Job 13:6

13:6 “Listen now to my argument, ¹ 

and be attentive to my lips’ contentions. ² 

Job 13:17

13:17 Listen carefully ³  to my words;

let your ears be attentive to my explanation. ⁴ 

Job 21:2

21:2 “Listen carefully ⁵  to my words;

let this be ⁶  the consolation you offer me. ⁷ 

Job 29:21

Job’s Reputation

29:21 “People ⁸  listened to me and waited silently; ⁹ 

they kept silent for my advice.

Job 34:2

34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;

hear ¹⁰  me, you learned men. ¹¹ 

[13:6]  ¹ sn Job first will argue with his friends. His cause that he will plead with God begins in v. 13. The same root יָכַח (yakhakh, “argue, plead”) is used here as in v. 3b (see note). Synonymous parallelism between the two halves of this verse supports this translation.

[13:6]  ² tn The Hebrew word רִבוֹת (rivot, “disputes, contentions”) continues the imagery of presenting a legal case. The term is used of legal disputations and litigation. See, also, v. 19a.

[13:17]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”

[21:2]  ⁷ 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.

[29:21]  ⁷ tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.

[29:21]  ⁸ tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.

[34:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “give ear to me.”

[34:2]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”