Ayub 12:18

12:18 He loosens ¹  the bonds ²  of kings

and binds a loincloth ³  around their waist.

Ayub 12:21

12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen

and disarms ⁴  the powerful. ⁵ 

Ayub 12:2

12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people, ⁶ 

and wisdom will die with you. ⁷ 

1 Samuel 16:5-8

16:5 He replied, “Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

16:6 When they arrived, Samuel ⁸  noticed ⁹  Eliab and said to himself, ¹⁰  “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!” ¹¹  16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by ¹²  his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. ¹³  People look on the outward appearance, ¹⁴  but the Lord looks at the heart.”

16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. ¹⁵  But Samuel ¹⁶  said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.”

[12:18]  ¹ tn The verb may be classified as a gnomic perfect, or possibly a potential perfect – “he can loosen.” The Piel means “to untie; to unbind” (Job 30:11; 38:31; 39:5).

[12:18]  ² tc There is a potential textual difficulty here. The MT has מוּסַר (musar, “discipline”), which might have replaced מוֹסֵר (moser, “bond, chain”) from אָסַר (’asar, “to bind”). Or מוּסַר might be an unusual form of אָסַר (an option noted in HALOT 557 s.v. *מוֹסֵר). The line is saying that if the kings are bound, God can set them free, and in the second half, if they are free, he can bind them. Others take the view that this word “bond” refers to the power kings have over others, meaning that God can reduce kings to slavery.

[12:18]  ³ tn Some commentators want to change אֵזוֹר (’ezor, “girdle”) to אֵסוּר (’esur, “bond”) because binding the loins with a girdle was an expression for strength. But H. H. Rowley notes that binding the king’s loins this way would mean so that he would do servitude, menial tasks. Such a reference would certainly indicate troubled times.

[12:21]  ⁴ tn The expression in Hebrew uses מְזִיחַ (mÿziakh, “belt”) and the Piel verb רִפָּה (rippah, “to loosen”) so that “to loosen the belt of the mighty” would indicate “to disarm/incapacitate the mighty.” Others have opted to change the text: P. Joüon emends to read “forehead” – “he humbles the brow of the mighty.”

[12:21]  ⁵ tn The word אָפַק (’afaq, “to be strong”) is well-attested, and the form אָפִיק (’afiq) is a normal adjective formation. So a translation like “mighty” (KJV, NIV) or “powerful” is acceptable, and further emendations are unnecessary.

[12:2]  ⁶ tn The expression “you are the people” is a way of saying that the friends hold the popular opinion – they represent it. The line is sarcastic. Commentators do not think the parallelism is served well by this, and so offer changes for “people.” Some have suggested “you are complete” (based on Arabic), “you are the strong one” (based on Ugaritic), etc. J. A. Davies tried to solve the difficulty by making the second clause in the verse a paratactic relative clause: “you are the people with whom wisdom will die” (“Note on Job 12:2,” VT 25 [1975]: 670-71).

[12:2]  ⁷ sn The sarcasm of Job admits their claim to wisdom, as if no one has it besides them. But the rest of his speech will show that they do not have a monopoly on it.

[16:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[16:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “saw.”

[16:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “said”; the words “to himself” are implied, given the secrecy surrounding Samuel’s mission to Bethlehem (v. 2).

[16:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his anointed one.”

[16:7]  ¹² tn Heb “don’t look toward.”

[16:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “for not that which the man sees.” The translation follows the LXX, which reads, “for not as man sees does God see.” The MT has suffered from homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. See P. K. McCarter, I Samuel (AB), 274.

[16:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to the eyes.”

[16:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and caused him to pass before.”

[16:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “he” (also in v. 9); the referent (Samuel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.