Ayub 9:32

9:32 For he ¹  is not a human being like I am,

that ²  I might answer him,

that we might come ³  together in judgment.

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 15:16

15:16 how much less man, who is abominable and corrupt, ⁹ 

who drinks in evil like water! ¹⁰ 

Ayub 32:13

32:13 So do not say, ¹¹  ‘We have found wisdom!

God will refute ¹²  him, not man!’

Ayub 34:11

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ¹³ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ¹⁴ 

Ayub 34:21

34:21 For his eyes are on the ways of an individual,

he observes all a person’s ¹⁵  steps.

Ayub 41:17

41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; ¹⁶ 

they cling together and cannot be separated.

[9:32]  ¹ tn The personal pronoun that would be expected as the subject of a noun clause is sometimes omitted (see GKC 360 §116.s). Here it has been supplied.

[9:32]  ² tn The consecutive clause is here attached without the use of the ו (vav), but only by simple juxtaposition (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[9:32]  ³ tn The sense of the verb “come” with “together in judgment” means “to confront one another in court.” See Ps 143:2.

[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.

[15:16]  ⁹ tn The two descriptions here used are “abominable,” meaning “disgusting” (a Niphal participle with the value of a Latin participle [see GKC 356-57 §116.e]), and “corrupt” (a Niphal participle which occurs only in Pss 14:3 and 53:4), always in a moral sense. On the significance of the first description, see P. Humbert, “Le substantif toáe„ba„ et le verbe táb dans l’Ancien Testament,” ZAW 72 [1960]: 217ff.). On the second word, G. R. Driver suggests from Arabic, “debauched with luxury, corrupt” (“Some Hebrew Words,” JTS 29 [1927/28]: 390-96).

[15:16]  ¹⁰ sn Man commits evil with the same ease and facility as he drinks in water – freely and in large quantities.

[32:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “lest you say.” R. Gordis (Job, 368) calls this a breviloquence: “beware lest [you say].” He then suggests the best reading for their quote to be, “We have attained wisdom, but only God can refute him, not man.” H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 209) suggests the meaning is a little different, namely, that they are saying they have found wisdom in Job, and only God can deal with it. Elihu is in effect saying that they do not need God, for he is quite capable for this.

[32:13]  ¹² tn The root is נָדַף (nadaf, “to drive away; to drive off”). Here it is in the abstract sense of “succeed in doing something; confound,” and so “refute; rebut.” Dhorme wants to change the meaning of the word with a slight emendation in the text, deriving it from אָלַף (’alaf, “instruct”) the form becoming יַלְּפֶנוּ (yallÿfenu) instead of יִדְּפֶנּוּ (yiddÿfenu), obtaining the translation “God will instruct us.” This makes a smoother reading, but does not have much support for it.

[34:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.

[34:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (a person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:17]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a man with his brother.”