Job 41:17

41:17 They lock tightly together, one to the next; ¹ 

they cling together and cannot be separated.

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 ²  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 ³  and a gold ring. ⁴ 

Job 41:16

41:16 each one is so close to the next ⁵ 

that no air can come between them.

Job 1:4

1:4 Now his sons used to go ⁶  and hold ⁷  a feast in the house of each one in turn, ⁸  and they would send and invite ⁹  their three ¹⁰  sisters to eat and to drink with them.

Job 2:11-12

The Visit of Job’s Friends ¹¹ 

2:11 When Job’s three friends heard about all this calamity that had happened to him, each of them came from his own country ¹²  – Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. ¹³  They met together ¹⁴  to come to show sympathy ¹⁵  for him and to console ¹⁶  him. 2:12 But when they gazed intently ¹⁷  from a distance but did not recognize ¹⁸  him, they began to weep loudly. Each of them tore his robes, and they threw dust into the air over their heads. ¹⁹ 

Job 6:20

6:20 They were distressed, ²⁰ 

because each one had been ²¹  so confident;

they arrived there, ²²  but were disappointed.

Job 14:16

The Present Condition ²³ 

14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; ²⁴ 

then you would not mark ²⁵  my sin. ²⁶ 

Job 36:32

36:32 With his hands ²⁷  he covers ²⁸  the lightning,

and directs it against its target.

Job 9:32

9:32 For he ²⁹  is not a human being like I am,

that ³⁰  I might answer him,

that we might come ³¹  together in judgment.

Job 24:6

24:6 They reap fodder ³²  in the field,

and glean ³³  in the vineyard of the wicked.

Job 1:5

1:5 When ³⁴  the days of their feasting were finished, ³⁵  Job would send ³⁶  for them and sanctify ³⁷  them; he would get up early ³⁸  in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to ³⁹  the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps ⁴⁰  my children ⁴¹  have sinned and cursed ⁴²  God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice. ⁴³ 

[41:17]  ¹ tn Heb “a man with his brother.”

[42:11]  ² tn Heb “ate bread.”

[42:11]  ³ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

[42:11]  ⁴ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.

[41:16]  ³ tn The expression “each one…to the next” is literally “one with one.”

[1:4]  ⁴ tn The perfect verb with the ו (vav), וְהָלְכוּ (vÿhalÿkhu, “they went”) indicates their characteristic action, actions that were frequently repeated (GKC 335-36 §112.dd).

[1:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “make a feast.”

[1:4]  ⁶ tn The sense is cryptic; it literally says “house – a man – his day.” The word “house” is an adverbial accusative of place: “in the house.” “Man” is the genitive; it also has a distributive sense: “in the house of each man.” And “his day” is an adverbial accusative: “on his day.” The point is that they feasted every day of the week in rotation.

[1:4]  ⁷ tn The use of קָרָא (qara’, “to call, invite”) followed by the ל (lamed) usually has the force of “to summon.” Here the meaning would not be so commanding, but would refer to an invitation (see also 1 Kgs 1:19, 25, 26).

[1:4]  ⁸ tn Normally cardinal numerals tend to disagree in gender with the numbered noun. In v. 2 “three daughters” consists of the masculine numeral followed by the feminine noun. However, here “three sisters” consists of the feminine numeral followed by the feminine noun. The distinction appears to be that the normal disagreement between numeral and noun when the intent is merely to fix the number (3 daughters as opposed to 2 or 4 daughters). However, when a particular, previously known group is indicated, the numeral tends to agree with the noun in gender. A similar case occurs in Gen 3:13 (“three wives” of Noah’s sons).

[2:11]  ⁵ sn See N. C. Habel, “‘Only the Jackal is My Friend,’ On Friends and Redeemers in Job,” Int 31 (1977): 227-36.

[2:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “a man from his place”; this is the distributive use, meaning “each man came from his place.”

[2:11]  ⁷ sn Commentators have tried to analyze the meanings of the names of the friends and their locations. Not only has this proven to be difficult (Teman is the only place that is known), it is not necessary for the study of the book. The names are probably not symbolic of the things they say.

[2:11]  ⁸ tn The verb can mean that they “agreed together”; but it also (and more likely) means that they came together at a meeting point to go visit Job together.

[2:11]  ⁹ tn The verb “to show grief” is נוּד (nud), and literally signifies “to shake the head.” It may be that his friends came to show the proper sympathy and express the appropriate feelings. They were not ready for what they found.

[2:11]  ¹⁰ tn The second infinitive is from נָחָם (nakham, “to comfort, console” in the Piel). This word may be derived from a word with a meaning of sighing deeply.

[2:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “they lifted up their eyes.” The idiom “to lift up the eyes” (or “to lift up the voice”) is intended to show a special intensity in the effort. Here it would indicate that they were trying to see Job from a great distance away.

[2:12]  ⁷ tn The Hiphil perfect here should take the nuance of potential perfect – they were not able to recognize him. In other words, this does not mean that they did not know it was Job, only that he did not look anything like the Job they knew.

