Job 3:18

3:18 There ¹  the prisoners ²  relax ³  together; ⁴ 

they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. ⁵ 

Job 6:2

6:2 “Oh, ⁶  if only my grief ⁷  could be weighed, ⁸ 

and my misfortune laid ⁹  on the scales too! ¹⁰ 

Job 17:16

17:16 Will ¹¹  it ¹²  go down to the barred gates ¹³  of death?

Will ¹⁴  we descend ¹⁵  together into the dust?”

Job 21:26

21:26 Together they lie down in the dust,

and worms cover over them both.

Job 24:4

24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,

and the poor of the land hide themselves together. ¹⁶ 

Job 34:15

34:15 all flesh would perish together

and human beings would return to dust.

Job 38:7

38:7 when the morning stars ¹⁷  sang ¹⁸  in chorus, ¹⁹ 

and all the sons of God ²⁰  shouted for joy?

[3:18]  ¹ tn “There” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied from the context.

[3:18]  ² tn The LXX omits the verb and translates the noun not as prisoners but as “old men” or “men of old time.”

[3:18]  ³ tn The verb שַׁאֲנָנוּ (sha’ananu) is the Pilpel of שָׁאַן (sha’an) which means “to rest.” It refers to the normal rest or refreshment of individuals; here it is contrasted with the harsh treatment normally put on prisoners.

[3:18]  ⁴ sn See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning yahad and yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.

[3:18]  ⁵ tn Or “taskmaster.” The same Hebrew word is used for the taskmasters in Exod 3:7.

[6:2]  ⁶ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu, “if, if only”) introduces the wish – an unrealizable wish – with the Niphal imperfect.

[6:2]  ⁷ tn Job pairs כַּעְסִי (ka’si, “my grief”) and הַיָּתִי (hayyati, “my misfortune”). The first word, used in Job 4:2, refers to Job’s whole demeanor that he shows his friends – the impatient and vexed expression of his grief. The second word expresses his misfortune, the cause of his grief. Job wants these placed together in the balances so that his friends could see the misfortune is greater than the grief. The word for “misfortune” is a Kethib-Qere reading. The two words have essentially the same meaning; they derive from the verb הָוַה (havah, “to fall”) and so mean a misfortune.

[6:2]  ⁸ tn The Qal infinitive absolute is here used to intensify the Niphal imperfect (see GKC 344-45 §113.w). The infinitive absolute intensifies the wish as well as the idea of weighing.

[6:2]  ⁹ tn The third person plural verb is used here; it expresses an indefinite subject and is treated as a passive (see GKC 460 §144.g).

[6:2]  ¹⁰ tn The adverb normally means “together,” but it can also mean “similarly, too.” In this verse it may not mean that the two things are to be weighed together, but that the whole calamity should be put on the scales (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 43).

[17:16]  ¹¹ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ¹² tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.

[17:16]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”

[17:16]  ¹⁴ tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹⁵ tn The translation follows the LXX and the Syriac versions with the change of vocalization in the MT. The MT has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading – and it almost is universally accepted here – then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

[24:4]  ¹⁶ sn Because of the violence and oppression of the wicked, the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, all are deprived of their rights and forced out of the ways and into hiding just to survive.

[38:7]  ²¹ sn The expression “morning stars” (Heb “stars of the morning”) is here placed in parallelism to the angels, “the sons of God.” It may refer to the angels under the imagery of the stars, or, as some prefer, it may poetically include all creation. There is a parallel also with the foundation of the temple which was accompanied by song (see Ezra 3:10,11). But then the account of the building of the original tabernacle was designed to mirror creation (see M. Fishbane, Biblical Text and Texture).

[38:7]  ²² tn The construction, an adverbial clause of time, uses רָנָן (ranan), which is often a ringing cry, an exultation. The parallelism with “shout for joy” shows this to be enthusiastic acclamation. The infinitive is then continued in the next colon with the vav (ו) consecutive preterite.

[38:7]  ²³ tn Heb “together.” This is Dhorme’s suggestion for expressing how they sang together.

[38:7]  ²⁴ tn See Job 1:6.