Job 16:5

16:5 But ¹  I would strengthen ²  you with my words; ³ 

comfort from my lips would bring ⁴  you relief.

Job 37:8

37:8 The wild animals go to their lairs,

and in their dens they remain.

Job 19:16

19:16 I summon ⁵  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ⁶  him with my own mouth.

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ⁷  like you,

if ⁸  you were in my place;

I could pile up ⁹  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ¹⁰ 

[16:5]  ¹ tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:5]  ² tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”

[16:5]  ³ tn Heb “my mouth.”

[16:5]  ⁴ tn The verb יַחְשֹׂךְ (yakhsokh) means “to restrain; to withhold.” There is no object, so many make it first person subject, “I will not restrain.” The LXX and the Syriac have a different person – “I would not restrain.” G. R. Driver, arguing that the verb is intransitive here, made it “the solace of my lips would not [added] be withheld” (see JTS 34 [1933]: 380). D. J. A. Clines says that what is definitive is the use of the verb in the next line, where it clearly means “soothed, assuaged.”

[19:16]  ⁵ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[16:4]  ⁹ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ¹⁰ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

[16:4]  ¹¹ tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

[16:4]  ¹² sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).