Job 5:23

5:23 For you will have a pact with the stones ¹  of the field,

and the wild animals ²  will be at peace ³  with you.

Job 7:7

7:7 Remember ⁴  that my life is but a breath,

that ⁵  my eyes will never again ⁶  see happiness.

Job 10:1

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ⁷  am weary ⁸  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ⁹ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 12:10

12:10 in whose hand ¹⁰  is the life ¹¹  of every creature

and the breath of all the human race. ¹² 

Job 40:20

40:20 For the hills bring it food, ¹³ 

where all the wild animals play.

[5:23]  ¹ tn Heb “your covenant is with the stones of the field.” The line has been variously interpreted and translated. It is omitted in the LXX. It seems to mean there is a deep sympathy between man and nature. Some think it means that the boundaries will not be violated by enemies; Rashi thought it represented some species of beings, like genii of the field, and so read אֲדֹנֵי (’adone, “lords”) for אַבְנֵי (’avne, “stones”). Ball takes the word as בְּנֵי (bÿne, “sons”), as in “sons of the field,” to get the idea that the reference is to the beasts. E. Dhorme (Job, 71) rejects these ideas as too contrived; he says to have a pact with the stones of the field simply means the stones will not come and spoil the ground, making it less fertile.

[5:23]  ² tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

[5:23]  ³ tn This is the only occurrence of the Hophal of the verb שָׁלֵם (shalem, “to make or have peace” with someone). Compare Isa 11:6-9 and Ps 91:13. The verb form is the perfect; here it is the perfect consecutive following a noun clause (see GKC 494 §159.g).

[7:7]  ⁴ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ⁵ tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ⁶ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[10:1]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ⁸ tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ⁹ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[12:10]  ¹⁰ tn The construction with the relative clause includes a resumptive pronoun referring to God: “who in his hand” = “in whose hand.”

[12:10]  ¹¹ tn The two words נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) and רוּחַ (ruakh) are synonymous in general. They could be translated “soul” and “spirit,” but “soul” is not precise for נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh), and so “life” is to be preferred. Since that is the case for the first half of the verse, “breath” will be preferable in the second part.

[12:10]  ¹² tn Human life is made of “flesh” and “spirit.” So here the line reads “and the spirit of all flesh of man.” If the text had simply said “all flesh,” that would have applied to all flesh in which there is the breath of life (see Gen 6:17; 7:15). But to limit this to human beings requires the qualification with “man.”

[40:20]  ¹³ tn The word בּוּל (bul) probably refers to food. Many take it as an abbreviated form of יְבוּל (yÿvul, “produce of the field”). The vegetation that is produced on the low hills is what is meant.