Job 15:35

15:35 They conceive trouble and bring forth evil;

their belly prepares deception.”

Job 31:5

31:5 If I have walked in falsehood,

and if my foot has hastened to deceit –


tn Infinitives absolute are used in this verse in the place of finite verbs. They lend a greater vividness to the description, stressing the basic meaning of the words.

tn At the start of the speech Eliphaz said Job’s belly was filled with the wind; now it is there that he prepares deception. This inclusio frames the speech.

tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.

tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.

sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.