Job 5:9

5:9 He does ¹  great and unsearchable ²  things,

marvelous things without ³  number; ⁴ 

Job 7:10

7:10 He returns no more to his house,

nor does his place of residence ⁵  know him ⁶  any more.

Job 12:2

12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people, ⁷ 

and wisdom will die with you. ⁸ 

Job 12:12-13

12:12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? ⁹ 

Does not long life bring understanding?

12:13 “With God ¹⁰  are wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his. ¹¹ 

Job 18:3

18:3 Why should we be regarded as beasts,

and considered stupid ¹²  in your sight?

Job 18:17

18:17 His memory perishes from the earth,

he has no name in the land. ¹³ 

Job 20:4

20:4 “Surely you know ¹⁴  that it has been from old,

ever since humankind was placed ¹⁵  on the earth,

Job 28:12

No Price Can Buy Wisdom

28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?

Where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:20

God Alone Has Wisdom

28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? ¹⁶ 

Where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:23

28:23 God understands the way to it,

and he alone knows its place.

Job 34:34

34:34 Men of understanding say to me –

any wise man listening to me says –

Job 36:29

36:29 Who can understand the spreading of the clouds,

the thunderings of his pavilion? ¹⁷ 

Job 37:5

37:5 God thunders with his voice in marvelous ways; ¹⁸ 

he does great things beyond our understanding. ¹⁹ 

Job 38:36

38:36 Who has put wisdom in the heart, ²⁰ 

or has imparted understanding to the mind?

Job 39:17

39:17 For God deprived her of wisdom,

and did not impart understanding to her.

[5:9]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[7:10]  ⁵ tn M. Dahood suggests the meaning is the same as “his abode” (“Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography V,” Bib 48 [1967]: 421-38).

[7:10]  ⁶ tn The verb means “to recognize” by seeing. “His place,” the place where he was living, is the subject of the verb. This personification is intended simply to say that the place where he lived will not have him any more. The line is very similar to Ps 103:16b – when the wind blows the flower away, its place knows it no more.

[12:2]  ⁹ tn The expression “you are the people” is a way of saying that the friends hold the popular opinion – they represent it. The line is sarcastic. Commentators do not think the parallelism is served well by this, and so offer changes for “people.” Some have suggested “you are complete” (based on Arabic), “you are the strong one” (based on Ugaritic), etc. J. A. Davies tried to solve the difficulty by making the second clause in the verse a paratactic relative clause: “you are the people with whom wisdom will die” (“Note on Job 12:2,” VT 25 [1975]: 670-71).

[12:2]  ¹⁰ sn The sarcasm of Job admits their claim to wisdom, as if no one has it besides them. But the rest of his speech will show that they do not have a monopoly on it.

[12:12]  ¹³ tn The statement in the Hebrew Bible simply has “among the aged – wisdom.” Since this seems to be more the idea of the friends than of Job, scholars have variously tried to rearrange it. Some have proposed that Job is citing his friends: “With the old men, you say, is wisdom” (Budde, Gray, Hitzig). Others have simply made it a question (Weiser). But others take לֹא (lo’) from the previous verse and make it the negative here, to say, “wisdom is not….” But Job will draw on the wisdom of the aged, only with discernment, for ultimately all wisdom is with God.

[12:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:13]  ¹⁸ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 91) says, “These attributes of God’s [sic] confound and bring to nought everything bearing the same name among men.”

[18:3]  ²¹ 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.

[18:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “outside.” Cf. ESV, “in the street,” referring to absence from his community’s memory.

[20:4]  ²⁹ tn The MT has “Do you not know?” The question can be interpreted as a rhetorical question affirming that Job must know this. The question serves to express the conviction that the contents are well-known to the audience (see GKC 474 §150.e).

[20:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “from the putting of man on earth.” The infinitive is the object of the preposition, which is here temporal. If “man” is taken as the subjective genitive, then the verb would be given a passive translation. Here “man” is a generic, referring to “mankind” or “the human race.”

[28:20]  ³³ tn The refrain is repeated, except now the verb is תָּבוֹא (tavo’, “come”).

[36:29]  ³⁷ tn Heb “his booth.”

[37:5]  ⁴¹ tn The form is the Niphal participle, “wonders,” from the verb פָּלָא (pala’, “to be wonderful; to be extraordinary”). Some commentators suppress the repeated verb “thunders,” and supply other verbs like “shows” or “works,” enabling them to make “wonders” the object of the verb rather than leaving it in an adverbial role. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 236) notes, no change is needed, for one is not surprised to find repetition in Elihu’s words.

[37:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “and we do not know.”

[38:36]  ⁴⁵ tn This verse is difficult because of the two words, טֻחוֹת (tukhot, rendered here “heart”) and שֶׂכְוִי (sekhvi, here “mind”). They have been translated a number of ways: “meteor” and “celestial appearance”; the stars “Procyon” and “Sirius”; “inward part” and “mind”; even as birds, “ibis” and “cock.” One expects them to have something to do with nature – clouds and the like. The RSV accordingly took them to mean “meteor” (from a verb “to wander”) and “a celestial appearance.” But these meanings are not well-attested.