Ayub 8:8

8:8 “For inquire now of the former ¹  generation,

and pay attention ²  to the findings ³ 

of their ancestors; ⁴ 

Mazmur 22:31

22:31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds; ⁵ 

they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished. ⁶ 

Mazmur 22:1

Psalm 22 ⁷ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ⁸  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ⁹ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ¹⁰ 

[8:8]  ¹ sn Bildad is not calling for Job to trace through the learning of antiquity, but of the most recent former generation. Hebrews were fond of recalling what the “fathers” had taught, for each generation recalled what their fathers had taught.

[8:8]  ² tn The verb כוֹנֵן (khonen, from כּוּן, kun) normally would indicate “prepare yourself” or “fix” one’s heart on something, i.e., give attention to it. The verb with the ל (lamed) preposition after it does mean “to think on” or “to meditate” (Isa 51:13). But some commentators wish to change the כּ (kaf) to a בּ (bet) in the verb to get “to consider” (from בִּין, bin). However, M. Dahood shows a connection between כּנן (knn) and שׁאל (sh’l) in Ugaritic (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography,” Bib 46 [1965]: 329).

[8:8]  ³ tn The Hebrew has “the search of their fathers,” but the word is probably intended to mean what that observation or search yielded (so “search” is a metonymy of cause).

[8:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “fathers.”

[22:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “his righteousness.” Here the noun צִדָקָה (tsidaqah) refers to the Lord’s saving deeds whereby he vindicates the oppressed.

[22:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “to a people [to be] born that he has acted.” The words “they will tell” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ⁹ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.