Job 14:17

14:17 My offenses would be sealed up ¹  in a bag; ² 

you would cover over ³  my sin.

Job 13:23

13:23 How many are my ⁴  iniquities and sins?

Show me my transgression and my sin. ⁵ 

Job 31:33

31:33 if ⁶  I have covered my transgressions as men do, ⁷ 

by hiding ⁸  iniquity in my heart, ⁹ 

Job 7:21

7:21 And why do you not pardon my transgression,

and take away my iniquity?

For now I will lie down in the dust, ¹⁰ 

and you will seek me diligently, ¹¹ 

but I will be gone.”

[14:17]  ¹ tn The passive participle חָתֻם (khatum), from חָתַם (khatam, “seal”), which is used frequently in the Bible, means “sealed up.” The image of sealing sins in a bag is another of the many poetic ways of expressing the removal of sin from the individual (see 1 Sam 25:29). Since the term most frequently describes sealed documents, the idea here may be more that of sealing in a bag the record of Job’s sins (see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 334).

[14:17]  ² tn The idea has been presented that the background of putting tally stones in a bag is intended (see A. L. Oppenheim, “On an Operational Device in Mesopotamian Bureaucracy,” JNES 18 [1959]: 121-28).

[14:17]  ³ tn This verb was used in Job 13:4 for “plasterers of lies.” The idea is probably that God coats or paints over the sins so that they are forgotten (see Isa 1:18). A. B. Davidson (Job, 105) suggests that the sins are preserved until full punishment is exacted. But the verse still seems to be continuing the thought of how the sins would be forgotten in the next life.

[13:23]  ⁴ tn The pronoun “my” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied here in the translation.

[13:23]  ⁵ sn Job uses three words for sin here: “iniquities,” which means going astray, erring; “sins,” which means missing the mark or the way; and “transgressions,” which are open rebellions. They all emphasize different kinds of sins and different degrees of willfulness. Job is demanding that any sins be brought up. Both Job and his friends agree that great afflictions would have to indicate great offenses – he wants to know what they are.

[31:33]  ⁷ tn Now the protasis continues again.

[31:33]  ⁸ sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.

[31:33]  ⁹ tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.

[31:33]  ¹⁰ tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.

[7:21]  ¹⁰ tn The LXX has, “for now I will depart to the earth.”

[7:21]  ¹¹ tn The verb שָׁחַר (shakhar) in the Piel has been translated “to seek early in the morning” because of the possible link with the word “dawn.” But the verb more properly means “to seek diligently” (by implication).