Ayub 30:21

30:21 You have become cruel to me; ¹ 

with the strength of your hand you attack me. ² 

Mazmur 35:16

35:16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly, ³ 

and tried to bite me. ⁴ 

[30:21]  ¹ tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.

[30:21]  ² tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.

[35:16]  ³ tc The MT reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (bÿkhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).

[35:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action – they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.