Job 4:6

4:6 Is not your piety ¹  your confidence, ² 

and your blameless ways your hope? ³ 

Job 21:14

21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!

We do not want to ⁴  know your ways. ⁵ 

Job 22:28

22:28 Whatever you decide ⁶  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

Job 22:3

22:3 Is it of any special benefit ⁷  to the Almighty

that you should be righteous,

or is it any gain to him

that you make your ways blameless? ⁸ 

[4:6]  ¹ tn The word יִרְאָה (yir’ah, “fear”) in this passage refers to Job’s fear of the Lord, his reverential devotion to God. H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 46) says that on the lips of Eliphaz the word almost means “your religion.” He refers to Moffatt’s translation, “Let your religion reassure you.”

[4:6]  ² tn The word כִּסְלָתֶךָ (kislatekha, “your confidence”) is rendered in the LXX by “founded in folly.” The word כֶּסֶל (kesel) is “confidence” (see 8:14) and elsewhere “folly.” Since it is parallel to “your hope” it must mean confidence here.

[4:6]  ³ tn This second half of the verse simply has “your hope and the integrity of your ways.” The expression “the perfection of your ways” is parallel to “your fear,” and “your hope” is parallel to “your confidence.” This sentence is an example of casus pendens or extraposition: “as for your hope, it is the integrity of your ways” (see GKC 458 §143.d).

[21:14]  ⁴ tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”

[21:14]  ⁵ sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.

[22:28]  ⁷ tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[22:3]  ¹⁰ tn The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.

[22:3]  ¹¹ tn The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.