Job 30:6

30:6 so that they had to live ¹ 

in the dry stream beds, ² 

in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.

Job 38:38

38:38 when the dust hardens ³  into a mass,

and the clumps of earth stick together?

Job 7:5

7:5 My body ⁴  is clothed ⁵  with worms ⁶  and dirty scabs; ⁷ 

my skin is broken ⁸  and festering.

Job 10:9

10:9 Remember that you have made me as with ⁹  the clay;

will ¹⁰  you return me to dust?

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 19:25

19:25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer ¹⁶  lives,

and that as the last ¹⁷ 

he will stand upon the earth. ¹⁸ 

Job 20:11

20:11 His bones ¹⁹  were full of his youthful vigor, ²⁰ 

but that vigor will lie down with him in the dust.

Job 21:26

21:26 Together they lie down in the dust,

and worms cover over them both.

Job 22:24

22:24 and throw ²¹  your gold ²²  in the dust –

your gold ²³  of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

Job 34:15

34:15 all flesh would perish together

and human beings would return to dust.

Job 39:14

39:14 For she leaves ²⁴  her eggs on the ground,

and lets them be warmed on the soil.

Job 41:33

41:33 The likes of it is not on earth,

a creature ²⁵  without fear.

Job 42:6

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ²⁶ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

Job 14:19

14:19 as water wears away stones,

and torrents ²⁷  wash away the soil, ²⁸ 

so you destroy man’s hope. ²⁹ 

Job 2:12

2:12 But when they gazed intently ³⁰  from a distance but did not recognize ³¹  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ³² 

[30:6]  ¹ tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).

[30:6]  ² tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).

[38:38]  ³ tn The word means “to flow” or “to cast” (as in casting metals). So the noun developed the sense of “hard,” as in cast metal.

[7:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “my flesh.”

[7:5]  ⁶ tn The implied comparison is vivid: the dirty scabs cover his entire body like a garment – so he is clothed with them.

[7:5]  ⁷ sn The word for “worms” (רִמָּה, rimmah, a collective noun), is usually connected with rotten food (Exod 16:24), or the grave (Isa 14:11). Job’s disease is a malignant ulcer of some kind that causes the rotting of the flesh. One may recall that both Antiochus Epiphanes (2 Macc 9:9) and Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:23) were devoured by such worms in their diseases.

[7:5]  ⁸ tn The text has “clods of dust.” The word גִּישׁ (gish, “dirty scabs”) is a hapax legomenon from גּוּשׁ (gush, “clod”). Driver suggests the word has a medical sense, like “pustules” (G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 73) or “scabs” (JB, NEB, NAB, NIV). Driver thinks “clods of dust” is wrong; he repoints “dust” to make a new verb “to cover,” cognate to Arabic, and reads “my flesh is clothed with worms, and scab covers my skin.” This refers to the dirty scabs that crusted over the sores all over his body. The LXX links this with the second half of the verse: “And my body has been covered with loathsome worms, and I waste away, scraping off clods of dirt from my eruption.”

[7:5]  ⁹ tn The meaning of רָגַע (raga’) is also debated here. D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 163) does not think the word can mean “cracked” because scabs show evidence of the sores healing. But E. Dhorme (Job, 100) argues that the usage of the word shows the idea of “splitting, separating, making a break,” or the like. Here then it would mean “my skin splits” and as a result festers. This need not be a reference to the scabs, but to new places. Or it could mean that the scabbing never heals, but is always splitting open.

[10:9]  ⁷ tn The preposition “like” creates a small tension here. So some ignore the preposition and read “clay” as an adverbial accusative of the material (GKC 371 §117.hh but cf. 379 §119.i with reference to beth essentiae: “as it were, by clay”). The NIV gets around the problem with a different meaning for the verb: “you molded me like clay.” Some suggest the meaning was “as [with] clay” (in the same manner that we have “as [in] the day of Midian” [Isa 9:4]).

