would be implied in the context. A. B. Davidson rightly points out that who destroys it is not important, but the fact that it is destroyed.

[8:18]  tn The Hebrew has “if one destroys it”; the indefinite subject allows for a passive interpretation. The verb means “swallow” in the Qal, but in the Piel it means “to engulf; to destroy; to ruin” (2:3; 10:8). It could here be rendered “removed from its place” (the place where it is rooted); since the picture is that of complete destruction, “uprooted” would be a good rendering.

[8:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “it”; the referent (“his place” in the preceding line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  sn The place where the plant once grew will deny ever knowing it. Such is the completeness of the uprooting that there is not a trace left.

[8:18]  ¹¹ tn Here “saying” is supplied in the translation.

[9:27]  ¹² tn The construction here uses the infinitive construct with a pronominal suffix – “if my saying” is this, or “if I say.” For the conditional clause using אִם (’im) with a noun clause, see GKC 496 §159.u.

[9:27]  ¹³ tn The verbal form is a cohortative of resolve: “I will forget” or “I am determined to forget.” The same will be used in the second colon of the verse.

[9:27]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will abandon my face,” i.e., change my expression. The construction here is unusual; G. R. Driver connected it to an Arabic word ‘adaba, “made agreeable” (IV), and so interpreted this line to mean “make my countenance pleasant” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 76). M. Dahood found a Ugaritic root meaning “make, arrange” (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 303-9), and said, “I will arrange my face.” But see H. G. Williamson, “A Reconsideration of `azab II in Ugaritic,” ZAW 87 (1985): 74-85; Williamson shows it is probably not a legitimate cognate. D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 219) observes that with all these suggestions there are too many homonyms for the root. The MT construction is still plausible.

[9:27]  ¹⁵ tn In the Hiphil of בָּלַג (balag) corresponds to Arabic balija which means “to shine” and “to be merry.” The shining face would signify cheerfulness and smiling. It could be translated “and brighten [my face].”

[12:11]  ¹⁶ tn The ו (vav) introduces the comparison here (see 5:7; 11:12); see GKC 499 §161.a.

[12:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the palate.”

[12:11]  ¹⁸ tn The final preposition with its suffix is to be understood as a pleonastic dativus ethicus and not translated (see GKC 439 §135.i).

[12:11]  sn In the rest of the chapter Job turns his attention away from creation to the wisdom of ancient men. In Job 13:1 when Job looks back to this part, he refers to both the eye and the ear. In vv. 13-25 Job refers to many catastrophes which he could not have seen, but must have heard about.

[20:3]  ¹⁹ tn There is no indication that this clause is to be subordinated to the next, other than the logical connection, and the use of the ו (vav) in the second half.

[20:3]  ²⁰ tn See Job 19:3.

[20:3]  ²¹ tn The phrase actually has רוּחַ מִבִּינָתִי (ruakh mibbinati, “a spirit/wind/breath/impulse from my understanding”). Some translate it “out of my understanding a spirit answers me.” The idea is not that difficult, and so the many proposals to rewrite the text can be rejected. The spirit of his understanding prompts the reply.

[20:3]  ²² tn To take this verb as a simple Qal and read it “answers me,” does not provide a clear idea. The form can just as easily be taken as a Hiphil, with the sense “causes me to answer.” It is Zophar who will “return” and who will “answer.”

[33:32]  ²³ tn Heb “if there are words.”

[33:32]  ²⁴ tn The infinitive construct serves as the complement or object of “I desire.” It could be rendered “to justify you” or “your justification, “namely, “that you be justified.”

[36:21]  ²⁵ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”