Job 5:4

5:4 His children are far ¹  from safety,

and they are crushed ²  at the place where judgment is rendered, ³ 

nor is there anyone to deliver them. ⁴ 

Job 5:9

5:9 He does ⁵  great and unsearchable ⁶  things,

marvelous things without ⁷  number; ⁸ 

Job 10:7

10:7 although you know ⁹  that I am not guilty,

and that there is no one who can deliver ¹⁰ 

out of your hand?

Job 19:7

Job’s Abandonment and Affliction

19:7 “If ¹¹  I cry out, ¹²  ‘Violence!’ ¹³ 

I receive no answer; ¹⁴ 

I cry for help,

but there is no justice.

Job 24:7

24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;

they have no covering against the cold.

Job 31:19

31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,

or a poor man without a coat,

Job 34:22

34:22 There is no darkness, and no deep darkness,

where evildoers can hide themselves. ¹⁵ 

[5:4]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbs in this verse describe the condition of the accursed situation. Some commentators follow the LXX and take these as jussives, making this verse the curse that the man pronounced upon the fool. Rashi adds “This is the malediction with which I have cursed him.” That would make the speaker the one calling down the judgment on the fool rather than responding by observation how God destroyed the habitation of the fool.

[5:4]  ² tn The verb יִדַּכְּאוּ (yiddakkÿ’u) could be taken as the passive voice, or in the reciprocal sense (“crush one another”) or reflexive (“crush themselves”). The context favors the idea that the children of the foolish person will be destroyed because there is no one who will deliver them.

[5:4]  ³ tn Heb “in the gate.” The city gate was the place of both business and justice. The sense here seems to fit the usage of gates as the place of legal disputes, so the phrase “at the place of judgment” has been used in the translation.

[5:4]  ⁴ tn The text simply says “and there is no deliverer.” The entire clause could be subordinated to the preceding clause, and rendered simply “without a deliverer.”

[5:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “who does.” It is common for such doxologies to begin with participles; they follow the pattern of the psalms in this style. Because of the length of the sentence in Hebrew and the conventions of English style, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[5:9]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew has וְאֵין חֵקֶר (vÿ’en kheqer), literally, “and no investigation.” The use of the conjunction on the expression follows a form of the circumstantial clause construction, and so the entire expression describes the great works as “unsearchable.”

[5:9]  ⁷ tn The preposition in עַד־אֵין (’ad ’en, “until there was no”) is stereotypical; it conveys the sense of having no number (see Job 9:10; Ps 40:13).

[5:9]  ⁸ sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 54) notes that the verse fits Eliphaz’s approach very well, for he has good understanding of the truth, but has difficulty in making the correct conclusions from it.

[10:7]  ⁹ tn Heb עַל־דַּעְתְּךָ (’al da’tÿkha, “upon your knowledge”). The use of the preposition means basically “in addition to your knowledge,” or “in spite of your knowledge,” i.e., “notwithstanding” or “although” (see GKC 383 §119.aa, n. 2).

[10:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”

[19:7]  ¹³ tn The particle is used here as in 9:11 (see GKC 497 §159.w).

[19:7]  ¹⁴ tc The LXX has “I laugh at reproach.”

[19:7]  ¹⁵ tn The same idea is expressed in Jer 20:8 and Hab 1:2. The cry is a cry for help, that he has been wronged, that there is no justice.

[19:7]  ¹⁶ tn The Niphal is simply “I am not answered.” See Prov 21:13b.

[34:22]  ¹⁷ tn The construction of this colon uses the Niphal infinitive construct from סָתַר (satar, “to be hidden; to hide”). The resumptive adverb makes this a relative clause in its usage: “where the evildoers can hide themselves.”