Job 31:17

31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,

and did not share any of it with orphans ¹  –

Job 39:17

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

Job 32:17

32:17 I too will answer my part,

I too will explain what I know.

Job 17:5

17:5 If a man denounces his friends for personal gain, ² 

the eyes of his children will fail.

Job 34:33

34:33 Is it your opinion ³  that God ⁴  should recompense it,

because you reject this? ⁵ 

But you must choose, and not I,

so tell us what you know.

[31:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “for a portion.” This verse is rather obscure. The words are not that difficult, but the sense of them in this context is. Some take the idea to mean “he denounces his friends for a portion,” and others have a totally different idea of “he invites his friends to share with him.” The former fits the context better, indicating that Job’s friends speak out against him for some personal gain. The second half of the verse then promises that his children will suffer loss for this attempt at gain. The line is surely proverbial. A number of other interpretations can be found in the commentaries.

[34:33]  ³ tn Heb “is it from with you,” an idiomatic expression meaning “to suit you” or “according to your judgment.”

[34:33]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:33]  ⁵ tn There is no object on the verb, and the meaning is perhaps lost. The best guess is that Elihu is saying Job has rejected his teaching.