Job 2:6

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ¹  he is ²  in your power; ³  only preserve ⁴  his life.”

Job 11:2

11:2 “Should not this ⁵  abundance of words be answered, ⁶ 

or should this ⁷  talkative man ⁸ 

be vindicated? ⁹ 

Job 14:20

14:20 You overpower him once for all, ¹⁰ 

and he departs;

you change ¹¹  his appearance

and send him away.

Job 19:12

19:12 His troops ¹²  advance together;

they throw up ¹³  a siege ramp against me,

and they camp around my tent.

Job 27:3

27:3 for while ¹⁴  my spirit ¹⁵  is still in me,

and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

Job 29:11

Job’s Benevolence

29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, ¹⁶  it blessed me, ¹⁷ 

and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,

Job 30:2

30:2 Moreover, the strength of their ¹⁸  hands –

what use was it to me?

Men whose strength ¹⁹  had perished;

Job 30:11

30:11 Because God has untied ²⁰  my tent cord and afflicted me,

people throw off all restraint in my presence. ²¹ 

Job 31:37

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Job 33:13

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ²²  words?

Job 37:24

37:24 Therefore people fear him,

for he does not regard all the wise in heart.” ²³ 

Job 38:21

38:21 You know, for you were born before them; ²⁴ 

and the number of your days is great!

Job 40:11-12

40:11 Scatter abroad ²⁵  the abundance ²⁶  of your anger.

Look at every proud man ²⁷  and bring him low;

40:12 Look at every proud man and abase him;

crush the wicked on the spot! ²⁸ 

[2:6]  ¹ tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.

[2:6]  ² tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ⁴ sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.

[11:2]  ⁵ tc The LXX, Targum Job, Symmachus, and Vulgate all assume that the vocalization of רֹב (rov, “abundance”) should be רַב (rav, “great”): “great of words.” This would then mean “one who is abundant of words,” meaning, “a man of many words,” and make a closer parallel to the second half. But the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[11:2]  ⁶ tn The Niphal verb יֵעָנֶה (ye’aneh, “he answered”) would normally require a personal subject, but “abundance” functions as the subject in this sentence. The nuance of the imperfect is obligatory.

[11:2]  ⁷ tn The word is supplied here also for clarification.

[11:2]  ⁸ tn The bound construction “man of lips” means “a boaster” or “proud talker” (attributive genitive; and see GKC 417 §128.t). Zophar is saying that Job pours out this stream of words, but he is still not right.

[11:2]  ⁹ tn The word is literally “be right, righteous.” The idea of being right has appeared before for this word (cf. 9:15). The point here is that just because Job talks a lot does not mean he is right or will be shown to be right through it all.

[14:20]  ⁹ tn D. W. Thomas took נֵצַח (netsakh) here to have a superlative meaning: “You prevail utterly against him” (“Use of netsach as a superlative in Hebrew,” JSS 1 [1956]: 107). Death would be God’s complete victory over him.

[14:20]  ¹⁰ tn The subject of the participle is most likely God in this context. Some take it to be man, saying “his face changes.” Others emend the text to read an imperfect verb, but this is not necessary.

[19:12]  ¹³ sn Now the metaphor changes again. Since God thinks of Job as an enemy, he attacks with his troops, builds the siege ramp, and camps around him to besiege him. All the power and all the forces are at God’s disposal in his attack of Job.

[19:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” or “to throw up a ramp”; here the object is “their way.” The latter could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “as their way.” But as the object it fits just as well. Some delete the middle clause; the LXX has “Together his troops fell upon me, they beset my ways with an ambush.”

[27:3]  ¹⁷ tn The adverb עוֹד (’od) was originally a noun, and so here it could be rendered “all the existence of my spirit.” The word comes between the noun in construct and its actual genitive (see GKC 415 §128.e).

[27:3]  ¹⁸ tn The word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah) is the “breath” that was breathed into Adam in Gen 2:7. Its usage includes the animating breath, the spiritual understanding, and the functioning conscience – so the whole spirit of the person. The other word in this verse, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context. Here, since it talks about the nostrils, it should be translated “breath.”

[29:11]  ²¹ tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[29:11]  ²² tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.

[30:2]  ²⁵ tn The reference is to the fathers of the scorners, who are here regarded as weak and worthless.

[30:2]  ²⁶ tn The word כֶּלַח (kelakh) only occurs in Job 5:26; but the Arabic cognate gives this meaning “strength.” Others suggest כָּלַח (kalakh, “old age”), ֹכּל־חַיִל (kol-khayil, “all vigor”), כֹּל־לֵחַ (kol-leakh, “all freshness”), and the like. But there is no reason for such emendation.

[30:11]  ²⁹ tn The verb פָּתַח (patakh) means “to untie [or undo]” a rope or bonds. In this verse יִתְרוֹ (yitro, the Kethib, LXX, and Vulgate) would mean “his rope” (see יֶתֶר [yeter] in Judg 16:7-9). The Qere would be יִתְרִי (yitri, “my rope [or cord]”), meaning “me.” The word could mean “rope,” “cord,” or “bowstring.” If the reading “my cord” is accepted, the cord would be something like “my tent cord” (as in Job 29:20), more than K&D 12:147 “cord of life.” This has been followed in the present translation. If it were “my bowstring,” it would give the sense of disablement. If “his cord” is taken, it would signify that the restraint that God had in afflicting Job was loosened – nothing was held back.

[30:11]  ³⁰ sn People throw off all restraint in my presence means that when people saw how God afflicted Job, robbing him of his influence and power, then they turned on him with unrestrained insolence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 193).

[33:13]  ³³ tc The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,” since it would be summarizing Job’s complaint to God.

[37:24]  ³⁷ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.

[38:21]  ⁴¹ tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.

[40:11]  ⁴⁵ tn The verb was used for scattering lightning (Job 37:11). God is challenging Job to unleash his power and judge wickedness in the world.

[40:11]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the overflowings.”

[40:11]  ⁴⁷ tn The word was just used in the positive sense of excellence or majesty; now the exalted nature of the person refers to self-exaltation, or pride.

[40:12]  ⁴⁹ tn The expression translated “on the spot” is the prepositional phrase תַּחְתָּם (takhtam, “under them”). “Under them” means in their place. But it can also mean “where someone stands, on the spot” (see Exod 16:29; Jos 6:5; Judg 7:21, etc.).