Job 1:4

1:4 Now his sons used to go ¹  and hold ²  a feast in the house of each one in turn, ³  and they would send and invite ⁴  their three ⁵  sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 1:18

1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

Job 2:1

Satan’s Additional Charge

2:1 Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord. ⁶ 

Job 32:2

32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. ⁷  He was angry ⁸  with Job for justifying ⁹  himself rather than God. ¹⁰ 

Job 32:6

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: ¹¹ 

“I am young, ¹²  but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful, ¹³ 

and afraid to explain ¹⁴  to you what I know.

[1:4]  ¹ tn The perfect verb with the ו (vav), וְהָלְכוּ (vÿhalÿkhu, “they went”) indicates their characteristic action, actions that were frequently repeated (GKC 335-36 §112.dd).

[1:4]  ² tn Heb “make a feast.”

[1:4]  ³ tn The sense is cryptic; it literally says “house – a man – his day.” The word “house” is an adverbial accusative of place: “in the house.” “Man” is the genitive; it also has a distributive sense: “in the house of each man.” And “his day” is an adverbial accusative: “on his day.” The point is that they feasted every day of the week in rotation.

[1:4]  ⁴ tn The use of קָרָא (qara’, “to call, invite”) followed by the ל (lamed) usually has the force of “to summon.” Here the meaning would not be so commanding, but would refer to an invitation (see also 1 Kgs 1:19, 25, 26).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Normally cardinal numerals tend to disagree in gender with the numbered noun. In v. 2 “three daughters” consists of the masculine numeral followed by the feminine noun. However, here “three sisters” consists of the feminine numeral followed by the feminine noun. The distinction appears to be that the normal disagreement between numeral and noun when the intent is merely to fix the number (3 daughters as opposed to 2 or 4 daughters). However, when a particular, previously known group is indicated, the numeral tends to agree with the noun in gender. A similar case occurs in Gen 3:13 (“three wives” of Noah’s sons).

[2:1]  ⁶ tc This last purpose clause has been omitted in some Greek versions.

[32:2]  ¹¹ tn The verse begins with וַיִּחַר אַף (vayyikhar ’af, “and the anger became hot”), meaning Elihu became very angry.

[32:2]  ¹² tn The second comment about Elihu’s anger comes right before the statement of its cause. Now the perfect verb is used: “he was angry.”

[32:2]  ¹³ tn The explanation is the causal clause עַל־צַדְּקוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ (’al-tsaddÿqo nafsho, “because he justified himself”). It is the preposition with the Piel infinitive construct with a suffixed subjective genitive.

[32:2]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX and Latin versions soften the expression slightly by saying “before God.”

[32:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[32:6]  ¹⁷ tn The text has “small in days.”

[32:6]  ¹⁸ tn The verb זָחַלְתִּי (zakhalti) is found only here in the OT, but it is found in a ninth century Aramaic inscription as well as in Biblical Aramaic. It has the meaning “to be timid” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 208).

[32:6]  ¹⁹ tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.