Job 24:9

24:9 The fatherless child is snatched ¹  from the breast, ² 

the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. ³ 

Job 36:6

36:6 He does not allow the wicked to live, ⁴ 

but he gives justice to the poor.

Job 36:15

36:15 He delivers the afflicted by ⁵  their ⁶  afflictions,

he reveals himself to them ⁷  by their suffering.

Job 29:12

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ⁸  had no one to assist him;

Job 34:28

34:28 so that they caused ⁹  the cry of the poor

to come before him,

so that he hears ¹⁰  the cry of the needy.

Job 24:14

24:14 Before daybreak ¹¹  the murderer rises up;

he kills the poor and the needy;

in the night he is ¹²  like a thief. ¹³ 

[24:9]  ¹ tn The verb with no expressed subject is here again taken in the passive: “they snatch” becomes “[child] is snatched.”

[24:9]  ² tn This word is usually defined as “violence; ruin.” But elsewhere it does mean “breast” (Isa 60:16; 66:11), and that is certainly what it means here.

[24:9]  ³ tc The MT has a very brief and strange reading: “they take as a pledge upon the poor.” This could be taken as “they take a pledge against the poor” (ESV). Kamphausen suggested that instead of עַל (’al, “against”) one should read עוּל (’ul, “suckling”). This is supported by the parallelism. “They take as pledge” is also made passive here.

[36:6]  ⁴ tn Or “he does not keep the wicked alive.”

[36:15]  ⁷ tn The preposition בּ (bet) in these two lines is not location but instrument, not “in” but “by means of.” The affliction and the oppression serve as a warning for sin, and therefore a means of salvation.

[36:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “his.”

[36:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “he uncovers their ear.”

[29:12]  ¹⁰ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[34:28]  ¹³ tn The verse begins with the infinitive construct of בּוֹא (bo’, “go”), showing the result of their impious actions.

[34:28]  ¹⁴ tn The verb here is an imperfect; the clause is circumstantial to the preceding clause, showing either the result, or the concomitant action.

[24:14]  ¹⁶ tn The text simply has לָאוֹר (la’or, “at light” or “at daylight”), probably meaning just at the time of dawn.

[24:14]  ¹⁷ tn In a few cases the jussive is used without any real sense of the jussive being present (see GKC 323 §109.k).

[24:14]  ¹⁸ sn The point is that he is like a thief in that he works during the night, just before the daylight, when the advantage is all his and the victim is most vulnerable.