Job 3:21

3:21 to ¹  those who wait ²  for death that ³  does not come,

and search for it ⁴ 

more than for hidden treasures,

Job 39:29

39:29 From there it spots ⁵  its prey, ⁶ 

its eyes gaze intently from a distance.

Job 11:18

11:18 And you will be secure, because there is hope;

you will be protected ⁷ 

and will take your rest in safety.

Job 39:21

39:21 It ⁸  paws the ground in the valley, ⁹ 

exulting mightily, ¹⁰ 

it goes out to meet the weapons.

[3:21]  ¹ tn The verse simply begins with the participle in apposition to the expressions in the previous verse describing those who are bitter. The preposition is added from the context.

[3:21]  ² tn The verb is the Piel participle of חָכָה (khakhah, “to wait for” someone; Yahweh is the object in Isa 8:17; 64:3; Ps 33:20). Here death is the supreme hope of the miserable and the suffering.

[3:21]  ³ tn The verse simply has the form אֵין (’en, “there is not”) with a pronominal suffix and a conjunction – “and there is not it” or “and it is not.” The LXX and the Vulgate add a verb to explain this form: “and obtain it not.”

[3:21]  ⁴ tn The parallel verb is now a preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive; it therefore has the nuance of a characteristic perfect or gnomic perfect – the English present tense.

[39:29]  ⁵ tn The word means “search,” but can be used for a wide range of matters, including spying.

[39:29]  ⁶ tn Heb “food.”

[11:18]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb means “to dig”; but this does not provide a good meaning for the verse. A. B. Davidson offers an interpretation of “search,” suggesting that before retiring at night Job would search and find everything in order. Some offer a better solution, namely, redefining the word on the basis of Arabic hafara, “to protect” and repointing it to וְחֻפַרְתָּ (vÿkhufarta, “you will be protected”). Other attempts to make sense of the line have involved the same process, but they are less convincing (for some of the more plausible proposals, see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 257).

[39:21]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text has a plural verb, “they paw.” For consistency and for stylistic reasons this is translated as a singular.

[39:21]  ¹⁴ tn The armies would prepare for battles that were usually fought in the valleys, and so the horse was ready to charge. But in Ugaritic the word `mk means “force” as well as “valley.” The idea of “force” would fit the parallelism here well (see M. Dahood, “Value of Ugaritic for textual criticism,” Bib 40 [1959]: 166).

[39:21]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in strength.”