Ayub 9:16

9:16 If I summoned him, and he answered me, ¹ 

I would not believe ² 

that he would be listening to my voice –

Ayub 20:7

20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; ³ 

those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’

Ayub 34:25

34:25 Therefore, he knows their deeds,

he overthrows them ⁴  in the night ⁵ 

and they are crushed.

[9:16]  ¹ sn The idea of “answer” in this line is that of responding to the summons, i.e., appearing in court. This preterite and the perfect before it have the nuance of hypothetical perfects since they are in conditional clauses (GKC 330 §111.x). D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 219) translates literally, “If I should call and he should answer.”

[9:16]  ² tn The Hiphil imperfect in the apodosis of this conditional sentence expresses what would (not) happen if God answered the summons.

[20:7]  ³ tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.

[34:25]  ⁴ tn The direct object “them” is implied and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:25]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term “night” is an accusative of time.