Job 3:16

3:16 Or why ¹  was ²  I not buried ³ 

like a stillborn infant, ⁴ 

like infants ⁵  who have never seen the light? ⁶ 

Job 5:6

5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, ⁷ 

nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

Job 6:10

6:10 Then I would yet have my comfort, ⁸ 

then ⁹  I would rejoice, ¹⁰ 

in spite of pitiless pain, ¹¹ 

for ¹²  I have not concealed the words ¹³  of the Holy One. ¹⁴ 

Job 7:19

7:19 Will you never ¹⁵  look away from me, ¹⁶ 

will you not let me alone ¹⁷ 

long enough to swallow my spittle?

Job 24:1

The Apparent Indifference of God

24:1 “Why are times not appointed by ¹⁸  the Almighty? ¹⁹ 

Why do those who know him not see his days?

Job 31:31

31:31 if ²⁰  the members of my household ²¹  have never said, ²² 

‘If only there were ²³  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ²⁴  meat!’ –

Job 32:16

32:16 And I have waited. ²⁵  But because they do not speak,

because they stand there and answer no more,

Job 34:12

34:12 Indeed, in truth, God does not act wickedly,

and the Almighty does not pervert justice.

Job 37:23

37:23 As for the Almighty, ²⁶  we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice ²⁷  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

Job 38:26

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ²⁸ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ²⁹ 

[3:16]  ¹ tn The verb is governed by the interrogative of v. 12 that introduces this series of rhetorical questions.

[3:16]  ² tn The verb is again the prefix conjugation, but the narrative requires a past tense, or preterite.

[3:16]  ³ tn Heb “hidden.” The LXX paraphrases: “an untimely birth, proceeding from his mother’s womb.”

[3:16]  ⁴ tn The noun נֵפֶל (nefel, “miscarriage”) is the abortive thing that falls (hence the verb) from the womb before the time is ripe (Ps 58:9). The idiom using the verb “to fall” from the womb means to come into the world (Isa 26:18). The epithet טָמוּן (tamun, “hidden”) is appropriate to the verse. The child comes in vain, and disappears into the darkness – it is hidden forever.

[3:16]  ⁵ tn The word עֹלְלִים (’olÿlim) normally refers to “nurslings.” Here it must refer to infants in general since it refers to a stillborn child.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn The relative clause does not have the relative pronoun; the simple juxtaposition of words indicates that it is modifying the infants.

[5:6]  ⁷ sn The previous discussion shows how trouble rises, namely, from the rebelliousness of the fool. Here Eliphaz simply summarizes the points made with this general principle – trouble does not come from outside man, nor does it come as a part of the natural order, but rather it comes from the evil nature of man.

[6:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “and it will/may be yet my comfort.” The comfort or consolation that he seeks, that he wishes for, is death. The next colon in the verse simply intensifies this thought, for he affirms if that should happen he would rejoice, in spite of what death involves. The LXX, apparently confusing letters (reading עִיר [’ir, “city”] instead of עוֹד [’od, “yet”], which then led to the mistake in the next colon, חֵילָה [khelah, “its wall”] for חִילָה [khilah, “suffering”]), has “Let the grave be my city, upon the walls of which I have leaped.”

[6:10]  ¹⁴ tn In the apodosis of conditional clauses (which must be supplied from the context preceding), the cohortative expresses the consequence (see GKC 320 §108.d).

[6:10]  ¹⁵ tn The Piel verb סִלֵּד (silled) is a hapax legomenon. BDB 698 s.v. סָלַד gives the meaning “to spring [i.e., jump] for joy,” which would certainly fit the passage. Others have emended the text, but unnecessarily. The LXX “I jumped” and Targum Job’s “exult” support the sense in the dictionaries, although the jumping is for joy and not over a wall (as the LXX has). D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 159) follows Driver in thinking this is untenable, choosing a meaning “recoiled in pain” for the line.

[6:10]  ¹⁶ tn The word חִילָה (khilah) also occurs only here, but is connected to the verb חִיל / חוּל (khil / khul, “to writhe in pain”). E. Dhorme says that by extension the meaning denotes the cause of this trembling or writhing – terrifying pain. The final clause, לֹא יַחְמוֹל (lo’ yakhmol, “it has no pity”), serves as a kind of epithet, modifying “pain” in general. If that pain has no pity or compassion, it is a ruthless pain (E. Dhorme, Job, 82).

[6:10]  ¹⁷ tn The כִּי (ki, “for”) functions here to explain “my comfort” in the first colon; the second colon simply strengthens the first.

[6:10]  ¹⁸ sn The “words” are the divine decrees of God’s providence, the decisions that he makes in his dealings with people. Job cannot conceal these – he knows what they are. What Job seems to mean by this clause in this verse is that there is nothing that would hinder his joy of dying for he has not denied or disobeyed God’s plan.

[6:10]  ¹⁹ tn Several commentators delete the colon as having no meaning in the verse, and because (in their view) it is probably the addition of an interpolator who wants to make Job sound more pious. But Job is at least consoling himself that he is innocent, and at the most anticipating a worth-while afterlife (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 60).

[7:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “according to what [= how long] will you not look away from me.”

[7:19]  ²⁰ tn The verb שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “to look”) with the preposition מִן (min) means “to look away from; to avert one’s gaze.” Job wonders if God would not look away from him even briefly, for the constant vigilance is killing him.

[7:19]  ²¹ tn The Hiphil of רָפָה (rafah) means “to leave someone alone.”

[24:1]  ²⁵ tn The preposition מִן (min) is used to express the cause (see GKC 389 §121.f).

[24:1]  ²⁶ tc The LXX reads “Why are times hidden from the Almighty?” as if to say that God is not interested in the events on the earth. The MT reading is saying that God fails to set the times for judgment and vindication and makes good sense as it stands.

[31:31]  ³¹ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ³² tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ³³ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ³⁴ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ³⁵ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:16]  ³⁷ tn Some commentators take this as a question: “And shall [or must] I wait because they do not speak?” (A. B. Davidson, R. Gordis). But this is not convincing because the silence of the friends is the reason for him to speak, not to wait.

[37:23]  ⁴³ tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.

[37:23]  ⁴⁴ tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” as a disjunctive clause starting the second half of the verse (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”

[38:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”