Discovery BoxJob 20:7
Context20:7 he will perish forever, like his own excrement; 1
those who used to see him will say, ‘Where is he?’
Job 21:20
Context21:20 Let his own eyes see his destruction; 2
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
Job 22:19
Context22:19 The righteous see their destruction 3 and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, 4 saying,
Job 28:27
Context28:27 then he looked at wisdom 5 and assessed its value; 6
he established 7 it and examined it closely. 8
Job 29:8
Context29:8 the young men would see me and step aside, 9
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
Job 34:26
Context34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness, 10
in a place where people can see, 11
Job 42:5
Context42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you. 12
[20:7] 1 tn There have been attempts to change the word here to “like a whirlwind,” or something similar. But many argue that there is no reason to remove a coarse expression from Zophar.
[21:20] 2 tc This word occurs only here. The word כִּיד (kid) was connected to Arabic kaid, “fraud, trickery,” or “warfare.” The word is emended by the commentators to other ideas, such as פִּיד (pid, “[his] calamity”). Dahood and others alter it to “cup”; Wright to “weapons.” A. F. L. Beeston argues for a meaning “condemnation” for the MT form, and so makes no change in the text (Mus 67 [1954]: 315-16). If the connection to Arabic “warfare” is sustained, or if such explanations of the existing MT can be sustained, then the text need not be emended. In any case, the sense of the line is clear.
[22:19] 3 tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).
[22:19] 4 sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
[28:27] 4 tn Heb “it”; the referent (wisdom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:27] 5 tn The verb סָפַר (safar) in the Piel basically means “to tell; to declare; to show” or “to count; to number.” Many commentators offer different suggestions for the translation. “Declared” (as in the RSV, NASB, and NRSV) would be the simplest – but to whom did God declare it? Besides “appraised” which is the view of Pope, Dhorme and others (cf. NAB, NIV), J. Reider has suggested “probed” (“Etymological studies in biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127), Strahan has “studied,” and Kissane has “reckoned.” The difficulty is that the line has a series of verbs, which seem to build to a climax; but without more details it is hard to know how to translate them when they have such a range of meaning.
[28:27] 6 tc The verb כּוּן (kun) means “to establish; to prepare” in this stem. There are several
[28:27] 7 tn The verb חָקַר (khaqar) means “to examine; to search out.” Some of the language used here is anthropomorphic, for the sovereign
[29:8] 5 tn The verb means “to hide; to withdraw.” The young men out of respect would withdraw or yield the place of leadership to Job (thus the translation “step aside”). The old men would rise and remain standing until Job took his seat – a sign of respect.
[34:26] 6 tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5,” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.
[34:26] 7 tn The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.
[42:5] 7 sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.
