Job 12:2

12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people, ¹ 

and wisdom will die with you. ² 

Job 26:3

26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,

and abundantly ³  revealed your insight!

Job 28:18

28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;

the price ⁴  of wisdom is more than pearls. ⁵ 

Job 32:7

32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age ⁶  should speak, ⁷ 

and length of years ⁸  should make wisdom known.’

Job 32:13

32:13 So do not say, ⁹  ‘We have found wisdom!

God will refute ¹⁰  him, not man!’

Job 33:33

33:33 If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Job 39:17

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

[12:2]  ¹ tn The expression “you are the people” is a way of saying that the friends hold the popular opinion – they represent it. The line is sarcastic. Commentators do not think the parallelism is served well by this, and so offer changes for “people.” Some have suggested “you are complete” (based on Arabic), “you are the strong one” (based on Ugaritic), etc. J. A. Davies tried to solve the difficulty by making the second clause in the verse a paratactic relative clause: “you are the people with whom wisdom will die” (“Note on Job 12:2,” VT 25 [1975]: 670-71).

[12:2]  ² sn The sarcasm of Job admits their claim to wisdom, as if no one has it besides them. But the rest of his speech will show that they do not have a monopoly on it.

[26:3]  ³ tc The phrase לָרֹב (larov) means “to abundance” or “in a large quantity.” It is also used ironically like all these expressions. This makes very good sense, but some wish to see a closer parallel and so offer emendations. Reiske and Kissane thought “to the tender” for the word. But the timid are not the same as the ignorant and unwise. So Graetz supplied “to the boorish” by reading לְבָעַר (lÿba’ar). G. R. Driver did the same with less of a change: לַבּוֹר (labbor; HTR 29 [1936]: 172).

[28:18]  ⁵ tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).

[28:18]  ⁶ tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.

[32:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “days.”

[32:7]  ⁸ tn The imperfect here is to be classified as an obligatory imperfect.

[32:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “abundance of years.”

[32:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “lest you say.” R. Gordis (Job, 368) calls this a breviloquence: “beware lest [you say].” He then suggests the best reading for their quote to be, “We have attained wisdom, but only God can refute him, not man.” H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 209) suggests the meaning is a little different, namely, that they are saying they have found wisdom in Job, and only God can deal with it. Elihu is in effect saying that they do not need God, for he is quite capable for this.

[32:13]  ¹⁰ tn The root is נָדַף (nadaf, “to drive away; to drive off”). Here it is in the abstract sense of “succeed in doing something; confound,” and so “refute; rebut.” Dhorme wants to change the meaning of the word with a slight emendation in the text, deriving it from אָלַף (’alaf, “instruct”) the form becoming יַלְּפֶנוּ (yallÿfenu) instead of יִדְּפֶנּוּ (yiddÿfenu), obtaining the translation “God will instruct us.” This makes a smoother reading, but does not have much support for it.