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 

Habakuk 1:2-4

1:2 How long, Lord, must I cry for help?

But you do not listen!

I call out to you, “Violence!”

But you do not intervene! ⁶ 

1:3 Why do you force me to witness injustice? ⁷ 

Why do you put up with wrongdoing? ⁸ 

Destruction and violence confront ⁹  me;

conflict is present and one must endure strife. ¹⁰ 

1:4 For this reason the law lacks power, ¹¹ 

and justice is never carried out. ¹² 

Indeed, ¹³  the wicked intimidate ¹⁴  the innocent. ¹⁵ 

For this reason justice is perverted. ¹⁶ 

[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?”

[1:2]  ⁶ tn Or “deliver.”

[1:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Why do you make me see injustice?”

[1:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “Why do you look at wrongdoing?”

[1:3]  sn Habakkuk complains that God tolerates social injustice and fails to intervene on behalf of the oppressed (put up with wrongdoing).

[1:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “are before.”

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there is conflict and strife he lifts up.” The present translation takes the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) in the sense of “carry, bear,” and understands the subject to be indefinite (“one”).

[1:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the law is numb,” i.e., like a hand that has “fallen asleep” (see Ps 77:2). Cf. NAB “is benumbed”; NIV “is paralyzed.”

[1:4]  ¹² tn Heb “never goes out.”

[1:4]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[1:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “surround” (so NASB, NRSV).

[1:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[1:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “comes out crooked.”