Ayub 9:3

9:3 If someone wishes ¹  to contend ²  with him,

he cannot answer ³  him one time in a thousand.

Ulangan 32:39

The Vindication of the Lord

32:39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord, ⁴ 

“and there is no other god besides me.

I kill and give life,

I smash and I heal,

and none can resist ⁵  my power.

Yesaya 29:16

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ⁶ 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ⁷ 

Should the thing made say ⁸  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

[9:3]  ¹ tn Some commentators take God to be the subject of this verb, but it is more likely that it refers to the mortal who tries to challenge God in a controversy. The verb is used of Job in 13:3.

[9:3]  ² tn The verb רִיב (riv) is a common one; it has the idea of “contention; dispute; legal dispute or controversy; go to law.” With the preposition אִם (’im) the idea must be “to contend with” or “to dispute with.” The preposition reflects the prepositional phrase “with God” in v. 2, supporting the view that man is the subject.

[9:3]  ³ tn This use of the imperfect as potential imperfect assumes that the human is the subject, that in a dispute with God he could not answer one of God’s questions (for which see the conclusion of the book when God questions Job). On the other hand, if the interpretation were that God does not answer the demands of mortals, then a simple progressive imperfect would be required. In support of this is the frustration of Job that God does not answer him.

[32:39]  ⁴ tn Verses 39-42 appear to be a quotation of the Lord and so the introductory phrase “says the Lord” is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[32:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “deliver from” (so NRSV, NLT).

[29:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.

[29:16]  ⁷ tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.

[29:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”