Job 5:6

5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹ 

nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

Job 11:11

11:11 For he ²  knows deceitful ³  men;

when he sees evil, will he not ⁴  consider it? ⁵ 

Job 34:8

34:8 He goes about ⁶  in company ⁷  with evildoers,

he goes along ⁸  with wicked men. ⁹ 

Job 34:36

34:36 But ¹⁰  Job will be tested to the end,

because his answers are like those of wicked men.

Job 36:21

36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested ¹¹  by affliction.

[5:6]  ¹ sn The previous discussion shows how trouble rises, namely, from the rebelliousness of the fool. Here Eliphaz simply summarizes the points made with this general principle – trouble does not come from outside man, nor does it come as a part of the natural order, but rather it comes from the evil nature of man.

[11:11]  ² tn The pronoun is emphatic implying that Zophar indicates that God indeed knows Job’s sin even if Job does not.

[11:11]  ³ tn The expression is literally “men of emptiness” (see Ps 26:4). These are false men, for שָׁוְא (shavÿ’) can mean “vain, empty, or false, deceitful.”

[11:11]  ⁴ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 162) reads the prepositional phrase “to him” rather than the negative; he translates the line as “he sees iniquity and observes it closely.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Some commentators do not take this last clause as a question, but simply as a statement, namely, that when God sees evil he does not need to ponder or consider it – he knows it instantly. In that case it would be a circumstantial clause: “without considering it.” D. J. A. Clines lists quite an array of other interpretations for the line (Job [WBC], 255); for example, “and he is himself unobserved”; taking the word לֹא (lo’) as an emphatic; taking the negative as a noun, “considering them as nothing”; and others that change the verb to “they do not understand it.” But none of these are compelling; they offer no major improvement.

[34:8]  ³ tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.

[34:8]  ⁴ tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.

[34:8]  ⁵ tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).

[34:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).

[34:36]  ⁴ tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.

[36:21]  ⁵ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”