Job 15:18

15:18 what wise men declare,

hiding nothing,

from the tradition of ¹  their ancestors, ² 

Job 17:5

17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, ³ 

the eyes of his children will fail.

Job 31:37

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Job 36:9

36:9 then he reveals ⁴  to them what they have done, ⁵ 

and their transgressions,

that they were behaving proudly.

[15:18]  ¹ tn The word “tradition” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.

[15:18]  ² tn Heb “their fathers.” Some commentators change one letter and follow the reading of the LXX: “and their fathers have not hidden.” Pope tries to get the same reading by classifying the מ (mem) as an enclitic mem. The MT on first glance would read “and did not hide from their fathers.” Some take the clause “and they did not hide” as adverbial and belonging to the first part of the verse: “what wise men declare, hiding nothing, according to the tradition of their fathers.”

[17:5]  ³ tn Heb “for a portion.” This verse is rather obscure. The words are not that difficult, but the sense of them in this context is. Some take the idea to mean “he denounces his friends for a portion,” and others have a totally different idea of “he invites his friends to share with him.” The former fits the context better, indicating that Job’s friends speak out against him for some personal gain. The second half of the verse then promises that his children will suffer loss for this attempt at gain. The line is surely proverbial. A number of other interpretations can be found in the commentaries.

[36:9]  ⁵ tn The verb נָגַד (nagad) means “to declare; to tell.” Here it is clear that God is making known the sins that caused the enslavement or captivity, so “reveal” makes a good interpretive translation.

[36:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “their work.”