Ayub 8:8

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ¹  generation,

and pay attention ²  to the findings ³ 

of their ancestors; ⁴ 

Ayub 9:34

9:34 who ⁵  would take his ⁶  rod ⁷  away from me

so that his terror ⁸  would not make me afraid.

Ayub 12:8

12:8 Or speak ⁹  to the earth ¹⁰  and it will teach you,

or let the fish of the sea declare to you.

Ayub 22:24

22:24 and throw ¹¹  your gold ¹²  in the dust –

your gold ¹³  of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

Ayub 30:6

30:6 so that they had to live ¹⁴ 

in the dry stream beds, ¹⁵ 

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

Ayub 31:6

31:6 let him ¹⁶  weigh me with honest ¹⁷  scales;

then God will discover ¹⁸  my integrity.

Ayub 36:24

36:24 Remember to extol ¹⁹  his work,

which people have praised in song.

Ayub 37:14

37:14 “Pay attention to this, Job!

Stand still and consider the wonders God works.

Ayub 40:10-11

40:10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,

and clothe yourself with glory and honor!

40:11 Scatter abroad ²⁰  the abundance ²¹  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ²²  and bring him low;

[8:8]  ¹ sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ² tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[9:34]  ⁵ tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ⁶ tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ⁷ sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ⁸ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[12:8]  ⁹ tn The word in the MT means “to complain,” not simply “to speak,” and one would expect animals as the object here in parallel to the last verse. So several commentators have replaced the word with words for animals or reptiles – totally different words (cf. NAB, “reptiles”). The RSV and NRSV have here the word “plants” (see 30:4, 7; and Gen 21:15).

[12:8]  ¹⁰ tn A. B. Davidson (Job, 90) offers a solution by taking “earth” to mean all the lower forms of life that teem in the earth (a metonymy of subject).

[22:24]  ¹¹ tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.

[22:24]  tn Heb “place.”

[22:24]  ¹² tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).

[22:24]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.

[30:6]  ¹⁴ tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).

[30:6]  ¹⁵ tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).

[31:6]  ¹⁶ tn “God” is undoubtedly the understood subject of this jussive. However, “him” is retained in the translation at this point to avoid redundancy since “God” occurs in the second half of the verse.

[31:6]  ¹⁷ tn The word צֶדֶךְ (tsedeq, “righteousness”) forms a fitting genitive for the scales used in trade or justice. The “scales of righteousness” are scales that conform to the standard (see the illustration in Deut 25:13-15). They must be honest scales to make just decisions.

[31:6]  ¹⁸ tn The verb is וְיֵדַע (vÿyeda’, “and [then] he [God] will know”). The verb could also be subordinated to the preceding jussive, “so that God may know.” The meaning of “to know” here has more the idea of “to come to know; to discover.”

[36:24]  ¹⁹ tn The expression is “that you extol,” serving as an object of the verb.

[40:11]  ²⁰ tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ²² tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.