Job 13:17

13:17 Listen carefully ¹  to my words;

let your ears be attentive to my explanation. ² 

Job 21:2

21:2 “Listen carefully ³  to my words;

let this be ⁴  the consolation you offer me. ⁵ 

Job 32:18

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me ⁶  constrains me. ⁷ 

Job 24:25

24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar

and reduce my words to nothing?” ⁸ 

Job 29:22

29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;

my words fell on them drop by drop. ⁹ 

[13:17]  ¹ tn The infinitive absolute intensifies the imperative, which serves here with the force of an immediate call to attention. In accordance with GKC 342 §113.n, the construction could be translated, “Keep listening” (so ESV).

[13:17]  ² tn The verb has to be supplied in this line, for the MT has “and my explanation in your ears.” In the verse, both “word” and “explanation” are Aramaisms (the latter appearing in Dan 5:12 for the explanation of riddles).

[21:2]  ³ tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.

[21:2]  ⁴ tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”

[21:2]  ⁵ tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.

[32:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ⁶ tn The verb צוּק (tsuq) means “to constrain; to urge; to press.” It is used in Judg 14:17; 16:16 with the sense of wearing someone down with repeated entreaties. Elihu cannot withhold himself any longer.

[24:25]  ⁷ tn The word אַל (’al, “not”) is used here substantivally (“nothing”).

[29:22]  ⁹ tn The verb simply means “dropped,” but this means like the rain. So the picture of his words falling on them like the gentle rain, drop by drop, is what is intended (see Deut 32:2).