Job 18:6

18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;

his lamp above him is extinguished. ¹ 

Job 18:9

18:9 A trap ²  seizes him by the heel;

a snare ³  grips him.

Job 26:9

26:9 He conceals ⁴  the face of the full moon, ⁵ 

shrouding it with his clouds.

Job 27:23

27:23 It claps ⁶  its hands at him in derision

and hisses him away from his place. ⁷ 

Job 38:10

38:10 when I prescribed ⁸  its limits,

and set ⁹  in place its bolts and doors,

Job 39:23

39:23 On it the quiver rattles;

the lance and javelin ¹⁰  flash.

[18:6]  ¹ tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”

[18:9]  ² tn This word פָּח (pakh) specifically refers to the snare of the fowler – thus a bird trap. But its plural seems to refer to nets in general (see Job 22:10).

[18:9]  ³ tn This word does not occur elsewhere. But another word from the same root means “plait of hair,” and so this term has something to do with a net like a trellis or lattice.

[26:9]  ³ tn The verb means “to hold; to seize,” here in the sense of shutting up, enshrouding, or concealing.

[26:9]  ⁴ tc The MT has כִסֵּה (khisseh), which is a problematic vocalization. Most certainly כֵּסֶה (keseh), alternative for כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”) is intended here. The MT is close to the form of “throne,” which would be כִּסֵּא (kisse’, cf. NLT “he shrouds his throne with his clouds”). But here God is covering the face of the moon by hiding it behind clouds.

[27:23]  ⁴ tn If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands…men will whistle upon him.”

[27:23]  ⁵ tn Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).

[38:10]  ⁵ tc The MT has “and I broke,” which cannot mean “set, prescribed” or the like. The LXX and the Vulgate have such a meaning, suggesting a verb עֲשִׁית (’ashiyt, “plan, prescribe”). A. Guillaume finds an Arabic word with a meaning “measured it by span by my decree.” Would God give himself a decree? R. Gordis simply argues that the basic meaning “break” develops the connotation of “decide, determine” (2 Sam 5:24; Job 14:3; Dan 11:36).

[38:10]  ⁶ tn Dhorme suggested reversing the two verbs, making this the first, and then “shatter” for the second colon.

[39:23]  ⁶ tn This may be the scimitar (see G. Molin, “What is a kidon?” JSS 1 [1956]: 334-37).