Job 31:30

31:30 I ¹  have not even permitted my mouth ²  to sin

by asking ³  for his life through a curse –

Job 33:2

33:2 See now, I have opened ⁴  my mouth;

my tongue in my mouth has spoken. ⁵ 

[31:30]  ¹ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ² tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ³ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.

[33:2]  ⁴ tn The perfect verbs in this verse should be classified as perfects of resolve: “I have decided to open…speak.”

[33:2]  ⁵ sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 210) says, “The self-importance of Elihu is boundless, and he is the master of banality.” He adds that whoever wrote these speeches this way clearly intended to expose the character rather than exalt him.