Job 3:22

3:22 who rejoice ¹  even to jubilation, ² 

and are exultant ³  when ⁴  they find the grave? ⁵ 

Job 20:8

20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, ⁶ 

and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.

Job 23:3

23:3 O that I knew ⁷  where I might find him, ⁸ 

that I could come ⁹  to his place of residence! ¹⁰ 

Job 28:12-13

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

28:13 Mankind does not know its place; ¹¹ 

it cannot be found in the land of the living.

Job 31:29

31:29 If ¹²  I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy ¹³ 

or exulted ¹⁴  because calamity ¹⁵  found him –

Job 32:13

32:13 So do not say, ¹⁶  ‘We have found wisdom!

God will refute ¹⁷  him, not man!’

Job 33:10

33:10 ¹⁸ Yet God ¹⁹  finds occasions ²⁰  with me;

he regards me as his enemy!

Job 33:24

33:24 and if ²¹  God ²²  is gracious to him and says,

‘Spare ²³  him from going down

to the place of corruption,

I have found a ransom for him,’ ²⁴ 

Job 34:11

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ²⁵ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ²⁶ 

Job 37:13

37:13 Whether it is for punishment ²⁷  for his land,

or whether it is for mercy,

he causes it to find its mark. ²⁸ 

[3:22]  ¹ tn Here too the form is the participle in apposition “to him who is in misery” in v. 20. It continues the description of those who are destitute and would be delighted to die.

[3:22]  ² tn The Syriac has “and gather themselves together,” possibly reading גִּיל (gil, “rejoicing”) as גַּל (gal, “heap”). Some have tried to emend the text to make the word mean “heap” or “mound,” as in a funerary mound. While one could argue for a heap of stones as a funerary mound, the passage has already spoken of digging a grave, which would be quite different. And while such a change would make a neater parallelism in the verse, there is no reason to force such; the idea of “jubilation” fits the tenor of the whole verse easily enough and there is no reason to change it. A similar expression is found in Hos 9:1, which says, “rejoice not, O Israel, with jubilation.” Here the idea then is that these sufferers would rejoice “to the point of jubilation” at death.

[3:22]  ³ tn This sentence also parallels an imperfect verb with the substantival participle of the first colon. It is translated as an English present tense.

[3:22]  ⁴ tn The particle could be “when” or “because” in this verse.

[3:22]  ⁵ sn The expression “when they find a grave” means when they finally die. The verse describes the relief and rest that the sufferer will obtain when the long-awaited death is reached.

[20:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they do not find him.” The verb has no expressed subject, and so here is equivalent to a passive. The clause itself is taken adverbially in the sentence.

[23:3]  ¹¹ tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

[23:3]  ¹² tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

[23:3]  ¹³ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

[23:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

[28:13]  ¹⁶ tc The LXX has “its way, apparently reading דַּרְכָה (darkhah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (’erkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (’erekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).

[31:29]  ²¹ tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.

[31:29]  ²² sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”

[31:29]  ²³ tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”

[31:29]  ²⁴ tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.

[32:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “lest you say.” R. Gordis (Job, 368) calls this a breviloquence: “beware lest [you say].” He then suggests the best reading for their quote to be, “We have attained wisdom, but only God can refute him, not man.” H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 209) suggests the meaning is a little different, namely, that they are saying they have found wisdom in Job, and only God can deal with it. Elihu is in effect saying that they do not need God, for he is quite capable for this.

[32:13]  ²⁷ tn The root is נָדַף (nadaf, “to drive away; to drive off”). Here it is in the abstract sense of “succeed in doing something; confound,” and so “refute; rebut.” Dhorme wants to change the meaning of the word with a slight emendation in the text, deriving it from אָלַף (’alaf, “instruct”) the form becoming יַלְּפֶנוּ (yallÿfenu) instead of יִדְּפֶנּוּ (yiddÿfenu), obtaining the translation “God will instruct us.” This makes a smoother reading, but does not have much support for it.

[33:10]  ³¹ sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.

[33:10]  ³² tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:10]  ³³ tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.

[33:24]  ³⁶ tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.

[33:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:24]  ³⁸ tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (pada’, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (para’, “to let loose,” so Wright).

[33:24]  ³⁹ sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.

[34:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ⁴² tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.

[37:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “rod,” i.e., a rod used for punishment.

[37:13]  ⁴⁷ tn This is interpretive; Heb “he makes find it.” The lightning could be what is intended here, for it finds its mark. But R. Gordis (Job, 429) suggests man is the subject – let him find what it is for, i.e., the fate appropriate for him.