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “they tossed dust skyward over their heads.”

[6:20]  ⁷ tn The verb בּוֹשׁ (bosh) basically means “to be ashamed”; however, it has a wider range of meaning such as “disappointed” or “distressed.” The feeling of shame or distress is because of their confidence that they knew what they were doing. The verb is strengthened here with the parallel חָפַר (khafar, “to be confounded, disappointed”).

[6:20]  ⁸ tn The perfect verb has the nuance of past perfect here, for their confidence preceded their disappointment. Note the contrast, using these verbs, in Ps 22:6: “they trusted in you and they were not put to shame [i.e., disappointed].”

[6:20]  ⁹ tn The LXX misread the prepositional phrase as the noun “their cities”; it gives the line as “They too that trust in cities and riches shall come to shame.”

[14:16]  ⁸ sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.

[14:16]  ⁹ tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.

[14:16]  ¹⁰ sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O Lord, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, in order that you might be feared.”

[14:16]  ¹¹ tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.

[36:32]  ⁹ tn R. Gordis (Job, 422) prefers to link this word with the later Hebrew word for “arch,” not “hands.”

[36:32]  ¹⁰ tn Because the image might mean that God grabs the lightning and hurls it like a javelin (cf. NLT), some commentators want to change “covers” to other verbs. Dhorme has “lifts” (נִשָּׂא [nissa’] for כִּסָּה [kissah]). This fit the idea of God directing the lightning bolts.

[9:32]  ¹⁰ tn The personal pronoun that would be expected as the subject of a noun clause is sometimes omitted (see GKC 360 §116.s). Here it has been supplied.

[9:32]  ¹¹ tn The consecutive clause is here attached without the use of the ו (vav), but only by simple juxtaposition (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[9:32]  ¹² tn The sense of the verb “come” with “together in judgment” means “to confront one another in court.” See Ps 143:2.

[24:6]  ¹¹ tc The word בְּלִילוֹ (bÿlilo) means “his fodder.” It is unclear to what this refers. If the suffix is taken as a collective, then it can be translated “they gather/reap their fodder.” The early versions all have “they reap in a field which is not his” (taking it as בְּלִי לוֹ, bÿli lo). A conjectural emendation would change the word to בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “in the night”). But there is no reason for this.

[24:6]  ¹² tn The verbs in this verse are uncertain. In the first line “reap” is used, and that would be the work of a hired man (and certainly not done at night). The meaning of this second verb is uncertain; it has been taken to mean “glean,” which would be the task of the poor.

[1:5]  ¹² tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator “and it happened” or “and it came to pass,” which need not be translated. The particle כִּי (ki, “when”) with the initial verbal form indicates it is a temporal clause.

[1:5]  ¹³ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect of נָקַף (naqaf, “go around”), here it means “to make the round” or “complete the circuit” (BDB 668-69 s.v. II נָקַף Hiph). It indicates that when the feasting had made its circuit of the seven sons, then Job would sanctify them.

[1:5]  ¹⁴ tn The form is a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive. The same emphasis on repeated or frequent action continues here in this verse. The idea here is that Job would send for them, because the sanctification of them would have consisted of washings and changes of garments as well as the sacrifices (see Gen 35:2; 1 Sam 16:5).

[1:5]  ¹⁵ tn Or “purify.”

[1:5]  ¹⁶ tn The first verb could also be joined with the next to form a verbal hendiadys: “he would rise early and he would sacrifice” would then simply be “he would sacrifice early in the morning” (see M. Delcor, “Quelques cas de survivances du vocabulaire nomade en hébreu biblique,” VT 25 [1975]: 307-22). This section serves to explain in more detail how Job sanctified his children.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn The text does not have “according to”; the noun “number” is an accusative that defines the extent of his actions (GKC 373-74 §118.e, h).

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn The clause stands as an accusative to the verb, here as the direct object introduced with “perhaps” (IBHS 645-46 §38.8d).

[1:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sons,” but since the three daughters are specifically mentioned in v. 4, “children” has been used in the translation. In this patriarchal culture, however, it is possible that only the sons are in view.

[1:5]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew verb is בָּרַךְ (barakh), which means “to bless.” Here is a case where the writer or a scribe has substituted the word “curse” with the word “bless” to avoid having the expression “curse God.” For similar euphemisms in the ancient world, see K. A. Kitchen, Ancient Orient and Old Testament, 166. It is therefore difficult to know exactly what Job feared they might have done. The opposite of “bless” would be “curse,” which normally would convey disowning or removing from blessing. Some commentators try to offer a definition of “curse” from the root in the text, and noting that “curse” is too strong, come to something like “renounce.” The idea of blaspheming is probably not meant; rather, in their festivities they may have said things that renounced God or their interest in him. Job feared this momentary turning away from God in their festivities, perhaps as they thought their good life was more important than their religion.

[1:5]  ²¹ tn The imperfect expresses continual action in past time, i.e., a customary imperfect (GKC 315 §107.e).