Job 23:3-4

23:3 O that I knew ¹  where I might find him, ² 

that I could come ³  to his place of residence! ⁴ 

23:4 I would lay out my case ⁵  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 31:37

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

like a prince I would approach him.

Job 38:3

38:3 Get ready for a difficult task ⁶  like a man;

I will question you

and you will inform me!

Job 40:7-9

40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task ⁷  like a man.

I will question you and you will inform me!

40:8 Would you indeed annul ⁸  my justice?

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

40:9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s, ⁹ 

and can you thunder with a voice like his?

Micah 6:1-2

The Lord Demands Justice, not Ritual

6:1 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Get up! Defend yourself ¹⁰  before the mountains! ¹¹ 

Present your case before the hills!” ¹² 

6:2 Hear the Lord’s accusation, you mountains,

you enduring foundations of the earth!

For the Lord has a case against his people;

he has a dispute with Israel! ¹³ 

[23:3]  ¹ tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

[23:3]  ² tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

[23:3]  ³ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

[23:4]  ⁵ 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.

[38:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Gird up your loins.” This idiom basically describes taking the hem of the long garment or robe and pulling it up between the legs and tucking it into the front of the belt, allowing easier and freer movement of the legs. “Girding the loins” meant the preparation for some difficult task (Jer 1:17), or for battle (Isa 5:27), or for running (1 Kgs 18:46). C. Gordon suggests that it includes belt-wrestling, a form of hand-to-hand mortal combat (“Belt-wrestling in the Bible World,” HUCA 23 [1950/51]: 136).

[40:7]  ⁷ tn See note on “task” in 38:3.

[40:8]  ⁸ 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.

[40:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “do you have an arm like God?” The words “as powerful as” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the metaphor.

[6:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “plead your case” (NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “present your plea”; NLT “state your case.”

[6:1]  ¹¹ sn As in some ancient Near Eastern treaties, the mountains are personified as legal witnesses that will settle the dispute between God and Israel.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “let the hills hear your voice.”

[6:2]  ¹³ tn This verse briefly interrupts the Lord’s statement (see vv. 1, 3) as the prophet summons the mountains as witnesses. Because of this v. 2 has been placed in parentheses in the translation.