Job 40:5

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ¹ 

Job 9:3

9:3 If someone wishes ²  to contend ³  with him,

he cannot answer ⁴  him one time in a thousand.

Job 9:22

Accusation of God’s Justice

9:22 “It is all one! ⁵  That is why I say, ⁶ 

‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’

Job 2:10

2:10 But he replied, ⁷  “You’re talking like one of the godless ⁸  women would do! Should we receive ⁹  what is good from God, and not also ¹⁰  receive ¹¹  what is evil?” ¹²  In all this Job did not sin by what he said. ¹³ 

Job 42:11

42:11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined ¹⁴  with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ¹⁵  and a gold ring. ¹⁶ 

[40:5]  ¹ tn Heb “I will not add.”

[9:3]  ² tn Some commentators take God to be the subject of this verb, but it is more likely that it refers to the mortal who tries to challenge God in a controversy. The verb is used of Job in 13:3.

[9:3]  ³ tn The verb רִיב (riv) is a common one; it has the idea of “contention; dispute; legal dispute or controversy; go to law.” With the preposition אִם (’im) the idea must be “to contend with” or “to dispute with.” The preposition reflects the prepositional phrase “with God” in v. 2, supporting the view that man is the subject.

[9:3]  ⁴ tn This use of the imperfect as potential imperfect assumes that the human is the subject, that in a dispute with God he could not answer one of God’s questions (for which see the conclusion of the book when God questions Job). On the other hand, if the interpretation were that God does not answer the demands of mortals, then a simple progressive imperfect would be required. In support of this is the frustration of Job that God does not answer him.

[9:22]  ³ tc The LXX omits the phrase “It is all one.” Modern scholars either omit it or transpose it for clarity.

[9:22]  ⁴ tn The relationships of these clauses is in some question. Some think that the poet has inverted the first two, and so they should read, “That is why I have said: ‘It is all one.’” Others would take the third clause to be what was said.

[2:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “he said to her.”

[2:10]  ⁵ tn The word “foolish” (נָבָל, naval) has to do with godlessness more than silliness (Ps 14:1). To be foolish in this sense is to deny the nature and the work of God in life its proper place. See A. Phillips, “NEBALA – A Term for Serious Disorderly Unruly Conduct,” VT 25 (1975): 237-41; and W. M. W. Roth, “NBL,” VT 10 (1960): 394-409.

[2:10]  ⁶ tn The verb קִבֵּל (qibbel) means “to accept, receive.” It is attested in the Amarna letters with the meaning “receive meekly, patiently.”

[2:10]  ⁷ tn The adverb גָּם (gam, “also, even”) is placed here before the first clause, but belongs with the second. It intensifies the idea (see GKC 483 §153). See also C. J. Labuschagne, “The Emphasizing Particle GAM and Its Connotations,” Studia Biblica et Semitica, 193-203.

[2:10]  ⁸ tn The two verbs in this sentence, Piel imperfects, are deliberative imperfects; they express the reasoning or deliberating in the interrogative sentences.

[2:10]  ⁹ tn A question need not be introduced by an interrogative particle or adverb. The natural emphasis on the words is enough to indicate it is a question (GKC 473 §150.a).

[2:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sin with his lips,” an idiom meaning he did not sin by what he said.

[42:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “ate bread.”

[42:11]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

[42:11]  ⁷ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.