Job 4:4

4:4 Your words have supported ¹  those

who stumbled, ² 

and you have strengthened the knees

that gave way. ³ 

Job 6:26

6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,

and treat ⁴  the words of a despairing man as wind?

Job 13:17

13:17 Listen carefully ⁵  to my words;

let your ears be attentive to my explanation. ⁶ 

Job 19:2

19:2 “How long will you torment me ⁷ 

and crush ⁸  me with your words? ⁹ 

Job 21:2

21:2 “Listen carefully ¹⁰  to my words;

let this be ¹¹  the consolation you offer me. ¹² 

Job 29:9

29:9 the chief men refrained from talking

and covered their mouths with their hands;

Job 30:9

Job’s Indignities

30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;

I have become a byword ¹³  among them.

Job 32:18

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me ¹⁴  constrains me. ¹⁵ 

Job 33:8

Elihu Rejects Job’s Plea of Innocence

33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing ¹⁶ 

(I heard the sound of the words!):

Job 34:2

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

hear ¹⁷  me, you learned men. ¹⁸ 

Job 35:4

35:4 I ¹⁹  will reply to you, ²⁰ 

and to your friends with you.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Both verbs in this line are imperfects, and probably carry the same nuance as the last verb in v. 3, namely, either customary imperfect or preterite. The customary has the aspect of stressing that this was what Job used to do.

[4:4]  ² tn The form is the singular active participle, interpreted here collectively. The verb is used of knees that give way (Isa 35:3; Ps 109:24).

[4:4]  ³ tn The expression is often translated as “feeble knees,” but it literally says “the bowing [or “tottering”] knees.” The figure is one who may be under a heavy load whose knees begin to shake and buckle (see also Heb 12:12).

[6:26]  ⁴ tn This, in the context, is probably the meaning, although the Hebrew simply has the line after the first half of the verse read: “and as/to wind the words of a despairing man.” The line could be translated “and the words of a despairing man, [which are] as wind.” But this translation follows the same approach as RSV, NIV, and NAB, which take the idiom of the verb (“think, imagine”) with the preposition on “wind” to mean “reckon as wind” – “and treat the words of a despairing man as wind.”

[13:17]  ⁷ tn The infinitive absolute intensifies the imperative, which serves here with the force of an immediate call to attention. In accordance with GKC 342 §113.n, the construction could be translated, “Keep listening” (so ESV).

[13:17]  ⁸ tn The verb has to be supplied in this line, for the MT has “and my explanation in your ears.” In the verse, both “word” and “explanation” are Aramaisms (the latter appearing in Dan 5:12 for the explanation of riddles).

[19:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “torment my soul,” with “soul” representing the self or individual. The MT has a verb from יָגָה (yagah, “to afflict; to torment”). This is supported by the versions. But the LXX has “to tire” which is apparently from יָגַע (yaga’). The form in the MT is unusual because it preserves the final (original) yod in the Hiphil (see GKC 214 §75.gg). So this unusual form has been preserved, and is the correct reading. A modal nuance for the imperfect fits best here: “How long do you intend to do this?”

[19:2]  ¹¹ tn The MT has דָּכָא (dakha’), “to crush” in the Piel. The LXX, however, has a more general word which means “to destroy.”

[19:2]  ¹² tn The LXX adds to the verse: “only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.”

[21:2]  ¹³ tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.

[21:2]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”

[21:2]  ¹⁵ tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.

[30:9]  ¹⁶ tn The idea is that Job has become proverbial, people think of misfortune and sin when they think of him. The statement uses the ordinary word for “word” (מִלָּה, millah), but in this context it means more: “proverb; byword.”

[32:18]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ²⁰ tn The verb צוּק (tsuq) means “to constrain; to urge; to press.” It is used in Judg 14:17; 16:16 with the sense of wearing someone down with repeated entreaties. Elihu cannot withhold himself any longer.

[33:8]  ²² tn Heb “in my ears.”

[34:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “give ear to me.”

[34:2]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”

[35:4]  ²⁸ tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.

[35:4]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.