Discovery BoxJob 31:31
Context31:31 if 1 the members of my household 2 have never said, 3
‘If only there were 4 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 5 meat!’ –
Psalms 27:2
Context27:2 When evil men attack me 6
to devour my flesh, 7
when my adversaries and enemies attack me, 8
they stumble and fall. 9
Daniel 7:5
Context7:5 “Then 10 a second beast appeared, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and there were three ribs 11 in its mouth between its teeth. 12 It was told, 13 ‘Get up and devour much flesh!’
[31:31] 1 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
[31:31] 2 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
[31:31] 3 sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.
[31:31] 4 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
[31:31] 5 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[27:2] 6 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
[27:2] 7 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
[27:2] 8 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
[27:2] 9 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
[7:5] 10 tn Aram “and behold.”
[7:5] 11 sn The three ribs held securely in the mouth of the bear, perhaps representing Media-Persia, apparently symbolize military conquest, but the exact identity of the “ribs” is not clear. Possibly it is a reference to the Persian conquest of Lydia, Egypt, and Babylonia.
