Then the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. 4 They camped at Ebenezer, 5 and the Philistines camped at Aphek.
7:11 “Therefore, 6 I will not refrain my mouth; 7
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain 8 in the bitterness of my soul.
10:1 “I 9 am weary 10 of my life;
I will complain without restraint; 11
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
21:25 And another man 12 dies in bitterness of soul, 13
never having tasted 14 anything good.
1 tn Heb “she [was in] bitterness of soul.”
2 tn Heb “and weeping, she was weeping.” The infinitive absolute emphasizes the extent of her sorrow. The imperfect verbal form emphasizes the continuation of the action in past time.
3 tn Heb “and the word of Samuel was.” The present translation understands Samuel to be the speaker of the divine word (“Samuel” is a subjective genitive in this case), although the statement could mean that he was the recipient of the divine word (“Samuel” is an objective genitive in this case) who in turn reported it to Israel.
4 tn Heb “and Israel went out to meet the Philistines for battle.”
5 tn Heb “the stone, the help.” The second noun is in apposition to the first one and apparently is the name by which the stone was known. Contrast the expression used in 5:1 and 7:12, where the first word lacks the definite article, unlike 4:1.
6 tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.
7 sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.
8 tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb siah and the Nouns siah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).
9 tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”
10 tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.
11 tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.
12 tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”
13 tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”
14 tn Heb “eaten what is good.” It means he died without having enjoyed the good life.