Ayub 9:17

9:17 he who ¹  crushes ²  me with a tempest,

and multiplies my wounds for no reason. ³ 

Ayub 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ⁴ 

lives but a few days, ⁵  and they are full of trouble. ⁶ 

Ayub 15:26

15:26 defiantly charging against him ⁷ 

with a thick, strong shield! ⁸ 

Ayub 18:10

18:10 A rope is hidden for him ⁹  on the ground

and a trap for him ¹⁰  lies on the path.

Ayub 35:4

35:4 I ¹¹  will reply to you, ¹² 

and to your friends with you.

Ayub 38:27

38:27 to satisfy a devastated and desolate land,

and to cause it to sprout with vegetation? ¹³ 

[9:17]  ¹ tn The relative pronoun indicates that this next section is modifying God, the Judge. Job does not believe that God would respond or listen to him, because this is the one who is crushing him.

[9:17]  ² tn The verb יְשׁוּפֵנִי (yÿshufeni) is the same verb that is used in Gen 3:15 for the wounding of the serpent. The Targum to Job, the LXX, and the Vulgate all translate it “to crush; to pound,” or “to bruise.” The difficulty for many exegetes is that this is to be done “with a tempest.” The Syriac and Targum Job see a different vocalization and read “with a hair.” The text as it stands is understandable and so no change is needed. The fact that the word “tempest” is written with a different sibilant in other places in Job is not greatly significant in this consideration.

[9:17]  ³ tn חִנָּם (khinnam) is adverbial, meaning “gratuitously, without a cause, for no reason, undeservedly.” See its use in 2:4.

[14:1]  ⁴ tn The first of the threefold apposition for אָדָם (’adam, “man”) is “born of a woman.” The genitive (“woman”) after a passive participle denotes the agent of the action (see GKC 359 §116.l).

[14:1]  ⁵ tn The second description is simply “[is] short of days.” The meaning here is that his life is short (“days” being put as the understatement for “years”).

[14:1]  ⁶ tn The third expression is “consumed/full/sated – with/of – trouble/restlessness.” The latter word, רֹגֶז (rogez), occurred in Job 3:17; see also the idea in 10:15.

[15:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “he runs against [or upon] him with the neck.” The RSV takes this to mean “with a stiff neck.” Several commentators, influenced by the LXX’s “insolently,” have attempted to harmonize with some idiom for neck (“outstretched neck,” for example). Others have made more extensive changes. Pope and Anderson follow Tur-Sinai in accepting “with full battle armor.” But the main idea seems to be that of a headlong assault on God.

[15:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “with the thickness of the bosses of his shield.” The bosses are the convex sides of the bucklers, turned against the foe. This is a defiant attack on God.

[18:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “his rope.” The suffix must be a genitive expressing that the trap was for him, to trap him, and so an objective genitive.

[18:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his trap.” The pronominal suffix is objective genitive here as well.

[35:4]  ¹¹ tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.

[35:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.

[38:27]  ¹³ tn Heb “to cause to sprout a source of vegetation.” The word מֹצָא (motsa’) is rendered “mine” in Job 28:1. The suggestion with the least changes is Wright’s: צָמֵא (tsame’, “thirsty”). But others choose מִצִּיָּה (mitsiyyah, “from the steppe”).