Ayub 9:24

9:24 If a land ¹  has been given

into the hand of a wicked man, ² 

he covers ³  the faces of its judges; ⁴ 

if it is not he, then who is it? ⁵ 

Ayub 21:8

21:8 Their children ⁶  are firmly established

in their presence, ⁷ 

their offspring before their eyes.

Yeremia 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ⁸ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ⁹ 

Why are wicked people successful? ¹⁰ 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

Maleakhi 3:15

3:15 So now we consider the arrogant to be happy; indeed, those who practice evil are successful. ¹¹  In fact, those who challenge ¹²  God escape!’”

[9:24]  ¹ tn Some would render this “earth,” meaning the whole earth, and having the verse be a general principle for all mankind. But Job may have in mind the more specific issue of individual land.

[9:24]  ² sn The details of the verse are not easy to explain, but the meaning of the whole verse seems to be about the miscarriage of justice in the courts and the failure of God to do anything about it.

[9:24]  ³ tn The subject of the verb is God. The reasoning goes this way: it is the duty of judges to make sure that justice prevails, that restitution and restoration are carried through; but when the wicked gain control of the land of other people, and the judges are ineffective to stop it, then God must be veiling their eyes.

[9:24]  ⁴ sn That these words are strong, if not wild, is undeniable. But Job is only taking the implications of his friends’ speeches to their logical conclusion – if God dispenses justice in the world, and there is no justice, then God is behind it all. The LXX omitted these words, perhaps out of reverence for God.

[9:24]  ⁵ tn This seems to be a broken-off sentence (anacoluthon), and so is rather striking. The scribes transposed the words אֵפוֹא (’efo’) and הוּא (hu’) to make the smoother reading: “If it is not he, who then is it?”

[21:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “their seed.”

[21:8]  ⁷ tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “built up” (so NASB); NIV, NRSV “prosper”; NLT “get rich.”

[3:15]  ¹² tn Or “test”; NRSV, CEV “put God to the test.”