Discovery BoxJob 5:1
Context5:1 “Call now! 1 Is there anyone who will answer you? 2
To which of the holy ones 3 will you turn? 4
Job 18:1-21
Context18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
18:2 “How long until you 6 make an end of words? 7
You must consider, 8 and then 9 we can talk.
18:3 Why should we be regarded as beasts,
and considered stupid 10 in your sight?
18:4 You who tear yourself 11 to pieces in your anger,
will the earth be abandoned 12 for your sake?
Or will a rock be moved from its place? 13
18:5 “Yes, 14 the lamp 15 of the wicked is extinguished;
his flame of fire 16 does not shine.
18:6 The light in his tent grows dark;
his lamp above him is extinguished. 17
18:7 His vigorous steps 18 are restricted, 19
and his own counsel throws him down. 20
18:8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet 21
and he wanders into a mesh. 22
18:9 A trap 23 seizes him by the heel;
a snare 24 grips him.
18:10 A rope is hidden for him 25 on the ground
and a trap for him 26 lies on the path.
18:11 Terrors 27 frighten him on all sides
and dog 28 his every step.
18:12 Calamity is 29 hungry for him, 30
and misfortune is ready at his side. 31
18:13 It eats away parts of his skin; 32
the most terrible death 33 devours his limbs.
18:14 He is dragged from the security of his tent, 34
and marched off 35 to the king 36 of terrors.
18:15 Fire resides in his tent; 37
over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.
18:16 Below his roots dry up,
and his branches wither above.
18:17 His memory perishes from the earth,
he has no name in the land. 38
18:18 He is driven 39 from light into darkness
and is banished from the world.
18:19 He has neither children nor descendants 40 among his people,
no survivor in those places he once stayed. 41
18:20 People of the west 42 are appalled at his fate; 43
people of the east are seized with horror, 44 saying, 45
18:21 ‘Surely such is the residence 46 of an evil man;
and this is the place of one who has not known God.’” 47
Job 21:1-34
Context21:1 Then Job answered:
21:2 “Listen carefully 49 to my words;
let this be 50 the consolation you offer me. 51
21:3 Bear with me 52 and I 53 will speak,
and after I have spoken 54 you may mock. 55
21:4 Is my 56 complaint against a man? 57
If so, 58 why should I not be impatient? 59
21:5 Look 60 at me and be appalled;
put your hands over your mouths. 61
21:6 For, when I think 62 about this, I am terrified 63
and my body feels a shudder. 64
21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, 65
grow old, 66 even increase in power?
21:8 Their children 67 are firmly established
in their presence, 68
their offspring before their eyes.
21:9 Their houses are safe 69 and without fear; 70
and no rod of punishment 71 from God is upon them. 72
21:10 Their bulls 73 breed 74 without fail; 75
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
21:11 They allow their children to run 76 like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
21:12 They sing 77 to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
21:13 They live out 78 their years in prosperity
and go down 79 to the grave 80 in peace.
21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to 81 know your ways. 82
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 83 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 84 to him?’ 85
21:16 But their prosperity is not their own doing. 86
The counsel of the wicked is far from me! 87
21:17 “How often 88 is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their 89 misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain 90 to them 91 in his anger?
21:18 How often 92 are they like straw before the wind,
and like chaff swept away 93 by a whirlwind?
21:19 You may say, 94 ‘God stores up a man’s 95 punishment for his children!’ 96
Instead let him repay 97 the man himself 98
so that 99 he may know it!
21:20 Let his own eyes see his destruction; 100
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
21:21 For what is his interest 101 in his home
after his death, 102
when the number of his months
has been broken off? 103
21:22 Can anyone teach 104 God knowledge,
since 105 he judges those that are on high? 106
21:23 “One man dies in his full vigor, 107
completely secure and prosperous,
21:24 his body 108 well nourished, 109
and the marrow of his bones moist. 110
21:25 And another man 111 dies in bitterness of soul, 112
never having tasted 113 anything good.
21:26 Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.
