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 17:14

17:14 If I cry ⁵  to corruption, ⁶  ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

Job 19:16

19:16 I summon ⁷  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ⁸  him with my own mouth.

Job 31:14

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ⁹ 

when he intervenes, ¹⁰ 

how will I respond to him?

Job 38:31

38:31 Can you tie the bands ¹¹  of the Pleiades,

or release the cords of Orion?

[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).

[17:14]  ⁵ tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.

[17:14]  ⁶ tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.

[19:16]  ⁹ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[31:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ¹⁴ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[38:31]  ¹⁷ tn This word is found here and in 1 Sam 15:32. Dhorme suggests, with others, that there has been a metathesis (a reversal of consonants), and it is the same word found in Job 31:36 (“bind”). G. R. Driver takes it as “cluster” without changing the text (“Two astronomical passages in the Old Testament,” JTS 7 [1956] :3).