Ayub 17:9

17:9 But the righteous man holds to his way,

and the one with clean hands grows stronger. ¹ 

Ayub 22:30

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, ² 

who will escape ³  through the cleanness of your hands.”

Ayub 42:7-8

VII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)

42:7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he ⁴  said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up ⁵  against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, ⁶  as my servant Job has. 42:8 So now take ⁷  seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede ⁸  for you, and I will respect him, ⁹  so that I do not deal with you ¹⁰  according to your folly, ¹¹  because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” ¹² 

Mazmur 24:4

24:4 The one whose deeds are blameless

and whose motives are pure, ¹³ 

who does not lie, ¹⁴ 

or make promises with no intention of keeping them. ¹⁵ 

[17:9]  ¹ tn The last two words are the imperfect verb יֹסִיף (yosif) which means “he adds,” and the abstract noun “energy, strength.” This noun is not found elsewhere; its Piel verb occurs in Job 4:4 and 16:5. “he increases strength.”

[22:30]  ² tc The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).

[22:30]  ³ tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[42:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord.” The title has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “is kindled.”

[42:7]  ⁶ tn The form נְכוֹנָה (nÿkhonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian word kenu (from כּוּן, kun) connotes justice and truth.

[42:8]  ⁷ tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.

[42:8]  ⁸ tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”

[42:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”

[42:8]  ¹⁰ tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.

[42:8]  ¹¹ tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.

[42:8]  ¹² sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.

[24:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “the innocent of hands and the pure of heart.” The “hands” allude to one’s actions, the “heart” to one’s thought life and motives.

[24:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who does not lift up for emptiness my life.” The first person pronoun on נַפְשִׁי (nafshiy, “my life”) makes little sense here; many medieval Hebrew mss support the ancient versions in reading a third person pronoun “his.” The idiom “lift the life” here means to “long for” or “desire strongly.” In this context (note the reference to an oath in the following line) “emptiness” probably refers to speech (see Ps 12:2).

[24:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and does not swear an oath deceitfully.”