Ayub 18:11
Konteks18:11 Terrors 1 frighten him on all sides
and dog 2 his every step.
Yesaya 14:19
Konteks14:19 But you have been thrown out of your grave
like a shoot that is thrown away. 3
You lie among 4 the slain,
among those who have been slashed by the sword,
among those headed for 5 the stones of the pit, 6
as if you were a mangled corpse. 7
[18:11] 1 sn Bildad is referring here to all the things that afflict a person and cause terror. It would then be a metonymy of effect, the cause being the afflictions.
[18:11] 2 tn The verb פּוּץ (puts) in the Hiphil has the meaning “to pursue” and “to scatter.” It is followed by the expression “at his feet.” So the idea is easily derived: they chase him at his feet. But some commentators have other proposals. The most far-fetched is that of Ehrlich and Driver (ZAW 24 [1953]: 259-60) which has “and compel him to urinate on his feet,” one of many similar readings the NEB accepted from Driver.
[14:19] 3 tn Heb “like a shoot that is abhorred.” The simile seems a bit odd; apparently it refers to a small shoot that is trimmed from a plant and tossed away. Some prefer to emend נֵצֶר (netser, “shoot”); some propose נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”). In this case one might paraphrase: “like a horrible-looking fetus that is delivered when a woman miscarries.”
[14:19] 4 tn Heb “are clothed with.”
[14:19] 5 tn Heb “those going down to.”
[14:19] 6 tn בּוֹר (bor) literally means “cistern”; cisterns were constructed from stones. On the metaphorical use of “cistern” for the underworld, see the note at v. 15.
[14:19] 7 tn Heb “like a trampled corpse.” Some take this line with what follows.