31:31 if 1 the members of my household 2 have never said, 3
‘If only there were 4 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 5 meat!’ –
32:16 And I have waited. 6 But because they do not speak,
because they stand there and answer no more,
33:9 7 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 8 and have no iniquity.
34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man
when he makes his delight with God.’ 9
34:31 “Has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured chastisement, 10
but I will not act wrongly any more.
35:13 Surely it is an empty cry 11 – God does not hear it;
the Almighty does not take notice of it.
37:20 Should he be informed that I want 12 to speak?
If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!
40:8 Would you indeed annul 13 my justice?
Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
1 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
2 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
3 sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.
4 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
5 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Some commentators take this as a question: “And shall [or must] I wait because they do not speak?” (A. B. Davidson, R. Gordis). But this is not convincing because the silence of the friends is the reason for him to speak, not to wait.
11 sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.
12 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.”
16 tn Gordis, however, takes this expression in the sense of “being in favor with God.”
21 tn The Hebrew text has only “I lift up” or “I bear” (= I endure). The reading “I have been led astray” is obtained by changing the vowels to read a passive. If the MT is retained, an object has to be supplied, such as “chastisement” (so RSV, NASB) or “punishment” (NRSV). If not, then a different reading would be followed (e.g., “I was misguided” [NAB]; “I am guilty” [NIV]).
26 tn Heb “surely – vanity, he does not hear.” The cry is an empty cry, not a prayer to God. Dhorme translates it, “It is a pure waste of words.”
31 tn This imperfect works well as a desiderative imperfect.
36 tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.