Job 15:34

15:34 For the company of the godless is barren, ¹ 

and fire ²  consumes the tents of those who accept bribes. ³ 

Job 20:15

20:15 The wealth that he consumed ⁴  he vomits up,

God will make him throw it out ⁵  of his stomach.

Job 31:12

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, ⁶ 

and it would uproot ⁷  all my harvest.

Job 33:21

33:21 His flesh wastes away from sight,

and his bones, which were not seen,

are easily visible. ⁸ 

[15:34]  ¹ tn The LXX renders this line: “for death is the witness of an ungodly man. “Death” represents “barren/sterile,” and “witness” represents “assembly.”

[15:34]  ² sn This may refer to the fire that struck Job (cf. 1:16).

[15:34]  ³ tn Heb “the tents of bribery.” The word “bribery” can mean a “gift,” but most often in the sense of a bribe in court. It indicates that the wealth and the possessions that the wicked man has gained may have been gained unjustly.

[20:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “swallowed.”

[20:15]  ⁵ tn The choice of words is excellent. The verb יָרַשׁ (yarash) means either “to inherit” or “to disinherit; to dispossess.” The context makes the figure clear that God is administering the emetic to make the wicked throw up the wealth (thus, “God will make him throw it out…”); but since wealth is the subject there is a disinheritance meant here.

[31:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Abaddon.”

[31:12]  ⁸ tn The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”

[33:21]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “are laid bare.” This is the Qere reading; the Kethib means “bare height.” Gordis reverses the word order: “his bones are bare [i.e., crushed] so that they cannot be looked upon.” But the sense of that is not clear.