21:27 “Yes, I know what you are thinking, 114
the schemes 115 by which you would wrong me. 116
21:28 For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house, 117
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’ 118
21:29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts 119 –
21:30 that the evil man is spared
from the day of his misfortune,
that he is delivered 120
from the day of God’s wrath?
21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what 121 he has done. 122
21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept 123 over the funeral mound, 124
21:33 The clods of the torrent valley 125 are sweet to him;
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
21:34 So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!” 126
[5:1] 1 tn Some commentators transpose this verse with the following paragraph, placing it after v. 7 (see E. Dhorme, Job, 62). But the reasons for this are based on the perceived development of the argument and are not that compelling.
[5:1] 2 tn The participle with the suffix could be given a more immediate translation to accompany the imperative: “Call now! Is anyone listening to you?”
[5:1] 3 tn The LXX has rendered “holy ones” as “holy angels” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT). The LXX has interpreted the verb in the colon too freely: “if you will see.”
[5:1] 4 sn The point being made is that the angels do not represent the cries of people to God as if mediating for them. But if Job appealed to any of them to take his case against God, there would be no response whatsoever for that.
[18:1] 5 sn Bildad attacks Job with less subtlety than Eliphaz. He describes the miserable existence of the wicked, indicating that it is the proof of sin. His speech falls into two main parts: why is Job so contemptuous toward his friends (Job 18:2-4), and the fate of the wicked (18:5-21). On this chapter see N. M. Sarna, “The Mythological Background of Job 18,” JBL 82 (1963): 315-18; and W. A. Irwin, “Job’s Redeemer,” JBL 81 (1962): 217-29.
[18:2] 9 tn The verb is plural, and so most commentators make it singular. But it seems from the context that Bildad is addressing all of them, and not just Job.
[18:2] 10 tn The construction is קִנְצֵי לְמִלִּין (qintse lÿmillin), which is often taken to be “end of words,” as if the word was from קֵץ (qets, “end”). But a plural of “end” is not found in the OT. Some will link the word to Arabic qanasa, “to hunt; to give chase,” to get an interpretation of “snares for words.” But E. Dhorme (Job, 257) objects that this does not fit the speech of Bildad (as well as it might Job’s). He finds a cognate qinsu, “fetters, shackles,” and reads “how long will you put shackles on words.” But G. R. Driver had pointed out that this cognate does not exist (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 72-93). So it would be preferable to take the reading “ends” and explain the ן (nun) as from a Aramaizing by-form. This is supported by 11QtgJob that uses סוֹף (sof, “end”). On the construction, GKC 421 §130.a explains this as a use of the construct in rapid narrative to connect the words; in such cases a preposition is on the following noun.
[18:2] 11 tn The imperfect verb, again plural, would be here taken in the nuance of instruction, or a modal nuance of obligation. So Bildad is telling his listeners to be intelligent. This would be rather cutting in the discourse.
[18:3] 13 tn The verb נִטְמִינוּ (nitminu) has been explained from different roots. Some take it from תָּמֵא (tame’, “to be unclean”), and translate it “Why should we be unclean in your eyes?” Most would connect it to טָמַם (tamam, “to stop up”), meaning “to be stupid” in the Niphal. Another suggestion is to follow the LXX and read from דָּמַם (damam, “to be reduced to silence”). Others take it from דָּמָּה (damah) with a meaning “to be like.” But what is missing is the term of comparison – like what? Various suggestions have been made, but all are simply conjectures.
[18:4] 17 tn The construction uses the participle and then 3rd person suffixes: “O tearer of himself in his anger.” But it is clearly referring to Job, and so the direct second person pronouns should be used to make that clear. The LXX is an approximation or paraphrase here: “Anger has possessed you, for what if you should die – would under heaven be desolate, or shall the mountains be overthrown from their foundations?”
