Job 4:8

4:8 Even as I have seen, ¹  those who plow ²  iniquity ³ 

and those who sow trouble reap the same. ⁴ 

Job 11:14

11:14 if ⁵  iniquity is in your hand – put it far away, ⁶ 

and do not let evil reside in your tents.

Job 15:35

15:35 They conceive ⁷  trouble and bring forth evil;

their belly ⁸  prepares deception.”

Job 22:15

22:15 Will you keep to the old path ⁹ 

that evil men have walked –

Job 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ¹⁰ 

[4:8]  ¹ tn The perfect verb here represents the indefinite past. It has no specific sighting in mind, but refers to each time he has seen the wicked do this.

[4:8]  ² sn The figure is an implied metaphor. Plowing suggests the idea of deliberately preparing (or cultivating) life for evil. This describes those who are fundamentally wicked.

[4:8]  ³ tn The LXX renders this with a plural “barren places.”

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “reap it.”

[11:14]  ⁵ tn Verse 14 should be taken as a parenthesis and not a continuation of the protasis, because it does not fit with v. 13 in that way (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 256).

[11:14]  ⁶ tn Many commentators follow the Vulgate and read the line “if you put away the sin that is in your hand.” They do this because the imperative comes between the protasis (v. 13) and the apodosis (v. 15) and does not appear to be clearly part of the protasis. The idea is close to the MT, but the MT is much more forceful – if you find sin in your hand, get rid of it.

[15:35]  ⁹ tn Infinitives absolute are used in this verse in the place of finite verbs. They lend a greater vividness to the description, stressing the basic meaning of the words.

[15:35]  ¹⁰ tn At the start of the speech Eliphaz said Job’s belly was filled with the wind; now it is there that he prepares deception. This inclusio frames the speech.

[22:15]  ¹³ tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.

[34:22]  ¹⁷ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”