Job 5:13

5:13 He catches ¹  the wise in their own craftiness, ² 

and the counsel of the cunning ³  is brought to a quick end. ⁴ 

Job 15:2

15:2 “Does a wise man answer with blustery knowledge, ⁵ 

or fill his belly ⁶  with the east wind? ⁷ 

Job 32:9

32:9 It is not the aged ⁸  who are wise,

nor old men who understand what is right.

Job 37:24

37:24 Therefore people fear him,

for he does not regard all the wise in heart.” ⁹ 

[5:13]  ¹ tn The participles continue the description of God. Here he captures or ensnares the wise in their wickedly clever plans. See also Ps 7:16, where the wicked are caught in the pit they have dug – they are only wise in their own eyes.

[5:13]  ² sn This is the only quotation from the Book of Job in the NT (although Rom 11:35 seems to reflect 41:11, and Phil 1:19 is similar to 13:6). Paul cites it in 1 Cor 3:19.

[5:13]  ³ tn The etymology of נִפְתָּלִים (niftalim) suggests a meaning of “twisted” (see Prov 8:8) in the sense of tortuous. See Gen 30:8; Ps 18:26 [27].

[5:13]  ⁴ tn The Niphal of מָהַר (mahar) means “to be hasty; to be irresponsible.” The meaning in the line may be understood in this sense: The counsel of the wily is hastened, that is, precipitated before it is ripe, i.e., frustrated (A. B. Davidson, Job, 39).

[15:2]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew is דַעַת־רוּחַ (da’at-ruakh). This means knowledge without any content, vain knowledge.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn The image is rather graphic. It is saying that he puffs himself up with the wind and then brings out of his mouth blasts of this wind.

[15:2]  ⁷ tn The word for “east wind,” קָדִים (qadim), is parallel to “spirit/wind” also in Hos 12:2. The east wind is maleficent, but here in the parallelism it is so much hot air.

[32:9]  ⁹ tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.

[37:24]  ¹³ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.