Job 25:6

25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot ¹  –

a son of man, who is only a worm!”

Job 32:2

32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. ²  He was angry ³  with Job for justifying ⁴  himself rather than God. ⁵ 

Job 32:6

Elihu Claims Wisdom

32:6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up: ⁶ 

“I am young, ⁷  but you are elderly;

that is why I was fearful, ⁸ 

and afraid to explain ⁹  to you what I know.

Job 35:8

35:8 Your wickedness affects only ¹⁰  a person like yourself,

and your righteousness only other people. ¹¹ 

Job 16:21

16:21 and ¹²  he contends with God on behalf of man

as a man ¹³  pleads ¹⁴  for his friend.

Job 18:19

18:19 He has neither children nor descendants ¹⁵  among his people,

no survivor in those places he once stayed. ¹⁶ 

Job 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ¹⁷ 

lives but a few days, ¹⁸  and they are full of trouble. ¹⁹ 

Job 15:14

15:14 What is man that he should be pure,

or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?

Job 25:4

25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?

How can one born of a woman be pure? ²⁰ 

[25:6]  ¹ tn The text just has “maggot” and in the second half “worm.” Something has to be added to make it a bit clearer. The terms “maggot” and “worm” describe man in his lowest and most ignominious shape.

[32:2]  ² tn The verse begins with וַיִּחַר אַף (vayyikhar ’af, “and the anger became hot”), meaning Elihu became very angry.

[32:2]  ³ tn The second comment about Elihu’s anger comes right before the statement of its cause. Now the perfect verb is used: “he was angry.”

[32:2]  ⁴ tn The explanation is the causal clause עַל־צַדְּקוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ (’al-tsaddÿqo nafsho, “because he justified himself”). It is the preposition with the Piel infinitive construct with a suffixed subjective genitive.

[32:2]  ⁵ tc The LXX and Latin versions soften the expression slightly by saying “before God.”

[32:6]  ³ tn Heb “answered and said.”

[32:6]  ⁴ tn The text has “small in days.”

[32:6]  ⁵ tn The verb זָחַלְתִּי (zakhalti) is found only here in the OT, but it is found in a ninth century Aramaic inscription as well as in Biblical Aramaic. It has the meaning “to be timid” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 208).

[32:6]  ⁶ tn The Piel infinitive with the preposition (מֵחַוֹּת, mekhavvot) means “from explaining.” The phrase is the complement: “explain” what Elihu feared.

[35:8]  ⁴ tn The phrase “affects only” is supplied in the translation of this nominal sentence.

[35:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and to [or for] a son of man, your righteousness.”

[16:21]  ⁵ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 240) alters this slightly to read “Would that” or “Ah! if only.”

[16:21]  ⁶ tn This is the simple translation of the expression “son of man” in Job. But some commentators wish to change the word בֵּן (ben, “son”) to בֵּין (ben, “between”). It would then be “[as] between a man and [for] his friend.” Even though a few mss have this reading, it is to be rejected. But see J. Barr, “Some Notes on ‘ben’ in Classical Hebrew,” JSS 23 (1978): 1-22.

[16:21]  ⁷ tn The verb is supplied from the parallel clause.

[18:19]  ⁶ tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”

[18:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.

[14:1]  ⁷ tn The first of the threefold apposition for אָדָם (’adam, “man”) is “born of a woman.” The genitive (“woman”) after a passive participle denotes the agent of the action (see GKC 359 §116.l).

[14:1]  ⁸ tn The second description is simply “[is] short of days.” The meaning here is that his life is short (“days” being put as the understatement for “years”).

[14:1]  ⁹ tn The third expression is “consumed/full/sated – with/of – trouble/restlessness.” The latter word, רֹגֶז (rogez), occurred in Job 3:17; see also the idea in 10:15.

[25:4]  ⁸ sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).