Job 13:7

13:7 Will you speak wickedly ¹  on God’s behalf? ² 

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

Job 15:8

15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? ³ 

Do you limit ⁴  wisdom to yourself?

Job 36:14

36:14 They die ⁵  in their youth,

and their life ends among the male cultic prostitutes. ⁶ 

Job 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ⁷  sang ⁸  in chorus, ⁹ 

and all the sons of God ¹⁰  shouted for joy?

Job 40:9

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, ¹¹ 

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

Job 41:25

41:25 When it rises up, the mighty are terrified,

at its thrashing about they withdraw. ¹² 

Job 1:6

Satan’s Accusation of Job ¹³ 

1:6 Now the day came when ¹⁴  the sons of God ¹⁵  came to present themselves before ¹⁶  the Lord – and Satan ¹⁷  also arrived among them.

Job 15:11

15:11 Are God’s consolations ¹⁸  too trivial for you; ¹⁹ 

or a word spoken ²⁰  in gentleness to you?

Job 20:28

20:28 A flood will carry off his house,

rushing waters on the day of God’s wrath.

Job 21:30

21:30 that the evil man is spared

from the day of his misfortune,

that he is delivered ²¹ 

from the day of God’s wrath?

Job 29:4

29:4 just as I was in my most productive time, ²² 

when God’s intimate friendship ²³  was experienced in my tent,

Job 36:2

36:2 “Be patient ²⁴  with me a little longer

and I will instruct you,

for I still have words to speak on God’s behalf. ²⁵ 

Job 41:9

41:9 (41:1) ²⁶  See, his expectation is wrong, ²⁷ 

he is laid low even at the sight of it. ²⁸ 

Job 2:1

Satan’s Additional Charge

2:1 Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord. ²⁹ 

Job 6:4

6:4 For the arrows ³⁰  of the Almighty ³¹  are within me;

my spirit ³²  drinks their poison; ³³ 

God’s sudden terrors ³⁴  are arrayed ³⁵  against me.

Job 15:30

15:30 He will not escape the darkness; ³⁶ 

a flame will wither his shoots

and he will depart

by the breath of God’s mouth. ³⁷ 

Job 33:26

33:26 He entreats God, and God ³⁸  delights in him,

he sees God’s face ³⁹  with rejoicing,

and God ⁴⁰  restores to him his righteousness. ⁴¹ 

[13:7]  ¹ tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).

[13:7]  ² tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.

[15:8]  ³ tn The meaning of סוֹד (sod) is “confidence.” In the context the implication is “secret counsel” of the Lord God (see Jer 23:18). It is a question of confidence on the part of God, that only wisdom can know (see Prov 8:30,31). Job seemed to them to claim to have access to the mind of God.

[15:8]  ⁴ tn In v. 4 the word meant “limit”; here it has a slightly different sense, namely, “to reserve for oneself.”

[36:14]  ⁵ tn The text expresses this with “their soul dies.”

[36:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “among the male prostitutes” who were at the temple – the “holy ones,” with “holy” being used in that sense of “separated to that form of temple service.” So uncleanness and shame are some of the connotations of the reference. Some modern translations give the general sense only: “their life ends in shame” (NRSV); “and perish among the reprobate” (NAB); “die…after wasting their lives in immoral living” (NLT).

[38:7]  ⁷ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ⁸ tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ¹⁰ tn See Job 1:6.

[40:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[41:25]  ¹¹ tc This verse has created all kinds of problems for the commentators. The first part is workable: “when he raises himself up, the mighty [the gods] are terrified.” The mythological approach would render אֵלִים (’elim) as “gods.” But the last two words, which could be rendered “at the breaking [crashing, or breakers] they fail,” receive much attention. E. Dhorme (Job, 639) suggests “majesty” for “raising up” and “billows” (גַּלִּים, gallim) for אֵלִים (’elim), and gets a better parallelism: “the billows are afraid of his majesty, and the waves draw back.” But H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 263) does not think this is relevant to the context, which is talking about the creature’s defense against attack. The RSV works well for the first part, but the second part need some change; so Rowley adopts “in their dire consternation they are beside themselves.”

[1:6]  ¹³ sn The text draws the curtain of heaven aside for the reader to understand the background of this drama. God extols the virtue of Job, but Satan challenges the reasons for it. He receives permission to try to dislodge Job from his integrity. In short, God is using Job to prove Satan’s theory wrong.

[1:6]  ¹⁴ tn The beginning Hebrew expression “and there was – the day” indicates that “there came a day when” or more simply “the day came when.” It emphasizes the particular day. The succeeding clause is then introduced with a preterite with the with vav (ו) consecutive (see E. Dhorme, Job, 5).

[1:6]  ¹⁵ sn The “sons of God” in the OT is generally taken to refer to angels. They are not actually “sons” of Elohim; the idiom is a poetic way of describing their nature and relationship to God. The phrase indicates their supernatural nature, and their submission to God as the sovereign Lord. It may be classified as a genitive that expresses how individuals belong to a certain class or type, i.e., the supernatural (GKC 418 §128.v). In the pagan literature, especially of Ugarit, “the sons of God” refers to the lesser gods or deities of the pantheon. See H. W. Robinson, “The Council of Yahweh,” JTS 45 (1943): 151-57; G. Cooke, “The Sons of (the) God(s),” ZAW 76 (1964): 22-47; M. Tsevat, “God and the Gods in the Assembly,” HUCA 40-41 (1969/70): 123-37.

[1:6]  ¹⁶ tn The preposition עַל (’al) in this construction after a verb of standing or going means “before” (GKC 383 §119.cc).