[18:4] 18 tn There is a good deal of study on this word in this passage, and in Job in general. M. Dahood suggested a root עָזַב (’azav) meaning “to arrange; to rearrange” (“The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 303-9). But this is refuted by H. G. M. Williamson, “A Reconsideration of ’zb II in Biblical Hebrew,” ZAW 97 (1985): 74-85.
[18:4] 19 sn Bildad is asking if Job thinks the whole moral order of the world should be interrupted for his sake, that he may escape the punishment for wickedness.
[18:5] 21 tn Hebrew גַּם (gam, “also; moreover”), in view of what has just been said.
[18:5] 22 sn The lamp or the light can have a number of uses in the Bible. Here it is probably an implied metaphor for prosperity and happiness, for the good life itself.
[18:5] 23 tn The expression is literally “the flame of his fire,” but the pronominal suffix qualifies the entire bound construction. The two words together intensify the idea of the flame.
[18:6] 25 tn The LXX interprets a little more precisely: “his lamp shall be put out with him.”
[18:7] 29 tn Heb “the steps of his vigor,” the genitive being the attribute.
[18:7] 30 tn The verb צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be cramped; to be straitened; to be hemmed in.” The trouble has hemmed him in, so that he cannot walk with the full, vigorous steps he had before. The LXX has “Let the meanest of men spoil his goods.”
[18:7] 31 tn The LXX has “causes him to stumble,” which many commentators accept; but this involves the transposition of the three letters. The verb is שָׁלַךְ (shalakh, “throw”) not כָּשַׁל (kashal, “stumble”).
[18:8] 34 tn The word שְׂבָכָה (sÿvakhah) is used in scripture for the lattice window (2 Kgs 1:2). The Arabic cognate means “to be intertwined.” So the term could describe a net, matting, grating, or lattice. Here it would be the netting stretched over a pit.
[18:9] 37 tn This word פָּח (pakh) specifically refers to the snare of the fowler – thus a bird trap. But its plural seems to refer to nets in general (see Job 22:10).
[18:9] 38 tn This word does not occur elsewhere. But another word from the same root means “plait of hair,” and so this term has something to do with a net like a trellis or lattice.
[18:10] 41 tn Heb “his rope.” The suffix must be a genitive expressing that the trap was for him, to trap him, and so an objective genitive.
[18:10] 42 tn Heb “his trap.” The pronominal suffix is objective genitive here as well.
[18:11] 45 sn Bildad is referring here to all the things that afflict a person and cause terror. It would then be a metonymy of effect, the cause being the afflictions.
[18:11] 46 tn The verb פּוּץ (puts) in the Hiphil has the meaning “to pursue” and “to scatter.” It is followed by the expression “at his feet.” So the idea is easily derived: they chase him at his feet. But some commentators have other proposals. The most far-fetched is that of Ehrlich and Driver (ZAW 24 [1953]: 259-60) which has “and compel him to urinate on his feet,” one of many similar readings the NEB accepted from Driver.
[18:12] 49 tn The jussive is occasionally used without its normal sense and only as an imperfect (see GKC 323 §109.k).
[18:12] 50 tn There are a number of suggestions for אֹנוֹ (’ono). Some take it as “vigor”: thus “his strength is hungry.” Others take it as “iniquity”: thus “his iniquity/trouble is hungry.”
[18:12] 51 tn The expression means that misfortune is right there to destroy him whenever there is the opportunity.
[18:13] 53 tn The expression “the limbs of his skin” makes no sense, unless a poetic meaning of “parts” (or perhaps “layers”) is taken. The parallelism has “his skin” in the first colon, and “his limbs” in the second. One plausible suggestion is to take בַּדֵּי (badde, “limbs of”) in the first part to be בִּדְוָי (bidvay, “by a disease”; Dhorme, Wright, RSV). The verb has to be made passive, however. The versions have different things: The LXX has “let the branches of his feet be eaten”; the Syriac has “his cities will be swallowed up by force”; the Vulgate reads “let it devour the beauty of his skin”; and Targum Job has “it will devour the linen garments that cover his skin.”
