Job 35:16

35:16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose;

without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Psalms 39:2-3

39:2 I was stone silent;

I held back the urge to speak.

My frustration grew;

39:3 my anxiety intensified.

As I thought about it, I became impatient.

Finally I spoke these words:

Psalms 106:33

106:33 for they aroused his temper,

and he spoke rashly. 10 


tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel) means “vanity; futility; to no purpose.”

tn Heb “I was mute [with] silence.”

tn Heb “I was quiet from good.” He kept quiet, resisting the urge to find emotional release and satisfaction by voicing his lament.

tn Heb “and my pain was stirred up.” Emotional pain is in view here.

tn Heb “my heart was hot within me.”

tn Heb “In my reflection fire burned.” The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite (past tense) or an imperfect being used in a past progressive or customary sense (“fire was burning”).

tn Heb “I spoke with my tongue.” The phrase “these words” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

tn The Hebrew text vocalizes the form as הִמְרוּ (himru), a Hiphil from מָרָה (marah, “to behave rebelliously”), but the verb fits better with the object (“his spirit”) if it is revocalized as הֵמֵרוּ (hemeru), a Hiphil from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”). The Israelites “embittered” Moses’ “spirit” in the sense that they aroused his temper with their complaints.

tn Heb “his spirit.”

10 tn The Hebrew text adds “with his lips,” but this has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.