Discovery BoxJob 33:8-13
Context33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing 1
(I heard the sound of the words!):
33:9 2 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 3 and have no iniquity.
33:10 4 Yet God 5 finds occasions 6 with me;
he regards me as his enemy!
33:11 7 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, 8
for God is greater than a human being. 9
33:13 Why do you contend against him,
that he does not answer all a person’s 10 words?
Proverbs 17:20
Context17:20 The one who has a perverse heart 11 does not find good, 12
and the one who is deceitful in speech 13 falls into trouble.
Proverbs 17:1
Context17:1 Better is a dry crust of bread 14 where there is quietness 15
than a house full of feasting with strife. 16
Proverbs 6:5
Context6:5 Deliver yourself like a gazelle from a snare, 17
and like a bird from the trap 18 of the fowler.
[33:9] 2 sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.
[33:9] 3 tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”
[33:10] 4 sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.
[33:10] 5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[33:10] 6 tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.
[33:12] 8 tn The meaning of this verb is “this is my answer to you.”
[33:12] 9 tc The LXX has “he that is above men is eternal.” Elihu is saying that God is far above Job’s petty problems.
[33:13] 10 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.
[17:20] 11 tn The verse parallels two descriptions of the wicked person: “crooked/perverse of heart” (genitive of specification), and “turned away in his tongue” (deceitful). The first phrase describes twisted intentions. The second, using the Niphal participle (“one turned away”) with “tongue,” the metonymy of cause, describes one who has turned away from speaking truth. Cf. NLT “the twisted tongue tumbles into trouble.”
[17:20] 12 tn The phrase “does not find good” is a figure (tapeinosis) meaning, “will experience calamity.” The wicked person can expect trouble ahead.
[17:20] 13 tn Heb “tongue”; NIV “whose tongue is deceitful.”
[17:1] 14 tn The phrase “a dry piece of bread” is like bread without butter, a morsel of bread not dipped in vinegar mix (e.g., Ruth 2:14). It represents here a simple, humble meal.
[17:1] 15 tn Heb “and quietness in it”; the construction functions as a circumstantial clause: “in which there is quietness” or “with quietness.”
[17:1] 16 tn The house is described as being full of “sacrifices of strife” (זִבְחֵי־רִיב, zivkhi-riv). The use of “sacrifices” suggests a connection with the temple (as in 7:14) in which the people may have made their sacrifices and had a large amount meat left over. It is also possible that the reference is simply to a sumptuous meal (Deut 12:15; Isa 34:6; Ezek 39:17). It would be rare for Israelites to eat meat apart from festivals, however. In the construction the genitive could be classified as a genitive of effect, the feast in general “bringing about strife,” or it could simply be an attributive genitive, “a feast characterized by strife.” Abundance often brings deterioration of moral and ethical standards as well as an increase in envy and strife.
[6:5] 17 tn Heb “from the hand.” Most translations supply “of the hunter.” The word “hand” can signify power, control; so the meaning is that of a gazelle freeing itself from a snare or a trap that a hunter set.
[6:5] 18 tc Heb “hand” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV). Some