[18:13] 54 tn The “firstborn of death” is the strongest child of death (Gen 49:3), or the deadliest death (like the “firstborn of the poor, the poorest). The phrase means the most terrible death (A. B. Davidson, Job, 134).
[18:14] 57 tn Heb “from his tent, his security.” The apposition serves to modify the tent as his security.
[18:14] 58 tn The verb is the Hiphil of צָעַד (tsa’ad, “to lead away”). The problem is that the form is either a third feminine (Rashi thought it was referring to Job’s wife) or the second person. There is a good deal of debate over the possibility of the prefix t- being a variant for the third masculine form. The evidence in Ugaritic and Akkadian is mixed, stronger for the plural than the singular. Gesenius has some samples where the third feminine form might also be used for the passive if there is no expressed subject (see GKC 459 §144.b), but the evidence is not strong. The simplest choices are to change the prefix to a י (yod), or argue that the ת (tav) can be masculine, or follow Gesenius.
[18:14] 59 sn This is a reference to death, the king of all terrors. Other identifications are made in the commentaries: Mot, the Ugaritic god of death; Nergal of the Babylonians; Molech of the Canaanites, the one to whom people sent emissaries.
[18:15] 61 tn This line is difficult as well. The verb, again a third feminine form, says “it dwells in his tent.” But the next part (מִבְּלִי לוֹ, mibbÿli lo) means something like “things of what are not his.” The best that can be made of the MT is “There shall live in his tent they that are not his” (referring to persons and animals; see J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 279). G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:161) refer “that which is naught of his” to weeds and wild animals. M. Dahood suggested a reading מַבֶּל (mabbel) and a connection to Akkadian nablu, “fire” (cf. Ugaritic nbl). The interchange of m and n is not a problem, and the parallelism with the next line makes good sense (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,” Bib 38 [1957]: 312ff.). Others suggest an emendation to get “night-hag” or vampire. This suggestion, as well as Driver’s “mixed herbs,” are linked to the idea of exorcism. But if a change is to be made, Dahood’s is the most compelling.
[18:17] 65 tn Heb “outside.” Cf. ESV, “in the street,” referring to absence from his community’s memory.
[18:18] 69 tn The verbs in this verse are plural; without the expressed subject they should be taken in the passive sense.
[18:19] 73 tn The two words נִין (nin, “offspring”) and נֶכֶד (nekhed, “posterity”) are always together and form an alliteration. This is hard to capture in English, but some have tried: Moffatt had “son and scion,” and Tur-Sinai had “breed or brood.” But the words are best simply translated as “lineage and posterity” or as in the NIV “offspring or descendants.”
[18:19] 74 tn Heb “in his sojournings.” The verb גּוּר (gur) means “to reside; to sojourn” temporarily, without land rights. Even this word has been selected to stress the temporary nature of his stay on earth.
[18:20] 77 tn The word אַחֲרֹנִים (’akharonim) means “those [men] coming after.” And the next word, קַדְמֹנִים (qadmonim), means “those [men] coming before.” Some commentators have tried to see here references to people who lived before and people who lived after, but that does not explain their being appalled at the fate of the wicked. So the normal way this is taken is in connection to the geography, notably the seas – “the hinder sea” refers to the Mediterranean, the West, and “the front sea” refers to the Dead Sea (Zech 14:8), namely, the East. The versions understood this as temporal: “the last groaned for him, and wonder seized the first” (LXX).
[18:20] 79 tn The expression has “they seize horror.” The RSV renders this “horror seizes them.” The same idiom is found in Job 21:6: “laid hold on shuddering.” The idiom would solve the grammatical problem, and not change the meaning greatly; but it would change the parallelism.
[18:20] 80 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation to mark and introduce the following as a quotation of these people who are seized with horror. The alternative is to take v. 21 as Bildad’s own summary statement (cf. G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray, Job [ICC], 2:162; J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 280).
[18:21] 81 tn The term is in the plural, “the tabernacles”; it should be taken as a plural of local extension (see GKC 397 §124.b).
