Job 10:20

10:20 Are not my days few? ¹ 

Cease, ²  then, and leave ³  me alone, ⁴ 

that I may find a little comfort, ⁵ 

Job 13:13

13:13 “Refrain from talking ⁶  with me so that ⁷  I may speak;

then let come to me ⁸  what may. ⁹ 

Job 15:13

15:13 when you turn your rage ¹⁰  against God

and allow such words to escape ¹¹  from your mouth?

Job 21:4

21:4 Is my ¹²  complaint against a man? ¹³ 

If so, ¹⁴  why should I not be impatient? ¹⁵ 

Job 23:7

23:7 There ¹⁶  an upright person

could present his case ¹⁷  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 30:6

30:6 so that they had to live ¹⁸ 

in the dry stream beds, ¹⁹ 

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

Job 31:27

31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,

and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, ²⁰ 

Job 33:30

33:30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

Job 34:25

34:25 Therefore, he knows their deeds,

he overthrows them ²¹  in the night ²² 

and they are crushed.

Job 38:13

38:13 that it might seize the corners of the earth, ²³ 

and shake the wicked out of it?

Job 38:21

38:21 You know, for you were born before them; ²⁴ 

and the number of your days is great!

[10:20]  ¹ tn Heb “are not my days few; cease/let it cease….” The versions have “the days of my life” (reading יְמֵי חֶלְדִי [yÿme kheldi] instead of יָמַי וַחֲדָל [yamay vakhadal]). Many commentators and the RSV, NAB, and NRSV accept this reading. The Kethib is an imperfect or jussive, “let it cease/ it will cease.” The Qere is more intelligible for some interpreters – “cease” (as in 7:16). For a discussion of the readings, see D. W. Thomas, “Some Observations on the Hebrew Root hadal,” VTSup 4 [1057]: 14). But the text is not impossible as it stands.

[10:20]  ² tn Taking the form as the imperative with the ו (vav), the sentence follows the direct address to God (as in v. 18 as well as 7:16). This requires less changes. See the preceding note regarding the plausibility of the jussive. The point of the verse is clear in either reading – his life is short, and he wants the suffering to stop.

[10:20]  ³ tn In the different suggestions for the line, the י (yod) of this word is believed to belong to the preceding word making “my life.” That would here leave an imperative rather than an imperfect. But if the Qere is read, then it would be an imperative anyway, and there would be no reason for the change.

[10:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “put from me,” an expression found nowhere else. The Qere has a ו (vav) and not a י (yod), forming an imperative rather than an imperfect. H. H. Rowley suggests that there is an ellipsis here, “hand” needing to be supplied. Job wanted God to take his hand away from him. That is plausible, but difficult.

[10:20]  ⁵ tn The verb בָּלַג (balag) in the Hiphil means “to have cheer [or joy]” (see 7:27; Ps 39:14). The cohortative following the imperatives shows the purpose or result – “in order that.”

[13:13]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew has a pregnant construction: “be silent from me,” meaning “stand away from me in silence,” or “refrain from talking with me.” See GKC 384 §119.ff. The LXX omits “from me,” as do several commentators.

[13:13]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Piel cohortative; following the imperative of the first colon this verb would show purpose or result. The inclusion of the independent personal pronoun makes the focus emphatic – “so that I (in my turn) may speak.”

[13:13]  ⁸ tn The verb עָבַר (’avar, “pass over”) is used with the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) to express the advent of misfortune, namely, something coming against him.

[13:13]  ⁹ tn The interrogative pronoun מָה (mah) is used in indirect questions, here introducing a clause [with the verb understood] as the object – “whatever it be” (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[15:13]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew is רוּחֶךָ (rukhekha, “your spirit” or “your breath”). But the fact that this is turned “against God,” means that it must be given a derived meaning, or a meaning that is metonymical. It is used in the Bible in the sense of anger – what the spirit vents (see Judg 8:3; Prov 16:32; and Job 4:9 with “blast”).

[15:13]  ¹² tn The verb is a Hiphil perfect of yasa’, “to go out, proceed, issue forth.”

[21:4]  ¹⁶ 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).

[21:4]  ¹⁷ 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).

[21:4]  ¹⁸ tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.

[21:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).

[23:7]  ²¹ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ²² tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”

[30:6]  ²⁶ tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).

[30:6]  ²⁷ tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).

[31:27]  ³¹ tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.

[34:25]  ³⁶ tn The direct object “them” is implied and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[34:25]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew term “night” is an accusative of time.

[38:13]  ⁴¹ sn The poetic image is that darkness or night is like a blanket that covers the earth, and at dawn it is taken by the edges and shaken out. Since the wicked function under the cover of night, they are included in the shaking when the dawn comes up.

[38:21]  ⁴⁶ tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.