Job 12:21

12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen

and disarms the powerful.

Job 27:6

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience will not reproach me

for as long as I live.

Job 7:19

7:19 Will you never look away from me,

will you not let me alone

long enough to swallow my spittle?


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.”

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.

tn Heb “my heart.”

tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”

tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

tn The verb שָׁעָה (shaah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”