Job 32:20

32:20 I will speak, ¹  so that I may find relief;

I will open my lips, so that I may answer.

Job 9:35

9:35 Then ²  would I speak and not fear him,

but it is not so with me. ³ 

Job 7:11

Job Remonstrates with God

7:11 “Therefore, ⁴  I will not refrain my mouth; ⁵ 

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain ⁶  in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 10:1

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ⁷  am weary ⁸  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ⁹ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 16:6

Abandonment by God and Man

16:6 “But ¹⁰  if I speak, my pain is not relieved, ¹¹ 

and if I refrain from speaking

– how ¹²  much of it goes away?

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ¹³  like you,

if ¹⁴  you were in my place;

I could pile up ¹⁵  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ¹⁶ 

[32:20]  ¹ tn The cohortative expresses Elihu’s resolve to speak.

[9:35]  ² tn There is no conjunction with this cohortative; but the implication from the context is that if God’s rod were withdrawn, if the terror were removed, then Job would speak up without fear.

[9:35]  ³ tn The last half of the verse is rather cryptic: “but not so I with me.” NIV renders it “but as it now stands with me, I cannot.” This is very smooth and interpretive. Others transpose the two halves of the verse to read, “Since it is not so, I with myself // will commune and not fear him.” Job would be saying that since he cannot contend with God on equal terms, and since there is no arbiter, he will come on his own terms. English versions have handled this differently: “for I know I am not what I am thought to be” (NEB); “since this is not the case with me” (NAB); “I do not see myself like that at all” (JB).

[7:11]  ³ tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.

[7:11]  ⁴ sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

[7:11]  ⁵ tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb si^ah and the Nouns si^ah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).

[10:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ⁵ tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ⁶ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[16:6]  ⁵ tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:6]  ⁶ tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”

[16:6]  ⁷ tn Some argue that מָה (mah) in the text is the Arabic ma, the simple negative. This would then mean “it does not depart far from me.” The interrogative used rhetorically amounts to the same thing, however, so the suggestion is not necessary.

[16:4]  ⁶ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ⁷ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

[16:4]  ⁸ tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

[16:4]  ⁹ sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).