12:21 He pours contempt on noblemen
and disarms 1 the powerful. 2
27:6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience 3 will not reproach me
for as long as I live. 4
7:19 Will you never 5 look away from me, 6
will you not let me alone 7
long enough to swallow my spittle?
1 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.”
2 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.
3 tn Heb “my heart.”
4 tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”
5 tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”
6 tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “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.
7 tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”