4:8 Even as I have seen, 1 those who plow 2 iniquity 3
and those who sow trouble reap the same. 4
21:4 Is my 5 complaint against a man? 6
If so, 7 why should I not be impatient? 8
1 tn The perfect verb here represents the indefinite past. It has no specific sighting in mind, but refers to each time he has seen the wicked do this.
2 sn The figure is an implied metaphor. Plowing suggests the idea of deliberately preparing (or cultivating) life for evil. This describes those who are fundamentally wicked.
3 tn The LXX renders this with a plural “barren places.”
4 tn Heb “reap it.”
5 tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).
6 sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).
7 tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.
8 tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).