[10:9]  ⁸ tn The text has a conjunction: “and to dust….”

[17:16]  ⁹ sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.

[17:16]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² tn The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.

[17:16]  ¹³ 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.

[19:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “my Vindicator.” The word is the active participle from גָּאַל (ga’al, “to redeem, protect, vindicate”). The word is well-known in the OT because of its identification as the kinsman-redeemer (see the Book of Ruth). This is the near kinsman who will pay off one’s debts, defend the family, avenge a killing, marry the widow of the deceased. The word “redeemer” evokes the wrong connotation for people familiar with the NT alone; a translation of “Vindicator” would capture the idea more. The concept might include the description of the mediator already introduced in Job 16:19, but surely here Job is thinking of God as his vindicator. The interesting point to be stressed here is that Job has said clearly that he sees no vindication in this life, that he is going to die. But he knows he will be vindicated, and even though he will die, his vindicator lives. The dilemma remains though: his distress lay in God’s hiding his face from him, and his vindication lay only in beholding God in peace.

[19:25]  ¹² tn The word אַחֲרוּן (’akharon, “last”) has triggered a good number of interpretations. Here it is an adjectival form and not adverbial; it is an epithet of the vindicator. Some commentators, followed by the RSV, change the form to make it adverbial, and translate it “at last.” T. H. Gaster translates it “even if he were the last person to exist” (“Short notes,” VT 4 [1954]: 78).

[19:25]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew has “and he will rise/stand upon [the] dust.” The verb קוּם (qum) is properly “to rise; to arise,” and certainly also can mean “to stand.” Both English ideas are found in the verb. The concept here is that of God rising up to mete out justice. And so to avoid confusion with the idea of resurrection (which although implicit in these words which are pregnant with theological ideas yet to be revealed, is not explicitly stated or intended in this context) the translation “stand” has been used. The Vulgate had “I will rise,” which introduced the idea of Job’s resurrection. The word “dust” is used as in 41:33. The word “dust” is associated with death and the grave, the very earthly particles. Job assumes that God will descend from heaven to bring justice to the world. The use of the word also hints that this will take place after Job has died and returned to dust. Again, the words of Job come to mean far more than he probably understood.

[20:11]  ¹³ tn “Bones” is often used metonymically for the whole person, the bones being the framework, meaning everything inside, as well as the body itself.

[20:11]  ¹⁴ sn This line means that he dies prematurely – at the height of his youthful vigor.

[22:24]  ¹⁵ tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.

[22:24]  ¹⁶ tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).

[22:24]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.

[39:14]  ¹⁷ tn The meaning may have the connotation of “lays; places,” rather than simply abandoning (see M. Dahood, “The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 307f.).

[41:33]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “one who was made.”

[42:6]  ²¹ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

[14:19]  ²³ tn Heb “the overflowings of it”; the word סְפִיחֶיהָ (sÿfikheyha) in the text is changed by just about everyone. The idea of “its overflowings” or more properly “its aftergrowths” (Lev 25:5; 2 Kgs 19:29; etc.) does not fit here at all. Budde suggested reading סְחִפָה (sÿkhifah), which is cognate to Arabic sahifeh, “torrential rain, rainstorm” – that which sweeps away” the soil. The word סָחַף (sakhaf) in Hebrew might have a wider usage than the effects of rain.

[14:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “[the] dust of [the] earth.”

[14:19]  ²⁵ sn The meaning for Job is that death shatters all of man’s hopes for the continuation of life.

[2:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “they lifted up their eyes.” The idiom “to lift up the eyes” (or “to lift up the voice”) is intended to show a special intensity in the effort. Here it would indicate that they were trying to see Job from a great distance away.

[2:12]  ²⁶ tn The Hiphil perfect here should take the nuance of potential perfect – they were not able to recognize him. In other words, this does not mean that they did not know it was Job, only that he did not look anything like the Job they knew.

[2:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “they tossed dust skyward over their heads.”