Job 33:22

33:22 He ¹  draws near to the place of corruption,

and his life to the messengers of death. ² 

Job 31:30

31:30 I ³  have not even permitted my mouth ⁴  to sin

by asking ⁵  for his life through a curse –

Job 33:18

33:18 He spares a person’s life from corruption, ⁶ 

his very life from crossing over ⁷  the river.

Job 33:28

33:28 He redeemed my life ⁸ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Job 33:30

33:30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

Job 41:21

41:21 Its breath sets coals ablaze

and a flame shoots from its mouth.

Job 2:6

2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, ⁹  he is ¹⁰  in your power; ¹¹  only preserve ¹²  his life.”

Job 18:4

18:4 You who tear yourself ¹³  to pieces in your anger,

will the earth be abandoned ¹⁴  for your sake?

Or will a rock be moved from its place? ¹⁵ 

Job 27:8

27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, ¹⁶ 

when God takes away his life? ¹⁷ 

Job 2:4

2:4 But ¹⁸  Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for ¹⁹  skin! ²⁰  Indeed, a man will give up ²¹  all that he has to save his life! ²² 

Job 32:2

32:2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry. ²³  He was angry ²⁴  with Job for justifying ²⁵  himself rather than God. ²⁶ 

[33:22]  ¹ tn Heb “his soul [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh, “life”] draws near.”

[33:22]  ² tn The MT uses the Hiphil participle, “to those who cause death.” This seems to be a reference to the belief in demons that brought about death, an idea not mentioned in the Bible itself. Thus many proposals have been made for this expression. Hoffmann and Budde divide the word into לְמוֹ מֵתִּים (lÿmo metim) and simply read “to the dead.” Dhorme adds a couple of letters to get לִמְקוֹם מֵתִּים (limqom metim, “to the place [or abode] of the dead”).

[31:30]  ³ tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.

[31:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”

[31:30]  ⁵ 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.

[33:18]  ⁵ tn A number of interpreters and translations take this as “the pit” (see Job 17:14; cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:18]  ⁶ tc Here is another difficult line. The verb normally means “to pass through; to pass over,” and so this word would normally mean “from passing through [or over].” The word שֶׁלַח (shelakh) does at times refer to a weapon, but most commentators look for a parallel with “the pit [or corruption].” One suggestion is שְׁאוֹלָה (shÿ’olah, “to Sheol”), proposed by Duhm. Dhorme thought it was שַׁלַח (shalakh) and referred to the passageway to the underworld (see M. Tsevat, VT 4 [1954]: 43; and Svi Rin, BZ 7 [1963]: 25). See discussion of options in HALOT 1517-18 s.v. IV שֶׁלַח. The idea of crossing the river of death fits the idea of the passage well, although the reading “to perish by the sword” makes sense and was followed by the NIV.

[33:28]  ⁷ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[2:6]  ⁹ tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.

[2:6]  ¹⁰ tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”

[2:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[2:6]  ¹² sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.

[18:4]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses the participle and then 3rd person suffixes: “O tearer of himself in his anger.” But it is clearly referring to Job, and so the direct second person pronouns should be used to make that clear. The LXX is an approximation or paraphrase here: “Anger has possessed you, for what if you should die – would under heaven be desolate, or shall the mountains be overthrown from their foundations?”

[18:4]  ¹² tn There is a good deal of study on this word in this passage, and in Job in general. M. Dahood suggested a root עָזַב (’azav) meaning “to arrange; to rearrange” (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 303-9). But this is refuted by H. G. M. Williamson, “A Reconsideration of ’zb II in Biblical Hebrew,” ZAW 97 (1985): 74-85.

[18:4]  ¹³ sn Bildad is asking if Job thinks the whole moral order of the world should be interrupted for his sake, that he may escape the punishment for wickedness.

[27:8]  ¹³ tn The verb יִבְצָע (yivtsa’) means “to cut off.” It could be translated transitively or intransitively – the latter is better here (“when he is cut off”). Since the next line speaks of prayer, some have thought this verse should be about prayer. Mandelkern, in his concordance (p. 228b), suggested the verb should be “when he prays” (reading יִפְגַּע [yifga’] in place of יִבְצָע [yivtsa’]).

[27:8]  ¹⁴ tn The verb יֵשֶׁל (yeshel) is found only here. It has been related spoils [or sheaves]”); שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”); נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up” [i.e., pray]); and a host of others.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn The form is the simply preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive. However, the speech of Satan is in contrast to what God said, even though in narrative sequence.

[2:4]  ¹⁶ tn The preposition בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) designates interest or advantage arising from the idea of protection for (“for the benefit of”); see IBHS 201-2 §11.2.7a.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ sn The meaning of the expression is obscure. It may come from the idea of sacrificing an animal or another person in order to go free, suggesting the expression that one type of skin that was worth less was surrendered to save the more important life. Satan would then be saying that Job was willing for others to die for him to go free, but not himself. “Skin” would be a synecdoche of the part for the whole (like the idiomatic use of skin today for a person in a narrow escape). The second clause indicates that God has not even scratched the surface because Job has been protected. His “skin” might have been scratched, but not his flesh and bone! But if his life had been put in danger, he would have responded differently.

[2:4]  ¹⁸ tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).

[2:4]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

[32:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verse begins with וַיִּחַר אַף (vayyikhar ’af, “and the anger became hot”), meaning Elihu became very angry.

[32:2]  ¹⁸ tn The second comment about Elihu’s anger comes right before the statement of its cause. Now the perfect verb is used: “he was angry.”

[32:2]  ¹⁹ tn The explanation is the causal clause עַל־צַדְּקוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ (’al-tsaddÿqo nafsho, “because he justified himself”). It is the preposition with the Piel infinitive construct with a suffixed subjective genitive.

[32:2]  ²⁰ tc The LXX and Latin versions soften the expression slightly by saying “before God.”