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 8:22

8:22 Those who hate you ⁵  will be clothed with shame, ⁶ 

and the tent of the wicked will be no more.”

Job 11:3

11:3 Will your idle talk ⁷  reduce people to silence, ⁸ 

and will no one rebuke ⁹  you when you mock? ¹⁰ 

Job 11:19

11:19 You will lie down with ¹¹  no one to make you afraid,

and many will seek your favor. ¹² 

Job 22:5

22:5 Is not your wickedness great ¹³ 

and is there no end to your iniquity?

Job 26:6

26:6 The underworld ¹⁴  is naked before God; ¹⁵ 

the place of destruction lies uncovered. ¹⁶ 

[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.

[8:22]  ⁵ sn These verses show several points of similarity with the style of the Book of Psalms. “Those who hate you” and the “evil-doers” are fairly common words to describe the ungodly in the Psalms. “Those who hate you” are enemies of the righteous man because of the parallelism in the verse. By this line Bildad is showing Job that he and his friends are not among those who are his enemies, and that Job himself is really among the righteous. It is an appealing way to end the discourse. See further G. W. Anderson, “Enemies and Evil-doers in the Book of Psalms,” BJRL 48 (1965/66): 18-29.

[8:22]  ⁶ tn “Shame” is compared to a garment that can be worn. The “shame” envisioned here is much more than embarrassment or disgrace – it is utter destruction. For parallels in the Psalms, see Pss 35:26; 132:18; 109:29.

[11:3]  ⁹ tn The word means “chatter, pratings, boastings” (see Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30).

[11:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verb חָרַשׁ (kharash) in the Hiphil means “to silence” (41:4); here it functions in a causative sense, “reduce to silence.”

[11:3]  ¹¹ tn The form מַכְלִם (makhlim, “humiliating, mocking”) is the Hiphil participle. The verb כָּלַם (kalam) has the meaning “cover with shame, insult” (Job 20:3).

[11:3]  ¹² tn The construction shows the participle to be in the circumstantial clause: “will you mock – and [with] no one rebuking.”

[11:19]  ¹³ tn The clause that reads “and there is no one making you afraid,” is functioning circumstantially here (see 5:4; 10:7).

[11:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “they will stroke your face,” a picture drawn from the domestic scene of a child stroking the face of the parent. The verb is a Piel, meaning “stroke, make soft.” It is used in the Bible of seeking favor from God (supplication); but it may on the human level also mean seeking to sway people by flattery. See further D. R. Ap-Thomas, “Notes on Some Terms Relating to Prayer,” VT 6 (1956): 225-41.

[22:5]  ¹⁷ tn The adjective רַבָּה (rabbah) normally has the idea of “great” in quantity (“abundant,” ESV) rather than “great” in quality.

[26:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “Sheol.”

[26:6]  ²² tn Heb “before him.”

[26:6]  ²³ tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).