Ayub 7:17

Insignificance of Humans

7:17 “What is mankind ¹  that you make so much of them, ² 

and that you pay attention ³  to them?

Ayub 11:2

11:2 “Should not this ⁴  abundance of words be answered, ⁵ 

or should this ⁶  talkative man ⁷ 

be vindicated? ⁸ 

Ayub 15:3

15:3 Does he argue ⁹  with useless ¹⁰  talk,

with words that have no value in them?

Ayub 15:8

15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? ¹¹ 

Do you limit ¹²  wisdom to yourself?

Ayub 27:9

27:9 Does God listen to his cry

when distress overtakes him?

Ayub 38:28

38:28 Does the rain have a father,

or who has fathered the drops of the dew?

[7:17]  ¹ tn The verse is a rhetorical question; it is intended to mean that man is too little for God to be making so much over him in all this.

[7:17]  ² tn The Piel verb is a factitive meaning “to magnify.” The English word “magnify” might not be the best translation here, for God, according to Job, is focusing inordinately on him. It means to magnify in thought, appreciate, think highly of. God, Job argues, is making too much of mankind by devoting so much bad attention on them.

[7:17]  ³ tn The expression “set your heart on” means “concentrate your mind on” or “pay attention to.”

[11:2]  ⁴ tc The LXX, Targum Job, Symmachus, and Vulgate all assume that the vocalization of רֹב (rov, “abundance”) should be רַב (rav, “great”): “great of words.” This would then mean “one who is abundant of words,” meaning, “a man of many words,” and make a closer parallel to the second half. But the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[11:2]  tn There is no article or demonstrative with the word; it has been added here simply to make a smoother connection between the chapters.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn The Niphal verb יֵעָנֶה (ye’aneh, “he answered”) would normally require a personal subject, but “abundance” functions as the subject in this sentence. The nuance of the imperfect is obligatory.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn The word is supplied here also for clarification.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn The bound construction “man of lips” means “a boaster” or “proud talker” (attributive genitive; and see GKC 417 §128.t). Zophar is saying that Job pours out this stream of words, but he is still not right.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn The word is literally “be right, righteous.” The idea of being right has appeared before for this word (cf. 9:15). The point here is that just because Job talks a lot does not mean he is right or will be shown to be right through it all.

[15:3]  ⁹ tn The infinitive absolute in this place is functioning either as an explanatory adverb or as a finite verb.

[15:3]  sn Eliphaz draws on Job’s claim with this word (cf. Job 13:3), but will declare it hollow.

[15:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verb סָכַן (sakhan) means “to be useful, profitable.” It is found 5 times in the book with this meaning. The Hiphil of יָעַל (ya’al) has the same connotation. E. LipinÃski offers a new meaning on a second root, “incur danger” or “run risks” with words, but this does not fit the parallelism (FO 21 [1980]: 65-82).

[15:8]  ¹¹ tn The meaning of סוֹד (sod) is “confidence.” In the context the implication is “secret counsel” of the Lord God (see Jer 23:18). It is a question of confidence on the part of God, that only wisdom can know (see Prov 8:30,31). Job seemed to them to claim to have access to the mind of God.

[15:8]  ¹² tn In v. 4 the word meant “limit”; here it has a slightly different sense, namely, “to reserve for oneself.”