Job 5:11

5:11 he sets ¹  the lowly ²  on high,

that those who mourn ³  are raised ⁴  to safety.

Job 8:9

8:9 For we were born yesterday ⁵  and do not have knowledge,

since our days on earth are but a shadow. ⁶ 

Job 14:3

14:3 Do you fix your eye ⁷  on such a one? ⁸ 

And do you bring me ⁹  before you for judgment?

Job 16:13

16:13 his archers ¹⁰  surround me.

Without pity ¹¹  he pierces ¹²  my kidneys

and pours out my gall ¹³  on the ground.

Job 36:2

36:2 “Be patient ¹⁴  with me a little longer

and I will instruct you,

for I still have words to speak on God’s behalf. ¹⁵ 

Job 37:6

37:6 For to the snow he says, ‘Fall ¹⁶  to earth,’

and to the torrential rains, ¹⁷  ‘Pour down.’ ¹⁸ 

Job 41:8

41:8 If you lay your hand on it,

you will remember ¹⁹  the fight,

and you will never do it again!

[5:11]  ¹ tn Heb “setting.” The infinitive construct clause is here taken as explaining the nature of God, and so parallel to the preceding descriptions. If read simply as a purpose clause after the previous verse, it would suggest that the purpose of watering the earth was to raise the humble (cf. NASB, “And sends water on the fields, // So that He sets on high those who are lowly”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 39) makes a case for this interpretation, saying that God’s gifts in nature have the wider purpose of blessing man, but he prefers to see the line as another benevolence, parallel to v. 10, and so suggests a translation “setting up” rather than “to set up.”

[5:11]  ² tn The word שְׁפָלִים (shÿfalim) refers to “those who are down.” This refers to the lowly and despised of the earth. They are the opposite of the “proud” (see Ps 138:6). Here there is a deliberate contrast between “lowly” and “on high.”

[5:11]  ³ tn The meaning of the word is “to be dark, dirty”; therefore, it refers to the ash-sprinkled head of the mourner (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 54). The custom was to darken one’s face in sorrow (see Job 2:12; Ps 35:14; 38:7).

[5:11]  ⁴ tn The perfect verb may be translated “be set on high; be raised up.” E. Dhorme (Job, 64) notes that the perfect is parallel to the infinitive of the first colon, and so he renders it in the same way as the infinitive, comparing the construction to that of 28:25.

[8:9]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew has “we are of yesterday,” the adverb functioning as a predicate. Bildad’s point is that they have not had time to acquire great knowledge because they are recent.

[8:9]  ⁶ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 116) observes that the shadow is the symbol of ephemeral things (14:2; 17:7; Ps 144:4). The shadow passes away quickly (116).

[14:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “open the eye on,” an idiom meaning to prepare to judge someone.

[14:3]  ¹⁰ tn The verse opens with אַף־עַל־זֶה (’af-’al-zeh), meaning “even on such a one!” It is an exclamation of surprise.

[14:3]  ¹¹ tn The text clearly has “me” as the accusative; but many wish to emend it to say “him” (אֹתוֹ, ’oto). But D. J. A. Clines rightly rejects this in view of the way Job is written, often moving back and forth from his own tragedy and others’ tragedies (Job [WBC], 283).

[16:13]  ¹³ tn The meaning of “his archers” is supported for רַבָּיו (rabbayv) in view of Jer 50:29. The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum Job, followed by several translations and commentators prefer “arrows.” They see this as a more appropriate figure without raising the question of who the archers might be (see 6:4). The point is an unnecessary distinction, for the figure is an illustration of the affliction that God has brought on him.

[16:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he does not pity,” but the clause is functioning adverbially in the line.

[16:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verb פָּלַח (palakh) in the Piel means “to pierce” (see Prov 7:23). A fuller comparison should be made with Lam 3:12-13.

[16:13]  ¹⁶ tn This word מְרֵרָתִי (mÿrerati, “my gall”) is found only here. It is close to the form in Job 13:26, “bitter things.” In Job 20:14 it may mean “poison.” The thought is also found in Lam 2:11.

[36:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb כָּתַּר (kattar) is the Piel imperative; in Hebrew the word means “to surround” and is related to the noun for crown. But in Syriac it means “to wait.” This section of the book of Job will have a few Aramaic words.

[36:2]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew text simply has “for yet for God words.”

[37:6]  ²¹ tn The verb actually means “be” (found here in the Aramaic form). The verb “to be” can mean “to happen, to fall, to come about.”

[37:6]  ²² tn Heb “and [to the] shower of rain and shower of rains, be strong.” Many think the repetition grew up by variant readings; several Hebrew mss delete the second pair, and so many editors do. But the repetition may have served to stress the idea that the rains were heavy.

[37:6]  ²³ tn Heb “Be strong.”

[41:8]  ²⁵ tn The verse uses two imperatives which can be interpreted in sequence: do this, and then this will happen.