Job 21:2-3

21:2 “Listen carefully ¹  to my words;

let this be ²  the consolation you offer me. ³ 

21:3 Bear with me ⁴  and I ⁵  will speak,

and after I have spoken ⁶  you may mock. ⁷ 

Job 33:1-3

Elihu Invites Job’s Attention

33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,

and hear ⁸  everything I have to say! ⁹ 

33:2 See now, I have opened ¹⁰  my mouth;

my tongue in my mouth has spoken. ¹¹ 

33:3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart, ¹² 

and my lips will utter knowledge sincerely. ¹³ 

Job 34:2

34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;

hear ¹⁴  me, you learned men. ¹⁵ 

Jude 1:7

1:7 So also ¹⁶  Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns, ¹⁷  since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire ¹⁸  in a way similar to ¹⁹  these angels, ²⁰  are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Proverbs 8:6-7

8:6 Listen, for I will speak excellent things, ²¹ 

and my lips will utter ²²  what is right.

8:7 For my mouth ²³  speaks truth, ²⁴ 

and my lips ²⁵  hate wickedness. ²⁶ 

[21:2]  ¹ tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.

[21:2]  ² tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”

[21:2]  ³ tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.

[21:3]  ⁴ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).

[21:3]  ⁵ tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”

[21:3]  ⁶ tn The adverbial clauses are constructed of the preposition “after” and the Piel infinitive construct with the subjective genitive suffix: “my speaking,” or “I speak.”

[21:3]  ⁷ tn The verb is the imperfect of לָעַג (la’ag). The Hiphil has the same basic sense as the Qal, “to mock; to deride.” The imperfect here would be modal, expressing permission. The verb is in the singular, suggesting that Job is addressing Zophar; however, most of the versions put it into the plural. Note the singular in 16:3 between the plural in 16:1 and 16:4.

[33:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”

[33:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “hear all my words.”

[33:2]  ¹⁰ tn The perfect verbs in this verse should be classified as perfects of resolve: “I have decided to open…speak.”

[33:2]  ¹¹ sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 210) says, “The self-importance of Elihu is boundless, and he is the master of banality.” He adds that whoever wrote these speeches this way clearly intended to expose the character rather than exalt him.

[33:3]  ¹² tc This expression is unusual; R. Gordis (Job, 371) says it can be translated, “the purity of my heart [is reflected] in my words,” but that is far-fetched and awkward. So there have been suggestions for emending יֹשֶׁר (yosher, “uprightness”). Kissane’s makes the most sense if a change is desired: “shall reveal” (an Arabic sense of yasher), although Holscher interpreted “shall affirm” (yasher, with a Syriac sense). Dhorme has “my heart will repeat” (יָשׁוּר, yashur), but this is doubtful. If Kissane’s view is taken, it would say, “my heart will reveal my words.” Some commentators would join “and knowledge” to this colon, and read “words of knowledge” – but that requires even more emendations.

[33:3]  ¹³ tn More literally, “and the knowledge of my lips they will speak purely.”

[34:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “give ear to me.”

[34:2]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”

[1:7]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “as.”

[1:7]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the towns [or cities] surrounding them.”

[1:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “strange flesh.” This phrase has been variously interpreted. It could refer to flesh of another species (such as angels lusting after human flesh). This would aptly describe the sin of the angels, but not easily explain the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. It could refer to the homosexual practices of the Sodomites, but a difficulty arises from the use of ἕτερος ({etero"; “strange,” “other”). When this is to be distinguished from ἄλλος (allos, “another”) it suggests “another of a different kind.” If so, would that properly describe homosexual behavior? In response, the language could easily be compact: “pursued flesh other than what was normally pursued.” However, would this find an analogy in the lust of angels (such would imply that angels normally had sexual relations of some sort, but cf. Matt 22:30)? Another alternative is that the focus of the parallel is on the activity of the surrounding cities and the activity of the angels. This is especially plausible since the participles ἐκπορνεύσασαι (ekporneusasai, “having indulged in sexual immorality”) and ἀπελθοῦσαι (apelqousai, “having pursued”) have concord with “cities” (πόλεις, poleis), a feminine plural noun, rather than with Sodom and Gomorrah (both masculine nouns). If so, then their sin would not necessarily have to be homosexuality. However, most likely the feminine participles are used because of constructio ad sensum (construction according to sense). That is, since both Sodom and Gomorrah are cities, the feminine is used to imply that all the cities are involved. The connection with angels thus seems to be somewhat loose: Both angels and Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in heinous sexual immorality. Thus, whether the false teachers indulge in homosexual activity is not the point; mere sexual immorality is enough to condemn them.

[1:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “in the same way as.”

[1:7]  ²⁰ tn “Angels” is not in the Greek text; but the masculine demonstrative pronoun most likely refers back to the angels of v. 6.

[8:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “noble” or “princely.” Wisdom begins the first motivation by claiming to speak noble things, that is, excellent things.

[8:6]  ²² tn Heb “opening of my lips” (so KJV, NASB). The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause, with the organ of speech put for what is said.

[8:7]  ²³ tn Heb “roof of the mouth.” This expression is a metonymy of cause for the activity of speaking.

[8:7]  ²⁴ tn The word “truth” (אֱמֶת, ’emet) is derived from the verbal root אָמַן (’aman) which means “to support.” There are a number of derived nouns that have the sense of reliability: “pillars,” “master craftsman,” “nurse,” “guardian.” Modifiers related to this group of words includes things like “faithful,” “surely,” “truly” (amen). In the derived stems the verb develops various nuances: The Niphal has the meanings of “reliable, faithful, sure, steadfast,” and the Hiphil has the meaning “believe” (i.e., consider something dependable). The noun “truth” means what is reliable or dependable, firm or sure.

[8:7]  ²⁵ sn Wise lips detest wickedness; wisdom hates speaking wicked things. In fact, speaking truth results in part from detesting wickedness.

[8:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).