[18:21] 82 tn The word “place” is in construct; the clause following it replaces the genitive: “this is the place of – he has not known God.”
[21:1] 85 sn In this chapter Job actually answers the ideas of all three of his friends. Here Job finds the flaw in their argument – he can point to wicked people who prosper. But whereas in the last speech, when he looked on his suffering from the perspective of his innocence, he found great faith and hope, in this chapter when he surveys the divine government of the world, he sinks to despair. The speech can be divided into five parts: he appeals for a hearing (2-6), he points out the prosperity of the wicked (7-16), he wonders exactly when the godless suffer (17-22), he shows how death levels everything (23-26), and he reveals how experience contradicts his friends’ argument (27-34).
[21:2] 89 tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.
[21:2] 90 tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”
[21:2] 91 tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.
[21:3] 93 tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).
[21:3] 94 tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”
[21:3] 95 tn The adverbial clauses are constructed of the preposition “after” and the Piel infinitive construct with the subjective genitive suffix: “my speaking,” or “I speak.”
[21:3] 96 tn The verb is the imperfect of לָעַג (la’ag). The Hiphil has the same basic sense as the Qal, “to mock; to deride.” The imperfect here would be modal, expressing permission. The verb is in the singular, suggesting that Job is addressing Zophar; however, most of the versions put it into the plural. Note the singular in 16:3 between the plural in 16:1 and 16:4.
[21:4] 97 tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).
[21:4] 98 sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).
[21:4] 99 tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.
[21:4] 100 tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).
[21:5] 101 tn The verb פְּנוּ (pÿnu) is from the verb “to turn,” related to the word for “face.” In calling for them to turn toward him, he is calling for them to look at him. But here it may be more in the sense of their attention rather than just a looking at him.
[21:5] 102 tn The idiom is “put a hand over a mouth,” the natural gesture for keeping silent and listening (cf. Job 29:9; 40:4; Mic 7:16).
[21:6] 105 tn The verb is זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”). Here it has the sense of “to keep in memory; to meditate; to think upon.”
[21:6] 106 tn The main clause is introduced here by the conjunction, following the adverbial clause of time.
[21:6] 107 tn Some commentators take “shudder” to be the subject of the verb, “a shudder seizes my body.” But the word is feminine (and see the usage, especially in Job 9:6 and 18:20). It is the subject in Isa 21:4; Ps 55:6; and Ezek 7:18.
[21:7] 109 sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”
[21:7] 110 tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”
[21:8] 113 tn Heb “their seed.”
[21:8] 114 tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).
[21:9] 117 tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace, safety”) is here a substantive after a plural subject (see GKC 452 §141.c, n. 3).
[21:9] 118 tn The form מִפָּחַד (mippakhad) is translated “without fear,” literally “from fear”; the preposition is similar to the alpha privative in Greek. The word “fear, dread” means nothing that causes fear or dread – they are peaceful, secure. See GKC 382 §119.w.
[21:9] 119 tn Heb “no rod of God.” The words “punishment from” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor understandable for the modern reader by stating the purpose of the rod.
[21:9] 120 sn In 9:34 Job was complaining that there was no umpire to remove God’s rod from him, but here he observes no such rod is on the wicked.
[21:10] 121 tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.
[21:10] 122 tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).
[21:10] 123 tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).
[21:11] 125 tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.
[21:12] 129 tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”
[21:13] 133 tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).
[21:13] 134 tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.
[21:13] 135 tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.
[21:14] 137 tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”
[21:14] 138 sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.
[21:15] 141 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
[21:15] 142 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
[21:15] 143 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.
[21:16] 145 tn Heb “is not in their hand.”
[21:16] 146 sn Even though their life seems so good in contrast to his own plight, Job cannot and will not embrace their principles – “far be from me their counsel.”
[21:17] 149 tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.
[21:17] 150 tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.
[21:17] 151 tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”
[21:17] 152 tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[21:18] 153 tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.