[1:6]  ¹⁷ sn The word means “adversary” or with the article “the adversary” – here the superhuman adversary or Satan. The word with the article means that the meaning of the word should receive prominence. A denominative verb meaning “to act as adversary” occurs. Satan is the great accuser of the saints (see Zech 3 where “Satan was standing there to ‘satanize’ Joshua the priest”; and see Rev 12 which identifies him with the Serpent in Genesis). He came among the angels at this time because he is one of them and has access among them. Even though fallen, Satan has yet to be cast down completely (see Rev 12).

[15:11]  ¹⁵ sn The word תַּנְחֻמוֹת (tankhumot) occurs here and only in Job 21:34. The words of comfort and consolation that they have been offering to Job are here said to be “of God.” But Job will call them miserable comforters (16:2).

[15:11]  ¹⁶ tn The formula “is it too little for you” or “is it too slight a matter for you” is also found in Isa 7:13 (see GKC 430 §133.c).

[15:11]  ¹⁷ tn The word “spoken” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[21:30]  ¹⁷ tn The verb means “to be led forth.” To be “led forth in the day of trouble” means to be delivered.

[29:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the days of my ripeness.” The word חֹרֶף (khoref) denotes the time when the harvest is gathered in because the fruit is ripe. Since this is the autumn, many translate that way here – but “autumn” has a different connotation now. The text is pointing to a time when the righteous reaps what he has sown, and can enjoy the benefits. The translation “most productive time” seems to capture the point better than “autumn” or even “prime.”

[29:4]  ²⁰ tc The word סוֹד (sod) in this verse is an infinitive construct, prefixed with the temporal preposition and followed by a subjective genitive. It forms a temporal clause. There is some disagreement about the form and its meaning. The confusion in the versions shows that they were paraphrasing to get the general sense. In the Bible the derived noun (from יָסַד, yasad) means (a) a circle of close friends; (b) intimacy. Others follow the LXX and the Syriac with a meaning of “protect,” based on a change from ד (dalet) to כּ (kaf), and assuming the root was סָכַךְ (sakhakh). This would mean, “when God protected my tent” (cf. NAB). D. W. Thomas tries to justify this meaning without changing the text (“The Interpretation of BSOÝD in Job 29:4,” JBL 65 [1946]: 63-66).

[36:2]  ²¹ tn The verb כָּתַּר (kattar) is the Piel imperative; in Hebrew the word means “to surround” and is related to the noun for crown. But in Syriac it means “to wait.” This section of the book of Job will have a few Aramaic words.

[36:2]  ²² tn The Hebrew text simply has “for yet for God words.”

[41:9]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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]  ²⁵ 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.

[2:1]  ²⁵ tc This last purpose clause has been omitted in some Greek versions.

[6:4]  ²⁷ sn Job uses an implied comparison here to describe his misfortune – it is as if God had shot poisoned arrows into him (see E. Dhorme, Job, 76-77 for a treatment of poisoned arrows in the ancient world).

[6:4]  ²⁸ sn Job here clearly states that his problems have come from the Almighty, which is what Eliphaz said. But whereas Eliphaz said Job provoked the trouble by his sin, Job is perplexed because he does not think he did.

[6:4]  ²⁹ tn Most commentators take “my spirit” as the subject of the participle “drinks” (except the NEB, which follows the older versions to say that the poison “drinks up [or “soaks in”] the spirit.”) The image of the poisoned arrow represents the calamity or misfortune from God, which is taken in by Job’s spirit and enervates him.

[6:4]  ³⁰ tn The LXX translators knew that a liquid should be used with the verb “drink”; but they took the line to be “whose violence drinks up my blood.” For the rest of the verse they came up with, “whenever I am going to speak they pierce me.”

[6:4]  ³¹ tn The word translated “sudden terrors” is found only here and in Ps 88:16 [17]. G. R. Driver notes that the idea of suddenness is present in the root, and so renders this word as “sudden assaults” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 73).

[6:4]  ³² tn The verb עָרַךְ (’arakh) means “to set in battle array.” The suffix on the verb is dative (see GKC 369 §117.x). Many suggestions have been made for changing this word. These seem unnecessary since the MT pointing yields a good meaning: but for the references to these suggestions, see D. J. A. Clines, Job (WBC), 158. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 59), nonetheless, follows the suggestion of Driver that connects it to a root meaning “wear me down.” This change of meaning requires no change in the Hebrew text. The image is of a beleaguering army; the host is made up of all the terrors from God. The reference is to the terrifying and perplexing thoughts that assail Job (A. B. Davidson, Job, 44).

[15:30]  ²⁹ tn Some editions and commentators delete the first line of this verse, arguing that it is simply a paraphrase of v. 22a, and that it interrupts the comparison with a tree that falls (although that comparison only starts next).

[15:30]  ³⁰ tn This last line in the verse is the difficult one. The MT has “he shall depart by the breath of his mouth.” If this reading stands, then it must be understood that it is the breath of God’s mouth that is intended. In place of “his mouth” the LXX has “flower” (reading פִּרהוֹ [pirho, properly, “his fruit”] instead of פִּיו piv), and “fall” instead of “depart.” Modern commentators and a number of English versions (e.g., RSV, NRSV, TEV) alter יָסוּר (yasur, “depart”) to something like יְסֹעַר (yÿso’ar, from סָעַר [sa’ar, “to drive away”]), or the like, to get “will be swept away.” The result is a reading: “and his blossom will be swept away by the wind.” The LXX may have read the Hebrew exactly, but harmonized it with v. 33 (see H. Heater, A Septuagint Translation Technique in the Book of Job [CBQMS]: 61-62).

[33:26]  ³¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ³² tn Heb “his face”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ³⁴ tc Many commentators think this line is superfluous and so delete it. The RSV changed the verb to “he recounts,” making the idea that the man publishes the news of his victory or salvation (taking “righteousness” as a metonymy of cause).