Job 19:4

19:4 But even if it were ¹  true that I have erred, ² 

my error ³  remains solely my concern!

Job 26:4

26:4 To whom ⁴  did you utter these words?

And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? ⁵ 

Job 14:5

14:5 Since man’s days ⁶  are determined, ⁷ 

the number of his months is under your control; ⁸ 

you have set his limit ⁹  and he cannot pass it.

Job 36:7

36:7 He does not take his eyes ¹⁰  off the righteous;

but with kings on the throne

he seats the righteous ¹¹  and exalts them forever. ¹² 

Job 2:13

2:13 Then they sat down with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights, yet no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain ¹³  was very great. ¹⁴ 

Job 12:3

12:3 I also have understanding ¹⁵  as well as you;

I am not inferior to you. ¹⁶ 

Who does not know such things as these? ¹⁷ 

[19:4]  ¹ tn Job has held to his innocence, so the only way that he could say “I have erred” (שָׁגִיתִי, shagiti) is in a hypothetical clause like this.

[19:4]  ² tn There is a long addition in the LXX: “in having spoken words which it is not right to speak, and my words err, and are unreasonable.”

[19:4]  ³ tn The word מְשׁוּגָה (mÿshugah) is a hapax legomenon. It is derived from שׁוּג (shug, “to wander; to err”) with root paralleling שָׁגַג (shagag) and שָׁגָה (shagah). What Job is saying is that even if it were true that he had erred, it did not injure them – it was solely his concern.

[26:4]  ⁴ tn The verse begins with the preposition and the interrogative: אֶת־מִי (’et-mi, “with who[se help]?”). Others take it as the accusative particle introducing the indirect object: “for whom did you utter…” (see GKC 371 §117.gg). Both are possible.

[26:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “has gone out from you.”

[14:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “his days.”

[14:5]  ⁸ tn The passive participle is from חָרַץ (kharats), which means “determined.” The word literally means “cut” (Lev 22:22, “mutilated”). E. Dhorme, (Job, 197) takes it to mean “engraved” as on stone; from a custom of inscribing decrees on tablets of stone he derives the meaning here of “decreed.” This, he argues, is parallel to the way חָקַק (khaqaq, “engrave”) is used. The word חֹק (khoq) is an “ordinance” or “statute”; the idea is connected to the verb “to engrave.” The LXX has “if his life should be but one day on the earth, and his months are numbered by him, you have appointed him for a time and he shall by no means exceed it.”

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “[is] with you.” This clearly means under God’s control.

[14:5]  ¹⁰ tn The word חֹק (khoq) has the meanings of “decree, decision, and limit” (cf. Job 28:26; 38:10).

[36:7]  ¹⁰ tc Many commentators accept the change of “his eyes” to “his right” (reading דִּינוֹ [dino] for עֵינָיו [’enayv]). There is no compelling reason for the change; it makes the line commonplace.

[36:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the righteous) has been repeated from the first part of the verse for clarity.

[36:7]  ¹² tn Heb “he seats them forever and exalts them.” The last verb can be understood as expressing a logical consequence of the preceding action (cf. GKC 328 §111.l = “he seats them forever so that he exalts them”). Or the two verbs can be taken as an adverbial hendiadys whereby the first modifies the second adverbially: “he exalts them by seating them forever” or “when he seats them forever” (cf. GKC 326 §111.d). Some interpret this verse to say that God seats kings on the throne, making a change in subject in the middle of the verse. But it makes better sense to see the righteous as the subject matter throughout – they are not only protected, but are exalted.

[2:13]  ¹³ tn The word כְּאֵב (kÿ’ev) means “pain” – both mental and physical pain. The translation of “grief” captures only part of its emphasis.

[2:13]  ¹⁴ sn The three friends went into a more severe form of mourning, one that is usually reserved for a death. E. Dhorme says it is a display of grief in its most intense form (Job, 23); for one of them to speak before the sufferer spoke would have been wrong.

[12:3]  ¹⁶ tn The word is literally “heart,” meaning a mind or understanding.

[12:3]  ¹⁷ tn Because this line is repeated in 13:2, many commentators delete it from this verse (as does the LXX). The Syriac translates נֹפֵל (nofel) as “little,” and the Vulgate “inferior.” Job is saying that he does not fall behind them in understanding.

[12:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “With whom are not such things as these?” The point is that everyone knows the things that these friends have been saying – they are commonplace.