Job 11:2-3

11:2 “Should not this ¹  abundance of words be answered, ² 

or should this ³  talkative man ⁴ 

be vindicated? ⁵ 

11:3 Will your idle talk ⁶  reduce people to silence, ⁷ 

and will no one rebuke ⁸  you when you mock? ⁹ 

Job 13:2

13:2 What you know, ¹⁰  I ¹¹  know also;

I am not inferior ¹²  to you!

James 3:13

True Wisdom

3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct he should show his works done in the gentleness that wisdom brings. ¹³ 

[11:2]  ¹ tc The LXX, Targum Job, Symmachus, and Vulgate all assume that the vocalization of רֹב (rov, “abundance”) should be רַב (rav, “great”): “great of words.” This would then mean “one who is abundant of words,” meaning, “a man of many words,” and make a closer parallel to the second half. But the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[11:2]  ² tn The Niphal verb יֵעָנֶה (ye’aneh, “he answered”) would normally require a personal subject, but “abundance” functions as the subject in this sentence. The nuance of the imperfect is obligatory.

[11:2]  ³ tn The word is supplied here also for clarification.

[11:2]  ⁴ tn The bound construction “man of lips” means “a boaster” or “proud talker” (attributive genitive; and see GKC 417 §128.t). Zophar is saying that Job pours out this stream of words, but he is still not right.

[11:2]  ⁵ tn The word is literally “be right, righteous.” The idea of being right has appeared before for this word (cf. 9:15). The point here is that just because Job talks a lot does not mean he is right or will be shown to be right through it all.

[11:3]  ⁶ tn The word means “chatter, pratings, boastings” (see Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30).

[11:3]  ⁷ tn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) in the Hiphil means “to silence” (41:4); here it functions in a causative sense, “reduce to silence.”

[11:3]  ⁸ tn The form מַכְלִם (makhlim, “humiliating, mocking”) is the Hiphil participle. The verb כָּלַם (kalam) has the meaning “cover with shame, insult” (Job 20:3).

[11:3]  ⁹ tn The construction shows the participle to be in the circumstantial clause: “will you mock – and [with] no one rebuking.”

[13:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Like your knowledge”; in other words Job is saying that his knowledge is like their knowledge.

[13:2]  ¹¹ tn The pronoun makes the subject emphatic and stresses the contrast: “I know – I also.”

[13:2]  ¹² tn The verb “fall” is used here as it was in Job 4:13 to express becoming lower than someone, i.e., inferior.

[3:13]  ¹³ tn Grk “works in the gentleness of wisdom.”