Job 22:4

22:4 Is it because of your piety ¹  that he rebukes you

and goes to judgment with you? ² 

Job 23:4

23:4 I would lay out my case ³  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 29:14

29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, ⁴ 

my just dealing ⁵  was like a robe and a turban;

Job 32:9

32:9 It is not the aged ⁶  who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

Job 35:2

35:2 “Do you think this to be ⁷  just:

when ⁸  you say, ‘My right before God.’ ⁹ 

Job 36:6

36:6 He does not allow the wicked to live, ¹⁰ 

but he gives justice to the poor.

Job 36:17

36:17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked,

judgment and justice take hold of you.

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ¹¹  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

[22:4]  ¹ tn The word “your fear” or “your piety” refers to Job’s reverence – it is his fear of God (thus a subjective genitive). When “fear” is used of religion, it includes faith and adoration on the positive side, fear and obedience on the negative.

[22:4]  ² sn Of course the point is that God does not charge Job because he is righteous; the point is he must be unrighteous.

[23:4]  ³ tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.

[29:14]  ⁵ tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.

[29:14]  ⁶ tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.

[32:9]  ⁷ tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.

[35:2]  ⁹ tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.

[35:2]  ¹⁰ tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[35:2]  ¹¹ tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”

[36:6]  ¹¹ tn Or “he does not keep the wicked alive.”

[40:8]  ¹³ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.