Job 12:11

12:11 Does not the ear test words,

as ¹  the tongue ²  tastes food? ³ 

Job 23:10

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ⁴ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ⁵ 

Job 34:3

34:3 For the ear assesses ⁶  words

as the mouth ⁷  tastes food.

[12:11]  ¹ tn The ו (vav) introduces the comparison here (see 5:7; 11:12); see GKC 499 §161.a.

[12:11]  ² tn Heb “the palate.”

[12:11]  ³ tn The final preposition with its suffix is to be understood as a pleonastic dativus ethicus and not translated (see GKC 439 §135.i).

[23:10]  ⁴ tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.

[23:10]  ⁵ tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).

[34:3]  ⁷ tn Or “examines; tests; tries; discerns.”

[34:3]  ⁸ tn Or “palate”; the Hebrew term refers to the tongue or to the mouth in general.