Job 18:10

18:10 A rope is hidden for him ¹  on the ground

and a trap for him ²  lies on the path.

Job 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ³  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ⁴  over my paths.

Job 28:7

28:7 a hidden path ⁵  no bird of prey knows –

no falcon’s ⁶  eye has spotted it.

Job 30:13

30:13 They destroy ⁷  my path;

they succeed in destroying me ⁸ 

without anyone assisting ⁹  them.

Job 38:20

38:20 that you may take them to their borders

and perceive the pathways to their homes? ¹⁰ 

Job 41:32

41:32 It leaves a glistening wake behind it;

one would think the deep had a head of white hair.

Job 24:13

24:13 There are those ¹¹  who rebel against the light;

they do not know its ways

and they do not stay on its paths.

[18:10]  ¹ tn Heb “his rope.” The suffix must be a genitive expressing that the trap was for him, to trap him, and so an objective genitive.

[18:10]  ² tn Heb “his trap.” The pronominal suffix is objective genitive here as well.

[19:8]  ³ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ⁴ tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[28:7]  ⁵ tn The “path” could refer to the mine shaft or it could refer to wisdom. The former seems more likely in the present context; the word “hidden is supplied in the translation to indicate the mines are “hidden” from sharp-eyed birds of prey above.

[28:7]  ⁶ sn The kind of bird mentioned here is debated. The LXX has “vulture,” and so some commentaries follow that. The emphasis on the sight favors the view that it is the falcon.

[30:13]  ⁷ tn This verb נָתְסוּ (natÿsu) is found nowhere else. It is probably a variant of the verb in Job 19:10. R. Gordis (Job, 333-34) notes the Arabic noun natsun (“thorns”), suggesting a denominative idea “they have placed thorns in my path.” Most take it to mean they ruin the way of escape.

[30:13]  ⁸ tc The MT has “they further my misfortune.” The line is difficult, with slight textual problems. The verb יֹעִילוּ (yo’ilu) means “to profit,” and so “to succeed” or “to set forward.” Good sense can be made from the MT as it stands, and many suggested changes are suspect.

[30:13]  ⁹ tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[38:20]  ⁹ tn The suffixes are singular (“that you may take it to its border…to its home”), referring to either the light or the darkness. Because either is referred to, the translation has employed plurals, since singulars would imply that only the second item, “darkness,” was the referent. Plurals are also employed by NAB and NIV.

[24:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “They are among those who.”