Job 31:3

31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,

and disaster for those who work iniquity?

Job 4:8

4:8 Even as I have seen, ¹  those who plow ²  iniquity ³ 

and those who sow trouble reap the same. ⁴ 

Job 11:14

11:14 if ⁵  iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, ⁶ 

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

Job 15:35

15:35 They conceive ⁷  trouble and bring forth evil;

their belly ⁸  prepares deception.”

Job 22:15

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ⁹ 

that evil men have walked –

Job 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ¹⁰ 

Job 5:6

5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹¹ 

nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

Job 11:11

11:11 For he ¹²  knows deceitful ¹³  men;

when he sees evil, will he not ¹⁴  consider it? ¹⁵ 

Job 34:8

34:8 He goes about ¹⁶  in company ¹⁷  with evildoers,

he goes along ¹⁸  with wicked men. ¹⁹ 

Job 34:36

34:36 But ²⁰  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

Job 36:21

36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested ²¹  by affliction.

[4:8]  ¹ tn The perfect verb here represents the indefinite past. It has no specific sighting in mind, but refers to each time he has seen the wicked do this.

[4:8]  ² sn The figure is an implied metaphor. Plowing suggests the idea of deliberately preparing (or cultivating) life for evil. This describes those who are fundamentally wicked.

[4:8]  ³ tn The LXX renders this with a plural “barren places.”

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “reap it.”

[11:14]  ¹ tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).

[11:14]  ² tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.

[15:35]  ¹ tn Infinitives absolute are used in this verse in the place of finite verbs. They lend a greater vividness to the description, stressing the basic meaning of the words.

[15:35]  ² tn At the start of the speech Eliphaz said Job’s belly was filled with the wind; now it is there that he prepares deception. This inclusio frames the speech.

[22:15]  ¹ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[34:22]  ¹ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”

[5:6]  ¹ sn The previous discussion shows how trouble rises, namely, from the rebelliousness of the fool. Here Eliphaz simply summarizes the points made with this general principle – trouble does not come from outside man, nor does it come as a part of the natural order, but rather it comes from the evil nature of man.

[11:11]  ¹ tn The pronoun is emphatic implying that Zophar indicates that God indeed knows Job’s sin even if Job does not.

[11:11]  ² tn The expression is literally “men of emptiness” (see Ps 26:4). These are false men, for שָׁוְא (shavÿ’) can mean “vain, empty, or false, deceitful.”

[11:11]  ³ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 162) reads the prepositional phrase “to him” rather than the negative; he translates the line as “he sees iniquity and observes it closely.”

[11:11]  ⁴ tn Some commentators do not take this last clause as a question, but simply as a statement, namely, that when God sees evil he does not need to ponder or consider it – he knows it instantly. In that case it would be a circumstantial clause: “without considering it.” D. J. A. Clines lists quite an array of other interpretations for the line (Job [WBC], 255); for example, “and he is himself unobserved”; taking the word לֹא (lo’) as an emphatic; taking the negative as a noun, “considering them as nothing”; and others that change the verb to “they do not understand it.” But none of these are compelling; they offer no major improvement.

[34:8]  ¹ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ² tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ³ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:36]  ¹ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[36:21]  ¹ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”