31:29 If 4 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 5
or exulted 6 because calamity 7 found him –
116:3 The ropes of death tightened around me, 8
the snares 9 of Sheol confronted me.
I was confronted 10 with trouble and sorrow.
119:143 Distress and hardship confront 11 me,
yet I find delight in your commands.
1 tn A rare word, “weariness” of the hardships.
2 tn Heb “found them.”
3 tn Here “how” has been supplied.
4 tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.
5 sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”
6 tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”
7 tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.
8 tn Heb “surrounded me.”
9 tn The Hebrew noun מצר (“straits; distress”) occurs only here, Ps 118:5 and Lam 1:3. If retained, it refers to Sheol as a place where one is confined or severely restricted (cf. BDB 865 s.v. מֵצַר, “the straits of Sheol”; NIV “the anguish of the grave”; NRSV “the pangs of Sheol”). However, HALOT 624 s.v. מֵצַר suggests an emendation to מְצָדֵי (mÿtsadey, “snares of”), a rare noun attested in Job 19:6 and Eccl 7:26. This proposal, which is reflected in the translation, produces better parallelism with “ropes” in the preceding line.
10 tn The translation assumes the prefixed verbal form is a preterite. The psalmist recalls the crisis from which the Lord delivered him.
11 tn Heb “find.”