Job 3:17

3:17 There ¹  the wicked ²  cease ³  from turmoil, ⁴ 

and there the weary ⁵  are at rest.

Job 3:26

3:26 I have no ease, ⁶  I have no quietness;

I cannot rest; ⁷  turmoil has come upon me.” ⁸ 

Job 14:1

The Brevity of Life

14:1 “Man, born of woman, ⁹ 

lives but a few days, ¹⁰  and they are full of trouble. ¹¹ 

Job 37:2

37:2 Listen carefully ¹²  to the thunder of his voice,

to the rumbling ¹³  that proceeds from his mouth.

Job 39:24

39:24 In excitement and impatience it consumes the ground; ¹⁴ 

it cannot stand still ¹⁵  when the trumpet is blown.

[3:17]  ¹ sn The reference seems to be death, or Sheol, the place where the infant who is stillborn is either buried (the grave) or resides (the place of departed spirits) and thus does not see the light of the sun.

[3:17]  ² sn The wicked are the ungodly, those who are not members of the covenant (normally) and in this context especially those who oppress and torment other people.

[3:17]  ³ tn The parallelism uses the perfect verb in the first parallel part, and the imperfect opposite it in the second. Since the verse projects to the grave or Sheol (“there”) where the action is perceived as still continuing or just taking place, both receive an English present tense translation (GKC 312 §106.l).

[3:17]  ⁴ tn Here the noun רֹגז (rogez) refers to the agitation of living as opposed to the peaceful rest of dying. The associated verb רָגַז (ragaz) means “to be agitated, excited.” The expression indicates that they cease from troubling, meaning all the agitation of their own lives.

[3:17]  ⁵ tn The word יָגִיעַ (yagia’) means “exhausted, wearied”; it is clarified as a physical exhaustion by the genitive of specification (“with regard to their strength”).

[3:26]  ⁶ tn The LXX “peace” bases its rendering on שָׁלַם (shalam) and not שָׁלָה (shalah), which retains the original vav (ו). The verb means “to be quiet, to be at ease.”

[3:26]  ⁷ tn The verb is literally “and I do/can not rest.” A potential perfect nuance fits this passage well. The word נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”) implies “rest” in every sense, especially in contrast to רֹגֶז (rogez, “turmoil, agitation” [vv. 26 and 17]).

[3:26]  ⁸ tn The last clause simply has “and trouble came.” Job is essentially saying that since the trouble has come upon him there is not a moment of rest and relief.

[14:1]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[37:2]  ¹⁶ tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.

[37:2]  ¹⁷ tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).

[39:24]  ²¹ tn “Swallow the ground” is a metaphor for the horse’s running. Gray renders the line: “quivering and excited he dashes into the fray.”

[39:24]  ²² tn The use of אָמַן (’aman) in the Hiphil in this place is unique. Such a form would normally mean “to believe.” But its basic etymological meaning comes through here. The verb means “to be firm; to be reliable; to be dependable.” The causative here would mean “to make firm” or “to stand firm.”