Job 12:10

12:10 in whose hand ¹  is the life ²  of every creature

and the breath of all the human race. ³ 

Job 12:14

12:14 If ⁴  he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;

if he imprisons a person, there is no escape. ⁵ 

Job 13:9

13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine ⁶  you?

Or as one deceives ⁷  a man would you deceive him?

Job 14:12

14:12 so man lies down and does not rise;

until the heavens are no more, ⁸ 

they ⁹  will not awake

nor arise from their sleep.

Job 32:5

32:5 But when Elihu saw ¹⁰  that the three men had no further reply, ¹¹  he became very angry.

Job 32:21

32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone, ¹² 

nor will I confer a title ¹³  on any man.

Job 33:15

33:15 In a dream, a night vision,

when deep sleep falls on people

as they sleep in their beds.

Job 34:8

34:8 He goes about ¹⁴  in company ¹⁵  with evildoers,

he goes along ¹⁶  with wicked men. ¹⁷ 

Job 34:10

God is Not Unjust

34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ¹⁸ 

Far be it from ¹⁹  God to do wickedness,

from the Almighty to do evil.

Job 34:23

34:23 For he does not still consider a person, ²⁰ 

that he should come before God in judgment.

Job 34:36

34:36 But ²¹  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

Job 37:20

37:20 Should he be informed that I want ²²  to speak?

If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!

Job 38:26

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ²³ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ²⁴ 

[12:10]  ¹ tn The construction with the relative clause includes a resumptive pronoun referring to God: “who in his hand” = “in whose hand.”

[12:10]  ² tn The two words נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) and רוּחַ (ruakh) are synonymous in general. They could be translated “soul” and “spirit,” but “soul” is not precise for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), and so “life” is to be preferred. Since that is the case for the first half of the verse, “breath” will be preferable in the second part.

[12:10]  ³ tn Human life is made of “flesh” and “spirit.” So here the line reads “and the spirit of all flesh of man.” If the text had simply said “all flesh,” that would have applied to all flesh in which there is the breath of life (see Gen 6:17; 7:15). But to limit this to human beings requires the qualification with “man.”

[12:14]  ⁴ tn The use of הֵן (hen, equivalent to הִנֵּה, hinneh, “behold”) introduces a hypothetical condition.

[12:14]  ⁵ tn The verse employs antithetical ideas: “tear down” and “build up,” “imprison” and “escape.” The Niphal verbs in the sentences are potential imperfects. All of this is to say that humans cannot reverse the will of God.

[13:9]  ⁷ tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.

[13:9]  ⁸ tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.

[14:12]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew construction is “until not,” which is unusual if not impossible; it is found in only one other type of context. In its six other occurrences (Num 21:35; Deut 3:3; Josh 8:22; 10:33; 11:8; 2 Kgs 10:11) the context refers to the absence of survivors. Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Syriac, and Vulgate all have “till the heavens wear out.” Most would emend the text just slightly from עַד־בִּלְתִּי (’ad-bilti, “are no more”) to עַד בְּלוֹת (’ad bÿlot, “until the wearing out of,” see Ps 102:26 [27]; Isa 51:6). Gray rejects emendation here, finding the unusual form of the MT in its favor. Orlinsky (p. 57) finds a cognate Arabic word meaning “will not awake” and translates it “so long as the heavens are not rent asunder” (H. M. Orlinsky, “The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Job 14:12,” JQR 28 [1937/38]: 57-68). He then deletes the last line of the verse as a later gloss.

[14:12]  ¹¹ tn The verb is plural because the subject, אִישׁ (’ish), is viewed as a collective: “mankind.” The verb means “to wake up; to awake”; another root, קוּץ (quts, “to split open”) cognate to Arabic qada and Akkadian kasu, was put forward by H. M. Orlinsky (“The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Job 14:12,” JQR 28 [1937-38]: 57-68) and G. R. Driver (“Problems in the Hebrew Text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 72-93).

[32:5]  ¹³ tn The first clause beginning with a vav (ו) consecutive and the preterite can be subordinated to the next similar verb as a temporal clause.

[32:5]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “that there was no reply in the mouth of the three men.”

[32:21]  ¹⁶ tn The idiom is “I will not lift up the face of a man.” Elihu is going to show no favoritism, but speak his mind.

[32:21]  ¹⁷ tn The verb means “to confer an honorary title; to give a mark of distinction,” but it is often translated with the verb “flatter.” Elihu will not take sides, he will not use pompous titles.

[34:8]  ¹⁹ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ²⁰ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ²¹ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ²² tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:10]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn For this construction, see Job 27:5.

[34:23]  ²⁵ 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.

[34:36]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[37:20]  ³¹ tn This imperfect works well as a desiderative imperfect.

[38:26]  ³⁴ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ³⁵ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”