Job 12:24

12:24 He deprives the leaders of the earth ¹ 

of their understanding; ² 

he makes them wander

in a trackless desert waste. ³ 

Job 31:7

31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,

if my heart has gone after my eyes, ⁴ 

or if anything ⁵  has defiled my hands,

Job 31:9

31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, ⁶ 

[12:24]  ¹ tn Heb “the heads of the people of the earth.”

[12:24]  ² tn Heb “heart.”

[12:24]  ³ tn The text has בְּתֹהוּ לֹא־דָרֶךְ (bÿtohu lo’ darekh): “in waste – no way,” or “in a wasteland [where there is] no way,” thus, “trackless” (see the discussion of negative attributes using לֹא [lo’] in GKC 482 §152.u).

[31:7]  ⁴ sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”

[31:7]  ⁵ tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.

[31:9]  ⁷ tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.