[21:18] 154 tn The verb used actually means “rob.” It is appropriate to the image of a whirlwind suddenly taking away the wisp of straw.
[21:19] 157 tn These words are supplied. The verse records an idea that Job suspected they might have, namely, that if the wicked die well God will make their children pay for the sins (see Job 5:4; 20:10; as well as Exod 20:5).
[21:19] 158 tn The text simply has אוֹנוֹ (’ono, “his iniquity”), but by usage, “the punishment for the iniquity.”
[21:19] 159 tn Heb “his sons.”
[21:19] 160 tn The verb שָׁלַם (shalam) in the Piel has the meaning of restoring things to their normal, making whole, and so reward, repay (if for sins), or recompense in general.
[21:19] 161 tn The text simply has “let him repay [to] him.”
[21:19] 162 tn The imperfect verb after the jussive carries the meaning of a purpose clause, and so taken as a final imperfect: “in order that he may know [or realize].”
[21:20] 161 tc This word occurs only here. The word כִּיד (kid) was connected to Arabic kaid, “fraud, trickery,” or “warfare.” The word is emended by the commentators to other ideas, such as פִּיד (pid, “[his] calamity”). Dahood and others alter it to “cup”; Wright to “weapons.” A. F. L. Beeston argues for a meaning “condemnation” for the MT form, and so makes no change in the text (Mus 67 [1954]: 315-16). If the connection to Arabic “warfare” is sustained, or if such explanations of the existing MT can be sustained, then the text need not be emended. In any case, the sense of the line is clear.
[21:21] 165 tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).
[21:21] 166 tn Heb “after him,” but clearly the meaning is “after he is gone.”
[21:21] 167 tc The rare word חֻצָּצוּ (khutsatsu) is probably a cognate of hassa in Arabic, meaning “to cut off.” There is also an Akkadian word “to cut in two” and “to break.” These fit the context here rather well. The other Hebrew words that are connected to the root חָצַצ (khatsats) do not offer any help.
[21:22] 169 tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical – it is affirming that no one can teach God.
[21:22] 170 tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) and the pronoun, “and he.” This is to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause. See GKC 456 §142.d.
[21:22] 171 tc The Hebrew has רָמִים (ramim), a plural masculine participle of רוּם (rum, “to be high; to be exalted”). This is probably a reference to the angels. But M. Dahood restores an older interpretation that it refers to “the Most High” (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,”Bib 38 [1957]: 316-17). He would take the word as a singular form with an enclitic mem (ם). He reads the verse, “will he judge the Most High?”
[21:23] 173 tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.
[21:24] 177 tn The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs – but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev) – “his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.
[21:24] 178 tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.
[21:24] 179 tn The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.
[21:25] 181 tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”
[21:25] 182 tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”
[21:25] 183 tn Heb “eaten what is good.” It means he died without having enjoyed the good life.
[21:27] 185 tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.
[21:27] 186 tn For the meaning of this word, and its root זָמַם (zamam), see Job 17:11. It usually means the “plans” or “schemes” that are concocted against someone.
[21:27] 187 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 321) distinguishes the verb חָמַס (khamas) from the noun for “violence.” He proposes a meaning of “think, imagine”: “and the ideas you imagined about me.”
[21:28] 189 sn The question implies the answer will be “vanished” or “gone.”
[21:28] 190 tn Heb “And where is the tent, the dwellings of the wicked.” The word “dwellings of the wicked” is in apposition to “tent.” A relative pronoun must be supplied in the translation.
[21:29] 193 tc The LXX reads, “Ask those who go by the way, and do not disown their signs.”
[21:30] 197 tn The verb means “to be led forth.” To be “led forth in the day of trouble” means to be delivered.
[21:31] 201 tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”
[21:31] 202 tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.
[21:32] 205 tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.
[21:32] 206 tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.
[21:33] 209 tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.
[21:34] 213 tn The word מָעַל (ma’al) is used for “treachery; deception; fraud.” Here Job is saying that their way of interpreting reality is dangerously unfaithful.
