Ayub 7:10

7:10 He returns no more to his house,

nor does his place of residence ¹  know him ²  any more.

Ayub 9:2

9:2 “Truly, ³  I know that this is so.

But how ⁴  can a human ⁵  be just before ⁶  God? ⁷ 

Ayub 10:10

10:10 Did you not pour ⁸  me out like milk,

and curdle ⁹  me like cheese? ¹⁰ 

Ayub 13:5

13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! ¹¹ 

For you, that would be wisdom. ¹² 

Ayub 14:4

14:4 Who can make ¹³  a clean thing come from an unclean? ¹⁴ 

No one!

Ayub 41:17

41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; ¹⁵ 

they cling together and cannot be separated.

Ayub 41:23

41:23 The folds ¹⁶  of its flesh are tightly joined;

they are firm on it, immovable. ¹⁷ 

[7:10]  ¹ tn M. Dahood suggests the meaning is the same as “his abode” (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography V,” Bib 48 [1967]: 421-38).

[7:10]  ² tn The verb means “to recognize” by seeing. “His place,” the place where he was living, is the subject of the verb. This personification is intended simply to say that the place where he lived will not have him any more. The line is very similar to Ps 103:16b – when the wind blows the flower away, its place knows it no more.

[9:2]  ³ tn The adverb אָמְנָם (’omnam, “in truth”) is characteristic of the Book of Job (12:2; 19:4; 34:12; 36:4). The friends make commonplace statements, general truths, and Job responds with “truly I know this is so.” Job knows as much about these themes as his friends do.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn The interrogative is used to express what is an impossibility.

[9:2]  ⁵ tn The attempt to define אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) as “weak” or “mortal” man is not compelling. Such interpretations are based on etymological links without the clear support of usage (an issue discussed by J. Barr, Comparative Philology and the Text of the Old Testament). This seems to be a poetic word for “human” (the only nonpoetic use is in 2 Chr 14:10).

[9:2]  ⁶ tn The preposition is אִם (’im, “with, before, in the presence of”). This is more specific than מִן (min) in 4:17.

[9:2]  ⁷ sn The point of Job’s rhetorical question is that man cannot be justified as against God, because God is too powerful and too clever – he controls the universe. He is discussing now the question that Eliphaz raised in 4:17. Peake observes that Job is raising the question of whether something is right because God says it is right, or that God declares it right because it is right.

[10:10]  ⁸ tn The verb נָתַךְ (natakh) means “to flow,” and in the Hiphil, “to cause to flow.”

[10:10]  ⁹ tn This verb קָפָא (qafa’) means “to coagulate.” In the Hiphil it means “to stiffen; to congeal.”

[10:10]  ¹⁰ tn The verbs in v. 10 are prefixed conjugations; since the reference is to the womb, these would need to be classified as preterites.

[10:10]  sn These verses figuratively describe the formation of the embryo in the womb.

[13:5]  ¹¹ tn The construction is the imperfect verb in the wish formula preceded by the infinitive that intensifies it. The Hiphil is not directly causative here, but internally – “keep silent.”

[13:5]  ¹² tn The text literally reads, “and it would be for you for wisdom,” or “that it would become your wisdom.” Job is rather sarcastic here, indicating if they shut up they would prove themselves to be wise (see Prov 17:28).

[14:4]  ¹³ tn The expression is מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”; see GKC 477 §151.b). Some commentators (H. H. Rowley and A. B. Davidson) wish to take this as the optative formula: “O that a clean might come out of an unclean!” But that does not fit the verse very well, and still requires the addition of a verb. The exclamation here simply implies something impossible – man is unable to attain purity.

[14:4]  ¹⁴ sn The point being made is that the entire human race is contaminated by sin, and therefore cannot produce something pure. In this context, since man is born of woman, it is saying that the woman and the man who is brought forth from her are impure. See Ps 51:5; Isa 6:5; and Gen 6:5.

[41:17]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “a man with his brother.”

[41:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “fallings.”

[41:23]  ¹⁷ tn The last clause says “it cannot be moved.” But this part will function adverbially in the sentence.