Job 17:8

17:8 Upright men are appalled ¹  at this;

the innocent man is troubled ²  with the godless.

Job 23:7

23:7 There ³  an upright person

could present his case ⁴  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

[17:8]  ¹ tn This verb שָׁמַם (shamam, “appalled”) is the one found in Isa 52:14, translated there “astonished.”

[17:8]  ² tn The verb means “to rouse oneself to excitement.” It naturally means “to be agitated; to be stirred up.”

[23:7]  ³ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”