14:17 My offenses would be sealed up 1 in a bag; 2
you would cover over 3 my sin.
36:9 then he reveals 4 to them what they have done, 5
and their transgressions,
that they were behaving proudly.
8:4 If 6 your children sinned against him,
he gave them over 7 to the penalty 8 of their sin.
13:23 How many are my 9 iniquities and sins?
Show me my transgression and my sin. 10
31:33 if 11 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 12
by hiding 13 iniquity in my heart, 14
34:6 Concerning my right, should I lie? 15
My wound 16 is incurable,
although I am without transgression.’ 17
33:9 18 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 19 and have no iniquity.
34:37 For he adds transgression 20 to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands, 21
and multiplies his words against God.”
35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God? 22
If your transgressions are many,
what does it do to him? 23
7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,
and take away my iniquity?
For now I will lie down in the dust, 24
and you will seek me diligently, 25
but I will be gone.”
1 tn The passive participle חָתֻם (khatum), from חָתַם (khatam, “seal”), which is used frequently in the Bible, means “sealed up.” The image of sealing sins in a bag is another of the many poetic ways of expressing the removal of sin from the individual (see 1 Sam 25:29). Since the term most frequently describes sealed documents, the idea here may be more that of sealing in a bag the record of Job’s sins (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 334).
2 tn The idea has been presented that the background of putting tally stones in a bag is intended (see A. L. Oppenheim, “On an Operational Device in Mesopotamian Bureaucracy,” JNES 18 [1959]: 121-28).
3 tn This verb was used in Job 13:4 for “plasterers of lies.” The idea is probably that God coats or paints over the sins so that they are forgotten (see Isa 1:18). A. B. Davidson (Job, 105) suggests that the sins are preserved until full punishment is exacted. But the verse still seems to be continuing the thought of how the sins would be forgotten in the next life.
4 tn The verb נָגַד (nagad) means “to declare; to tell.” Here it is clear that God is making known the sins that caused the enslavement or captivity, so “reveal” makes a good interpretive translation.
5 tn Heb “their work.”
7 tn The AV and RV take the protasis down to the middle of v. 6. The LXX changes the “if” at the beginning of v. 5 to “then” and makes that verse the apodosis. If the apodosis comes in the second half of v. 4, then v. 4 would be a complete sentence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 71; A. B. Davidson, Job, 60). The particle אִם (’im) has the sense of “since” in this section.
8 tn The verb is a Piel preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. The ו (vav) need not be translated if the second half of the verse is the apodosis of the first – since they sinned…he did this. The verb שִׁלֵּחַ (shilleakh) means “to expel; to thrust out” normally; here the sense of “deliver up” or “deliver over” fits the sentence well. The verse is saying that sin carries its own punishment, and so God merely delivered the young people over to it.
9 tn Heb “into the hand of their rebellion.” The word “hand” often signifies “power.” The rebellious acts have the power to destroy, and so that is what happened – according to Bildad. Bildad’s point is that Job should learn from what happened to his family.
10 tn The pronoun “my” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied here in the translation.
11 sn Job uses three words for sin here: “iniquities,” which means going astray, erring; “sins,” which means missing the mark or the way; and “transgressions,” which are open rebellions. They all emphasize different kinds of sins and different degrees of willfulness. Job is demanding that any sins be brought up. Both Job and his friends agree that great afflictions would have to indicate great offenses – he wants to know what they are.
13 tn Now the protasis continues again.
14 sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.
15 tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.
16 tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.
16 tn The verb is the Piel imperfect of כָּזַב (kazav), meaning “to lie.” It could be a question: “Should I lie [against my right?] – when I am innocent. If it is repointed to the Pual, then it can be “I am made to lie,” or “I am deceived.” Taking it as a question makes good sense here, and so emendations are unnecessary.
17 tn The Hebrew text has only “my arrow.” Some commentators emend that word slightly to get “my wound.” But the idea could be derived from “arrows” as well, the wounds caused by the arrows. The arrows are symbolic of God’s affliction.
18 tn Heb “without transgression”; but this is parallel to the first part where the claim is innocence.
19 sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.
20 tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”
22 tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”
23 tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.
25 tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
26 tn See Job 7:20.
28 tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”
29 tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).