Job 1:22

1:22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety. ¹ 

Job 33:27

33:27 That person sings ²  to others, ³  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ⁴ 

Job 35:6

35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God? ⁵ 

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him? ⁶ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn The last clause is difficult to translate. It simply reads, “and he did not give unseemliness to God.” The word תִּפְלָה (tiflah) means “unsavoriness” or “unseemliness” in a moral sense. The sense is that Job did not charge God with any moral impropriety in his dealings with him. God did nothing worthless or tasteless. The ancient versions saw the word connected with “foolishness” or “stupidity” (תָּפֵל, tafel, “to be tasteless”). It is possible that “folly” would capture some of what Job meant here. See also M. Dahood, “Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography XII,” Bib 55 (1974): 381-93.

[33:27]  ² tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ³ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[35:6]  ³ tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:6]  ⁴ tn See Job 7:20.