Job 34:2

34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;

hear ¹  me, you learned men. ² 

Job 33:1

Elihu Invites Job’s Attention

33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,

and hear ³  everything I have to say! ⁴ 

Job 34:16

God Is Impartial and Omniscient

34:16 “If you have ⁵  understanding, listen to this,

hear what I have to say. ⁶ 

Job 36:4

36:4 For in truth, my words are not false;

it is one complete ⁷  in knowledge

who is with you.

Job 19:23

Job’s Assurance of Vindication

19:23 “O that ⁸  my words were written down,

O that they were written on a scroll, ⁹ 

[34:2]  ¹ tn Heb “give ear to me.”

[34:2]  ² tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”

[33:1]  ³ tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”

[33:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “hear all my words.”

[34:16]  ⁵ tn The phrase “you have” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.

[34:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “the sound of my words.”

[36:4]  ⁷ tn The word is תְּמִים (tÿmim), often translated “perfect.” It is the same word used of Job in 2:3. Elihu is either a complete stranger to modesty or is confident regarding the knowledge that he believes God has revealed to him for this situation. See the note on the heading before 32:1.

[19:23]  ⁹ tn The optative is again expressed with the interrogative clause “Who will give that they be written?” Job wishes that his words be preserved long after his death.

[19:23]  ¹⁰ tn While the sense of this line is clear, there is a small problem and a plausible solution. The last word is indeed סֶפֶר (sefer, “book”), usually understood here to mean “scroll.” But the verb that follows it in the verse is יֻחָקוּ (yukhaqu), from חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to carve”). While the meaning is clearly that Job wants his words to be retained, the idea of engraving in a book, although not impossible, is unusual. And so many have suggested that the Akkadian word siparru, “copper; brass,” is what is meant here (see Isa 30:8; Judg 5:14). The consonants are the same, and the vowel pattern is close to the original vowel pattern of this segholate noun. Writing on copper or bronze sheets has been attested from the 12th to the 2nd centuries, notably in the copper scroll, which would allow the translation “scroll” in our text (for more bibliography see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 432). But H. S. Gehman notes that in Phoenician our word can mean “inscription” (“SEÝFER, an inscription, in the book of Job,” JBL 63 [1944]: 303-7), making the proposed substitution unnecessary.