Job 13:2

13:2 What you know, ¹  I ²  know also;

I am not inferior ³  to you!

Job 16:19

16:19 Even now my witness ⁴  is in heaven;

my advocate ⁵  is on high.

Job 18:5

18:5 “Yes, ⁶  the lamp ⁷  of the wicked is extinguished;

his flame of fire ⁸  does not shine.

Job 19:18

19:18 Even youngsters have scorned me;

when I get up, ⁹  they scoff at me. ¹⁰ 

Job 21:7

The Wicked Prosper

21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, ¹¹ 

grow old, ¹²  even increase in power?

Job 23:2

23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter; ¹³ 

his ¹⁴  hand is heavy despite ¹⁵  my groaning.

Job 24:19

24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away

the melted snow; ¹⁶ 

so the grave ¹⁷  takes away those who have sinned. ¹⁸ 

Job 30:2

30:2 Moreover, the strength of their ¹⁹  hands –

what use was it to me?

Men whose strength ²⁰  had perished;

Job 31:28

31:28 then this ²¹  also would be iniquity to be judged, ²² 

for I would have been false ²³  to God above.

Job 33:6

33:6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;

I too have been molded ²⁴  from clay.

Job 40:14

40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge ²⁵  to you

that your own right hand can save you. ²⁶ 

Job 41:9

41:9 (41:1) ²⁷  See, his expectation is wrong, ²⁸ 

he is laid low even at the sight of it. ²⁹ 

[13:2]  ¹ tn Heb “Like your knowledge”; in other words Job is saying that his knowledge is like their knowledge.

[13:2]  ² tn The pronoun makes the subject emphatic and stresses the contrast: “I know – I also.”

[13:2]  ³ tn The verb “fall” is used here as it was in Job 4:13 to express becoming lower than someone, i.e., inferior.

[16:19]  ⁴ sn The witness in heaven must be God, to whom the cries and prayers come. Job’s dilemma is serious, but common to the human experience: the hostility of God toward him is baffling, but he is conscious of his innocence and can call on God to be his witness.

[16:19]  ⁵ tn The parallelism now uses the Aramaic word “my advocate” – the one who testifies on my behalf. The word again appears in Gen 31:47 for Laban’s naming of the “heap of witness” in Aramaic – “Sahadutha.”

[18:5]  ⁷ tn Hebrew גַּם (gam, “also; moreover”), in view of what has just been said.

[18:5]  ⁸ sn The lamp or the light can have a number of uses in the Bible. Here it is probably an implied metaphor for prosperity and happiness, for the good life itself.

[18:5]  ⁹ tn The expression is literally “the flame of his fire,” but the pronominal suffix qualifies the entire bound construction. The two words together intensify the idea of the flame.

[19:18]  ¹⁰ sn The use of the verb “rise” is probably fairly literal. When Job painfully tries to get up and walk, the little boys make fun of him.

[19:18]  ¹¹ tn The verb דִּבֵּר (dibber) followed by the preposition בּ (bet) indicates speaking against someone, namely, scoffing or railing against someone (see Ps 50:20; 78:19). Some commentators find another root with the meaning “to turn one’s back on; to turn aside from.” The argument is rendered weak philologically because it requires a definition “from” for the preposition bet. See among others I. Eitan, “Studies in Hebrew Roots,” JQR 14 (1923-24): 31-52 [especially 38-41].

[21:7]  ¹³ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”

[21:7]  ¹⁴ tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”

[23:2]  ¹⁶ tc The MT reads here מְרִי (mÿri, “rebellious”). The word is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to revolt”). Many commentators follow the Vulgate, Targum Job, and the Syriac to read מַר (mar, “bitter”). The LXX offers no help here.

[23:2]  ¹⁷ tc The MT (followed by the Vulgate and Targum) has “my hand is heavy on my groaning.” This would mean “my stroke is heavier than my groaning” (an improbable view from Targum Job). A better suggestion is that the meaning would be that Job tries to suppress his groans but the hand with which he suppresses them is too heavy (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 159). Budde, E. Dhorme, J. E. Hartley, and F. I. Andersen all maintain the MT as the more difficult reading. F. I. Andersen (Job [TOTC], 208) indicates that the ִי(i) suffix could be an example of an unusual third masculine singular. Both the LXX and the Syriac versions have “his hand,” and many modern commentators follow this, along with the present translation. In this case the referent of “his” would be God, whose hand is heavy upon Job in spite of Job’s groaning.

[23:2]  ¹⁸ tn The preposition can take this meaning; it could be also translated simply “upon.” R. Gordis (Job, 260) reads the preposition “more than,” saying that Job had been defiant (he takes that view) but God’s hand had been far worse.

[24:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”

[24:19]  ²⁰ tn Or “so Sheol.”

[24:19]  ²¹ tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”

[30:2]  ²² tn The reference is to the fathers of the scorners, who are here regarded as weak and worthless.

[30:2]  ²³ tn The word כֶּלַח (kelakh) only occurs in Job 5:26; but the Arabic cognate gives this meaning “strength.” Others suggest כָּלַח (kalakh, “old age”), ֹכּל־חַיִל (kol-khayil, “all vigor”), כֹּל־לֵחַ (kol-leakh, “all freshness”), and the like. But there is no reason for such emendation.

[31:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ²⁶ tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.

[31:28]  ²⁷ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.

[33:6]  ²⁸ tn The verb means “nipped off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay when molding a vessel.

[40:14]  ³¹ tn The verb is usually translated “praise,” but with the sense of a public declaration or acknowledgment. It is from יָדָה (yadah, in the Hiphil, as here, “give thanks, laud”).

[40:14]  ³² tn The imperfect verb has the nuance of potential imperfect: “can save; is able to save.”

[41:9]  ³⁴ sn Job 41:9 in the English Bible is 41:1 in the Hebrew text (BHS). From here to the end of the chapter the Hebrew verse numbers differ from those in the English Bible, with 41:10 ET = 41:2 HT, 41:11 ET = 41:3 HT, etc. See also the note on 41:1.

[41:9]  ³⁵ tn The line is difficult. “His hope [= expectation]” must refer to any assailant who hopes or expects to capture the creature. Because there is no antecedent, Dhorme and others transpose it with the next verse. The point is that the man who thought he was sufficient to confront Leviathan soon finds his hope – his expectation – false (a derivative from the verb כָּזַב [kazab, “lie”] is used for a mirage).

[41:9]  ³⁶ tn There is an interrogative particle in this line, which most commentators ignore. But others freely emend the MT. Gunkel, following the mythological approach, has “his appearance casts down even a god.” Cheyne likewise has: “even divine beings the fear of him brings low” (JQR 9 [1896/97]: 579). Pope has, “Were not the gods cast down at the sight of him?” There is no need to bring in this mythological element.