Job 15:7

15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?

Were you brought forth before the hills?

Job 26:5

A Better Description of God’s Greatness ¹ 

26:5 “The dead ²  tremble ³  –

those beneath the waters

and all that live in them. ⁴ 

Job 20:21

20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; ⁵ 

that is why his prosperity does not last. ⁶ 

Job 39:1

39:1 “Are you acquainted with the way ⁷ 

the mountain goats ⁸  give birth?

Do you watch as the wild deer give birth to their young?

Job 15:20

15:20 All his days ⁹  the wicked man suffers torment, ¹⁰ 

throughout the number of the years

that ¹¹  are stored up for the tyrant. ¹² 

Job 35:14

35:14 How much less, then,

when you say that you do not perceive him,

that the case is before him

and you are waiting for him! ¹³ 

[26:5]  ¹ sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.

[26:5]  ² tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.

[26:5]  ³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

[26:5]  ⁴ tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.

[20:21]  ¹ tn Heb “for his eating,” which is frequently rendered “for his gluttony.” It refers, of course, to all the desires he has to take things from other people.

[20:21]  ² sn The point throughout is that insatiable greed and ruthless plundering to satisfy it will be recompensed with utter and complete loss.

[39:1]  ¹ tn The text uses the infinitive as the object: “do you know the giving birth of?”

[39:1]  ² tn Or “ibex.”

[15:20]  ¹ tn Heb “all the days of the wicked, he suffers.” The word “all” is an adverbial accusative of time, stating along with its genitives (“of the days of a wicked man”) how long the individual suffers. When the subject is composed of a noun in construct followed by a genitive, the predicate sometimes agrees with the genitive (see GKC 467 §146.a).

[15:20]  ² tn The Hebrew term מִתְחוֹלֵל (mitkholel) is a Hitpolel participle from חִיל (khil, “to tremble”). It carries the idea of “torment oneself,” or “be tormented.” Some have changed the letter ח (khet) for a letter ה (he), and obtained the meaning “shows himself mad.” Theodotion has “is mad.” Syriac (“behave arrogantly,” apparently confusing Hebrew חול with חלל; Heidi M. Szpek, Translation Technique in the Peshitta to Job [SBLDS], 277), Symmachus, and Vulgate have “boasts himself.” But the reading of the MT is preferable.

[15:20]  ³ tn It is necessary, with Rashi, to understand the relative pronoun before the verb “they are stored up/reserved.”

[15:20]  ⁴ tn This has been translated with the idea of “oppressor” in Job 6:23; 27:13.

[35:14]  ¹ sn The point is that if God does not listen to those who do not turn to him, how much less likely is he to turn to one who complains against him.