5:27 Look, we have investigated this, so it is true.
Hear it, 1 and apply it for your own 2 good.” 3
32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; 4
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, 5 while you were searching for words.
32:15 “They are dismayed 7 and cannot answer any more;
they have nothing left to say. 8
32:16 And I have waited. 9 But because they do not speak,
because they stand there and answer no more,
33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear 10 everything I have to say! 11
33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
33:32 If you have any words, 12 reply to me;
speak, for I want to justify you. 13
33:33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
34:32 Teach me what I cannot see. 14
If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’
32:8 I will instruct and teach you 15 about how you should live. 16
I will advise you as I look you in the eye. 17
9:9 Give instruction 18 to a wise person, 19 and he will become wiser still;
teach 20 a righteous person and he will add to his 21 learning.
25:12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold, 22
so is a wise reprover to the ear of the one who listens. 23
1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! 24 Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.
1 tn To make a better parallelism, some commentators have replaced the imperative with another finite verb, “we have found it.”
2 tn The preposition with the suffix (referred to as the ethical dative) strengthens the imperative. An emphatic personal pronoun also precedes the imperative. The resulting force would be something like “and you had better apply it for your own good!”
3 sn With this the speech by Eliphaz comes to a close. His two mistakes with it are: (1) that the tone was too cold and (2) the argument did not fit Job’s case (see further, A. B. Davidson, Job, 42).
4 tn Heb “for your words.”
5 tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.
6 sn Elihu now will give another reason why he will speak – the arguments of these friends failed miserably. But before he gets to his argument, he will first qualify his authority.
7 tn The verb חַתּוּ (khattu) is from חָתַת (khatat) which means “to be terrified.” But here it stresses the resulting dilemma. R. Gordis (Job, 369) renders it, “they are shattered, beaten in an argument.”
8 tn Heb “words have moved away from them,” meaning words are gone from them, they have nothing left to say.
9 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.
10 tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”
11 tn Heb “hear all my words.”
12 tn Heb “if there are words.”
13 tn The infinitive construct serves as the complement or object of “I desire.” It could be rendered “to justify you” or “your justification, “namely, “that you be justified.”
14 tn Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”
15 tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the
16 tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”
17 tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the
18 tn The noun “instruction” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation.
19 sn The parallelism shows what Proverbs will repeatedly stress, that the wise person is the righteous person.
20 tn The Hiphil verb normally means “to cause to know, make known”; but here the context suggests “to teach” (so many English versions).
21 tn The term “his” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for the sake of smoothness and clarity.
22 sn This saying is another example of emblematic parallelism; the first half is the simile, and the second half makes the point from it: A wise rebuke that is properly received is of lasting value. The rebuke in the ear of an obedient student is like ornaments of fine jewelry.
23 tn The “ear of the listener” refers to the obedient disciple, the one who complies with the reproof he hears. Cf. KJV, ASV, NAB “an obedient ear.”
24 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.