22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 1
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, 2
as he goes back and forth
in the vault 3 of heaven.’ 4
10:11 He says to himself, 5
“God overlooks it;
he does not pay attention;
he never notices.” 6
10:14 You have taken notice, 7
for 8 you always see 9 one who inflicts pain and suffering. 10
The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you; 11
you deliver 12 the fatherless. 13
35:22 But you take notice, 14 Lord!
O Lord, do not remain far away from me!
5:8 If you see the extortion 15 of the poor,
or the perversion 16 of justice and fairness in the government, 17
do not be astonished by the matter.
For the high official is watched by a higher official, 18
and there are higher ones over them! 19
7:2 They do not realize 20
that I remember all of their wicked deeds.
Their evil deeds have now surrounded them;
their sinful deeds are always before me. 21
1:13 You are too just 22 to tolerate 23 evil;
you are unable to condone 24 wrongdoing.
So why do you put up with such treacherous people? 25
Why do you say nothing when the wicked devour 26 those more righteous than they are? 27
1 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
2 tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
3 sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.
4 sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.
5 tn Heb “he says in his heart.” See v. 6.
6 tn Heb “God forgets, he hides his face, he never sees.”
7 tn Heb “you see.” One could translate the perfect as generalizing, “you do take notice.”
8 tn If the preceding perfect is taken as generalizing, then one might understand כִּי (ki) as asseverative: “indeed, certainly.”
9 tn Here the imperfect emphasizes God’s typical behavior.
10 tn Heb “destruction and suffering,” which here refers metonymically to the wicked, who dish out pain and suffering to their victims.
11 tn Heb “to give into your hand, upon you, he abandons, [the] unfortunate [one].” The syntax is awkward and the meaning unclear. It is uncertain who or what is being given into God’s hand. Elsewhere the idiom “give into the hand” means to deliver into one’s possession. If “to give” goes with what precedes (as the accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests), then this may refer to the wicked man being delivered over to God for judgment. The present translation assumes that “to give” goes with what follows (cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV). The verb יַעֲזֹב (ya’azov) here has the nuance “entrust” (see Gen 39:6; Job 39:11); the direct object (“[his] cause”) is implied.
12 tn Or “help.”
13 tn Heb “[for] one who is fatherless, you are a deliverer.” The noun יָתוֹם (yatom) refers to one who has lost his father (not necessarily his mother, see Ps 109:9).
14 tn Heb “you see, O
15 tn Alternately, “oppression.” The term עֹשֶׁק (’osheq) has a basic two-fold range of meaning: (1) “oppression; brutality” (e.g., Isa 54:14); and (2) “extortion” (e.g., Ps 62:11); see HALOT 897 s.v. עֹשֶׁק; BDB 799 s.v. עֹשֶׁק. The LXX understands the term as “oppression,” as the translation συκοφαντίαν (sukofantian, “oppression”) indicates. Likewise, HALOT 897 s.v. עֹשֶׁק 1 classifies this usage as “oppression” against the poor. However, the context of 5:8-9 [7-8 HT] focuses on corrupt government officials robbing people of the fruit of their labor through extortion and the perversion of justice.
16 tn Heb “robbery.” The noun גֵזֶל (gezel, “robbery”) refers to the wrestling away of righteousness or the perversion of justice (HALOT 186 s.v. גֵּזֶל). The related forms of the root גזל mean “to rob; to loot” (HALOT 186 s.v. גֵּזֶל). The term “robbery” is used as a figure for the perversion of justice (hypocatastasis): just as a thief robs his victims through physical violence, so corrupt government officials “rob” the poor through the perversion of justice.
17 tn Heb “in the province.”
18 tn The word “official” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.
19 sn And there are higher ones over them! This may describe a corrupt system of government in which each level of hierarchy exploits its subordinates, all the way down to the peasants: “Set in authority over the people is an official who enriches himself at their expense; he is watched by a more authoritative governor who also has his share of the spoils; and above them are other officers of the State who likewise have to be satisfied”; see A. Cohen, The Five Megilloth (SoBB), 141.
20 tn Heb “and they do not say in their heart”; TEV “It never enters their heads.”
21 tn Heb “they [the sinful deeds] are before my face” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NCV “they are right in front of me.”
22 tn Heb “[you] are too pure of eyes.” God’s “eyes” here signify what he looks at with approval. His “eyes” are “pure” in that he refuses to tolerate any wrongdoing in his presence.
23 tn Heb “to see.” Here “see” is figurative for “tolerate,” “put up with.”
24 tn Heb “to look at.” Cf. NEB “who canst not countenance wrongdoing”; NASB “You can not look on wickedness with favor.”
25 tn Heb “Why do you look at treacherous ones?” The verb בָּגַד (bagad, “be treacherous”) is often used of those who are disloyal or who violate agreements. See S. Erlandsson, TDOT 1:470-73.
26 tn Or “swallow up.”
27 tn Heb “more innocent than themselves.”
28 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.