Job 1:22

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

Job 34:10-12

God is Not Unjust

34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ² 

Far be it from ³  God to do wickedness,

from the Almighty to do evil.

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ⁴ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ⁵ 

34:12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,

and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

Job 34:17-19

34:17 Do you really think ⁶ 

that one who hates justice can govern? ⁷ 

And will you declare guilty

the supremely righteous ⁸  One,

34:18 who says to a king, ⁹  ‘Worthless man’ ¹⁰ 

and to nobles, ‘Wicked men,’

34:19 who shows no partiality to princes,

and does not take note of ¹¹  the rich more than the poor,

because all of them are the work of his hands?

Job 34:23

34:23 For he does not still consider a person, ¹² 

that he should come before God in judgment.

Job 35:2

35:2 “Do you think this to be ¹³  just:

when ¹⁴  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ¹⁵ 

Job 36:22-23

36:22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power;

who is a teacher ¹⁶  like him?

36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?

Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?

Ezekiel 18:25

18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct ¹⁷  is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

Romans 9:19-21

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ¹⁸  – to talk back to God? ¹⁹  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²⁰  9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ²¹  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ²² 

[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.

[34:10]  ² tn Heb “men of heart.” The “heart” is used for the capacity to understand and make the proper choice. It is often translated “mind.”

[34:10]  ³ tn For this construction, see Job 27:5.

[34:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.

[34:17]  ⁶ tn The force of הַאַף (ha’af) is “Is it truly the case?” The point is being made that if Job were right God could not be judging the world.

[34:17]  ⁷ tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) has the basic idea of “to bind,” as in binding on the yoke, and then in the sense of subduing people under authority (cf. Assyrian absanu). The imperfect verb here is best expressed with the potential nuance.

[34:17]  ⁸ tn The two words could be taken separately, but they seem to form a fine nominal hendiadys, because the issue is God’s justice. So the word for power becomes the modifier.

[34:18]  ⁹ tc Heb “Does one say,” although some smooth it out to say “Is it fit to say?” For the reading “who says,” the form has to be repointed to הַאֹמֵר (ha’omer) meaning, “who is the one saying.” This reading is supported by the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac. Also it seems to flow better with the following verse. It would be saying that God is over the rulers and can rebuke them. The former view is saying that no one rebukes kings, much less Job rebuking God.

[34:18]  ¹⁰ tn The word בְּלִיָּעַל (bÿliyya’al) means both “worthless” and “wicked.” It is common in proverbial literature, and in later writings it became a description of Satan. It is usually found with “son of.”

[34:19]  ¹¹ tn The verb means “to give recognition; to take note of” and in this passage with לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”) it means to show preferential treatment to the rich before the poor. The word for “rich” here is an unusual word, found parallel to “noble” (Isa 32:2). P. Joüon thinks it is a term of social distinction (Bib 18 [1937]: 207-8).

[34:23]  ¹² tn Heb “for he does not put upon man yet.” This has been given a wide variety of interpretations, all of which involve a lot of additional thoughts. The word עוֹד (’od, “yet, still”) has been replaced with מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “an appointed time,” Reiske and Wright), with the ם (mem) having dropped out by haplography. This makes good sense. If the MT is retained, the best interpretation would be that God does not any more consider (from “place upon the heart”) man, that he might appear in judgment.

[35:2]  ¹³ tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ¹⁴ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ¹⁵ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”

[36:22]  ¹⁶ tn The word מוֹרֶה (moreh) is the Hiphil participle from יָרַה (yarah). It is related to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “what is taught” i.e., the law).

[18:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “way.”

[9:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.

[9:21]  ²¹ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ²² tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”