Job 33:28

33:28 He redeemed my life ¹ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Job 1:7

1:7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” ²  And Satan answered the Lord, ³  “From roving about ⁴  on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” ⁵ 

Job 2:2

2:2 And the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, ⁶  “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” ⁷ 

Job 33:24

33:24 and if ⁸  God ⁹  is gracious to him and says,

‘Spare ¹⁰  him from going down

to the place of corruption,

I have found a ransom for him,’ ¹¹ 

Job 8:19

8:19 Indeed, this is the joy of his way, ¹² 

and out of the earth ¹³  others spring up. ¹⁴ 

Job 11:10

11:10 If he comes by ¹⁵  and confines ¹⁶  you ¹⁷ 

and convenes a court, ¹⁸ 

then who can prevent ¹⁹  him?

Job 13:15

13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; ²⁰ 

I will surely ²¹  defend ²²  my ways to his face!

Job 18:15

18:15 Fire resides in his tent; ²³ 

over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.

Job 23:10

23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; ²⁴ 

if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. ²⁵ 

Job 31:26

31:26 if I looked at the sun ²⁶  when it was shining,

and the moon advancing as a precious thing,

Job 34:17

34:17 Do you really think ²⁷ 

that one who hates justice can govern? ²⁸ 

And will you declare guilty

the supremely righteous ²⁹  One,

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ³⁰  my justice?

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

Job 35:14

35:14 How much less, then,

when you say that you do not perceive him,

that the case is before him

and you are waiting for him! ³¹ 

[33:28]  ¹ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[1:7]  ² tn The imperfect may be classified as progressive imperfect; it indicates action that although just completed is regarded as still lasting into the present (GKC 316 §107.h).

[1:7]  ³ tn Heb “answered the Lord and said” (also in v. 9). The words “and said” here and in v. 9 have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:7]  ⁴ tn The verb שׁוּט (shut) means “to go or rove about” (BDB 1001-2 s.v.). Here the infinitive construct serves as the object of the preposition.

[1:7]  ⁵ tn The Hitpael (here also an infinitive construct after the preposition) of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh) means “to walk to and fro, back and forth, with the sense of investigating or reconnoitering (see e.g. Gen 13:17).

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “answered the Lord and said” (also in v. 4). The words “and said” here and in v. 9 have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[2:2]  ⁴ tn See the note on this phrase in 1:7.

[33:24]  ⁴ tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.

[33:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:24]  ⁶ tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (pada’, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (para’, “to let loose,” so Wright).

[33:24]  ⁷ sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.

[8:19]  ⁵ tn This line is difficult. If the MT stands as it is, the expression must be ironic. It would be saying that the joy (all the security and prosperity) of its way (its life) is short-lived – that is the way its joy goes. Most commentators are not satisfied with this. Dhorme, for one, changes מְשׂוֹשׂ (mÿsos, “joy”) to מְסוֹס (mÿsos, “rotting”), and gets “behold him lie rotting on the path.” The sibilants can interchange this way. But Dhorme thinks the MT was written the way it was because the word was thought to be “joy,” when it should have been the other way. The word “way” then becomes an accusative of place. The suggestion is rather compelling and would certainly fit the context. The difficulty is that a root סוּס (sus, “to rot”) has to be proposed. E. Dhorme does this by drawing on Arabic sas, “to be eaten by moths or worms,” thus “worm-eaten; decaying; rotting.” Cf. NIV “its life withers away”; also NAB “there he lies rotting beside the road.”

[8:19]  ⁶ tn Heb “dust.”

[8:19]  ⁷ sn As with the tree, so with the godless man – his place will soon be taken by another.

[11:10]  ⁶ tn The verb יַחֲלֹף (yakhalof) is literally “passes by/through” (NIV “comes along” in the sense of “if it should so happen”). Many accept the emendation to יַחְתֹּף (yakhtof, “he seizes,” cf. Gordis, Driver), but there is not much support for these.

[11:10]  ⁷ tn The verb is the Hiphil of סָגַר (sagar, “to close; to shut”) and so here in this context it probably means something like “to shut in; to confine.” But this is a difficult meaning, and the sentence is cryptic. E. Dhorme (Job, 162) thinks this word and the next have to be antithetical, and so he suggests from a meaning “to keep confined” the idea of keeping a matter secret; and with the next verb, “to convene an assembly,” he offers “to divulge it.”

[11:10]  ⁸ tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation.

[11:10]  ⁹ tn The denominative Hiphil of קָהָל (qahal, “an assembly”) has the idea of “to convene an assembly.” In this context there would be the legal sense of convening a court, i.e., calling Job to account (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 255). See E. Ullendorff, “The Meaning of QHLT,” VT 12 (1962): 215; he defines the verb also as “argue, rebuke.”

[11:10]  ¹⁰ tn The verb means “turn him back.” Zophar uses Job’s own words (see 9:12).

[13:15]  ⁷ tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (lo’, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated – as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (’akhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).

[13:15]  ⁸ tn On אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.

[13:15]  ⁹ tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.

[18:15]  ⁸ tn This line is difficult as well. The verb, again a third feminine form, says “it dwells in his tent.” But the next part (מִבְּלִי לוֹ, mibbÿli lo) means something like “things of what are not his.” The best that can be made of the MT is “There shall live in his tent they that are not his” (referring to persons and animals; see J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 279). G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:161) refer “that which is naught of his” to weeds and wild animals. M. Dahood suggested a reading מַבֶּל (mabbel) and a connection to Akkadian nablu, “fire” (cf. Ugaritic nbl). The interchange of m and n is not a problem, and the parallelism with the next line makes good sense (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,” Bib 38 [1957]: 312ff.). Others suggest an emendation to get “night-hag” or vampire. This suggestion, as well as Driver’s “mixed herbs,” are linked to the idea of exorcism. But if a change is to be made, Dahood’s is the most compelling.

[23:10]  ⁹ tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.

[23:10]  ¹⁰ tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).

[31:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.

[34:17]  ¹¹ tn The force of הַאַף (ha’af) is “Is it truly the case?” The point is being made that if Job were right God could not be judging the world.

[34:17]  ¹² tn The verb חָבַשׁ (khavash) has the basic idea of “to bind,” as in binding on the yoke, and then in the sense of subduing people under authority (cf. Assyrian absanu). The imperfect verb here is best expressed with the potential nuance.

[34:17]  ¹³ tn The two words could be taken separately, but they seem to form a fine nominal hendiadys, because the issue is God’s justice. So the word for power becomes the modifier.

[40:8]  ¹² 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.

[35:14]  ¹³ sn The point is that if God does not listen to those who do not turn to him, how much less likely is he to turn to one who complains against him.