Job 34:37

34:37 For he adds transgression ¹  to his sin;

in our midst he claps his hands, ² 

and multiplies his words against God.”

Job 35:16

35:16 So Job opens his mouth to no purpose; ³ 

without knowledge he multiplies words.”

Psalms 73:8-9

73:8 They mock ⁴  and say evil things; ⁵ 

they proudly threaten violence. ⁶ 

73:9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,

and lay claim to the earth. ⁷ 

Ecclesiastes 10:14

10:14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. ⁸ 

No one knows what will happen;

who can tell him what will happen in the future? ⁹ 

[34:37]  ¹ tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”

[34:37]  ² tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.

[35:16]  ³ tn The word הֶבֶל (hevel) means “vanity; futility; to no purpose.”

[73:8]  ⁴ tn The verb מוּק (muq, “mock”) occurs only here in the OT.

[73:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “and speak with evil.”

[73:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “oppression from an elevated place they speak.” The traditional accentuation of the MT places “oppression” with the preceding line. In this case, one might translate, “they mock and speak with evil [of] oppression, from an elevated place [i.e., “proudly”] they speak.” By placing “oppression” with what follows, one achieves better poetic balance in the parallelism.

[73:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “they set in heaven their mouth, and their tongue walks through the earth.” The meaning of the text is uncertain. Perhaps the idea is that they lay claim to heaven (i.e., speak as if they were ruling in heaven) and move through the earth declaring their superiority and exerting their influence. Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) the first line as adversative and translate, “they set their mouth against heaven,” that is, they defy God.

[10:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the fool multiplies words.” This line is best taken as the third line of a tricola encompassing 10:13-14a (NASB, NRSV, NJPS, Moffatt) rather than the first line of a tricola encompassing 10:14 (KJV, NEB, RSV, NAB, ASV, NIV). Several versions capture the sense of this line well: “a fool prates on and on” (Moffatt) and “Yet the fool talks and talks!” (NJPS).

[10:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “after him”; or “after he [dies].”