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 21:4

21:4 Is my ⁵  complaint against a man? ⁶ 

If so, ⁷  why should I not be impatient? ⁸ 

[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.”

[21:4]  ⁵ tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).

[21:4]  ⁶ sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).

[21:4]  ⁷ tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.

[21:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).