Job 33:13

33:13 Why do you contend against him,

that he does not answer all a person’s ¹  words?

Job 36:23

36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?

Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?

Job 38:2-3

38:2 “Who is this ²  who darkens counsel ³ 

with words without knowledge?

38:3 Get ready for a difficult task ⁴  like a man;

I will question you

and you will inform me!

Job 40:2

40:2 “Will the one who contends ⁵  with the Almighty correct him? ⁶ 

Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

Job 40:5

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ⁷ 

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ⁸  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

Job 42:2-6

42:2 “I know that you can do all things;

no purpose of yours can be thwarted;

42:3 you asked, ⁹ 

‘Who is this who darkens counsel

without knowledge?’

But ¹⁰  I have declared without understanding ¹¹ 

things too wonderful for me to know. ¹² 

42:4 You said, ¹³ 

‘Pay attention, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you will answer me.’

42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye has seen you. ¹⁴ 

42:6 Therefore I despise myself, ¹⁵ 

and I repent in dust and ashes!

Matthew 20:15

20:15 Am I not ¹⁶  permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁷ 

[33:13]  ¹ tc The MT has “all his words.” This must refer to “man” in the previous verse. But many wish to change it to “my words,” since it would be summarizing Job’s complaint to God.

[38:2]  ² tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here to emphasize the interrogative pronoun (see GKC 442 §136.c).

[38:2]  ³ sn The referent of “counsel” here is not the debate between Job and the friends, but the purposes of God (see Ps 33:10; Prov 19:21; Isa 19:17). Dhorme translates it “Providence.”

[38:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Gird up your loins.” This idiom basically describes taking the hem of the long garment or robe and pulling it up between the legs and tucking it into the front of the belt, allowing easier and freer movement of the legs. “Girding the loins” meant the preparation for some difficult task (Jer 1:17), or for battle (Isa 5:27), or for running (1 Kgs 18:46). C. Gordon suggests that it includes belt-wrestling, a form of hand-to-hand mortal combat (“Belt-wrestling in the Bible World,” HUCA 23 [1950/51]: 136).

[40:2]  ⁵ tn The form רֹב (rov) is the infinitive absolute from the verb רִיב (riv, “contend”). Dhorme wishes to repoint it to make it the active participle, the “one who argues with the Almighty.”

[40:2]  ⁶ tn The verb יִסּוֹר (yissor) is found only here, but comes from a common root meaning “to correct; to reprove.” Several suggestions have been made to improve on the MT. Dhorme read it יָסוּר (yasur) in the sense of “to turn aside; to yield.” Ehrlich read this emendation as “to come to an end.” But the MT could be read as “to correct; to instruct.”

[40:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will not add.”

[40:8]  ⁸ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.

[42:3]  ⁹ tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.

[42:3]  ¹⁰ tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.

[42:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”

[42:3]  ¹² tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.

[42:4]  ¹³ tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.

[42:5]  ¹⁴ sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.

[42:6]  ¹⁵ tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

[20:15]  ¹⁶ tc ‡ Before οὐκ (ouk, “[am I] not”) a number of significant witnesses read ἤ (h, “or”; e.g., א C W 085 Ë^1,13 33 and most others). Although in later Greek the οι in σοι (oi in soi) – the last word of v. 14 – would have been pronounced like ἤ, since ἤ is lacking in early mss (B D; among later witnesses, note L Z Θ 700) and since mss were probably copied predominantly by sight rather than by sound, even into the later centuries, the omission of ἤ cannot be accounted for as easily. Thus the shorter reading is most likely original. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[20:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Is your eye evil because I am good?”