Job 10:3

10:3 Is it good for you ¹  to oppress, ² 

to ³  despise the work of your hands,

while ⁴  you smile ⁵ 

on the schemes of the wicked?

Job 11:20

11:20 But the eyes of the wicked fail, ⁶ 

and escape ⁷  eludes them;

their one hope ⁸  is to breathe their last.” ⁹ 

Job 31:35

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ¹⁰  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ¹¹ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ¹² 

that my accuser had written. ¹³ 

Job 33:27

33:27 That person sings ¹⁴  to others, ¹⁵  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ¹⁶ 

[10:3]  ¹ tn Or “Does it give you pleasure?” The expression could also mean, “Is it profitable for you?” or “Is it fitting for you?”

[10:3]  ² tn The construction uses כִּי (ki) with the imperfect verb – “that you oppress.” Technically, this clause serves as the subject, and “good” is the predicate adjective. In such cases one often uses an English infinitive to capture the point: “Is it good for you to oppress?” The LXX changes the meaning considerably: “Is it good for you if I am unrighteous, for you have disowned the work of your hands.”

[10:3]  ³ tn Heb “that you despise.”

[10:3]  ⁴ tn Now, in the second half of the verse, there is a change in the structure. The conjunction on the preposition followed by the perfect verb represents a circumstantial clause.

[10:3]  ⁵ tn The Hiphil of the verb יָפַע (yafa’) means “shine.” In this context the expression “you shine upon” would mean “have a glowing expression,” be radiant, or smile.

[11:20]  ⁶ tn The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to fail, cease, fade away.” The fading of the eyes, i.e., loss of sight, loss of life’s vitality, indicates imminent death.

[11:20]  ⁷ tn Heb a “place of escape” (with this noun pattern). There is no place to escape to because they all perish.

[11:20]  ⁸ tn The word is to be interpreted as a metonymy; it represents what is hoped for.

[11:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “the breathing out of the soul”; cf. KJV, ASV “the giving up of the ghost.” The line is simply saying that the brightest hope that the wicked have is death.

[31:35]  ¹¹ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ¹² tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.

[31:35]  ¹³ tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).

[31:35]  ¹⁴ tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).

[33:27]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ¹⁸ 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.”