Job 6:2

6:2 “Oh, ¹  if only my grief ²  could be weighed, ³ 

and my misfortune laid ⁴  on the scales too! ⁵ 

Job 6:21

6:21 For now ⁶  you have become like these streams that are no help; ⁷ 

you see a terror, ⁸  and are afraid.

Job 8:4

8:4 If ⁹  your children sinned against him,

he gave them over ¹⁰  to the penalty ¹¹  of their sin.

Job 12:11

12:11 Does not the ear test words,

as ¹²  the tongue ¹³  tastes food? ¹⁴ 

Job 18:15

18:15 Fire resides in his tent; ¹⁵ 

over his residence burning sulfur is scattered.

Job 19:16

19:16 I summon ¹⁶  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ¹⁷  him with my own mouth.

Job 20:22

20:22 In the fullness of his sufficiency, ¹⁸ 

distress ¹⁹  overtakes him.

the full force of misery will come upon him. ²⁰ 

Job 22:8

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, ²¹  owning land, ²² 

an honored man ²³  living on it, ²⁴ 

Job 22:14

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, ²⁵ 

as he goes back and forth

in the vault ²⁶  of heaven.’ ²⁷ 

Job 23:8

The Inaccessibility and Power of God

23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,

and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.

Job 24:23

24:23 God ²⁸  may let them rest in a feeling of security, ²⁹ 

but he is constantly watching ³⁰  all their ways. ³¹ 

Job 29:12

29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,

and the orphan who ³²  had no one to assist him;

Job 33:10

33:10 ³³ Yet God ³⁴  finds occasions ³⁵  with me;

he regards me as his enemy!

Job 34:11

34:11 For he repays a person for his work, ³⁶ 

and according to the conduct of a person,

he causes the consequences to find him. ³⁷ 

Job 37:19

37:19 Tell us what we should ³⁸  say to him.

We cannot prepare a case ³⁹ 

because of the darkness.

[6:2]  ¹ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu, “if, if only”) introduces the wish – an unrealizable wish – with the Niphal imperfect.

[6:2]  ² tn Job pairs כַּעְסִי (ka’si, “my grief”) and הַיָּתִי (hayyati, “my misfortune”). The first word, used in Job 4:2, refers to Job’s whole demeanor that he shows his friends – the impatient and vexed expression of his grief. The second word expresses his misfortune, the cause of his grief. Job wants these placed together in the balances so that his friends could see the misfortune is greater than the grief. The word for “misfortune” is a Kethib-Qere reading. The two words have essentially the same meaning; they derive from the verb הָוַה (havah, “to fall”) and so mean a misfortune.

[6:2]  ³ tn The Qal infinitive absolute is here used to intensify the Niphal imperfect (see GKC 344-45 §113.w). The infinitive absolute intensifies the wish as well as the idea of weighing.

[6:2]  ⁴ tn The third person plural verb is used here; it expresses an indefinite subject and is treated as a passive (see GKC 460 §144.g).

[6:2]  ⁵ tn The adverb normally means “together,” but it can also mean “similarly, too.” In this verse it may not mean that the two things are to be weighed together, but that the whole calamity should be put on the scales (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 43).

[6:21]  ⁶ tn There is a textual problem in this line, an issue of Kethib-Qere. Some read the form with the Qere as the preposition with a suffix referring to “the river,” with the idea “you are like it.” Others would read the form with the Kethib as the negative “not,” meaning “for now you are nothing.” The LXX and the Syriac read the word as “to me.” RSV follows this and changes כִּי (ki, “for”) to כֵּן (ken, “thus”). However, such an emendation is unnecessary since כִּי (ki) itself can be legitimately employed as an emphatic particle. In that case, the translation would be, “Indeed, now you are” in the sense of “At this time you certainly are behaving like those streams.” The simplest reading is “for now you have become [like] it.” The meaning seems clear enough in the context that the friends, like the river, proved to be of no use. But D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 161) points out that the difficulty with this is that all references so far to the rivers have been in the plural.

[6:21]  ⁷ tn The perfect of הָיָה (hayah) could be translated as either “are” or “have been” rather than “have become” (cf. Joüon 2:373 §113.p with regard to stative verbs). “Like it” refers to the intermittent stream which promises water but does not deliver. The LXX has a paraphrase: “But you also have come to me without pity.”

[6:21]  ⁸ tn The word חֲתַת (khatat) is a hapax legomenon. The word חַת (khat) means “terror” in 41:25. The construct form חִתַּת (khittat) is found in Gen 35:5; and חִתִּית (khittit) is found in Ezek 26:17, 32:23). The Akkadian cognate means “terror.” It probably means that in Job’s suffering they recognized some dreaded thing from God and were afraid to speak any sympathy toward him.

[8:4]  ¹¹ tn The AV and RV take the protasis down to the middle of v. 6. The LXX changes the “if” at the beginning of v. 5 to “then” and makes that verse the apodosis. If the apodosis comes in the second half of v. 4, then v. 4 would be a complete sentence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 71; A. B. Davidson, Job, 60). The particle אִם (’im) has the sense of “since” in this section.

[8:4]  ¹² tn The verb is a Piel preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. The ו (vav) need not be translated if the second half of the verse is the apodosis of the first – since they sinned…he did this. The verb שִׁלֵּחַ (shilleakh) means “to expel; to thrust out” normally; here the sense of “deliver up” or “deliver over” fits the sentence well. The verse is saying that sin carries its own punishment, and so God merely delivered the young people over to it.

[8:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “into the hand of their rebellion.” The word “hand” often signifies “power.” The rebellious acts have the power to destroy, and so that is what happened – according to Bildad. Bildad’s point is that Job should learn from what happened to his family.

[12:11]  ¹⁶ tn The ו (vav) introduces the comparison here (see 5:7; 11:12); see GKC 499 §161.a.

[12:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the palate.”

[12:11]  ¹⁸ tn The final preposition with its suffix is to be understood as a pleonastic dativus ethicus and not translated (see GKC 439 §135.i).

[18:15]  ²¹ 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.

[19:16]  ²⁶ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[20:22]  ³¹ tn The word שָׂפַק (safaq) occurs only here; it means “sufficiency; wealth; abundance (see D. W. Thomas, “The Text of Jesaia 2:6 and the Word sapaq,” ZAW 75 [1963]: 88-90).

[20:22]  ³² tn Heb “there is straightness for him.” The root צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be narrowed in straits, to be in a bind.” The word here would have the idea of pressure, stress, trouble. One could say he is in a bind.

[20:22]  ³³ tn Heb “every hand of trouble comes to him.” The pointing of עָמֵל (’amel) indicates it would refer to one who brings trouble; LXX and Latin read an abstract noun עָמָל (’amal, “trouble”) here.

[22:8]  ³⁶ tn The idiom is “a man of arm” (= “powerful”; see Ps 10:15). This is in comparison to the next line, “man of face” (= “dignity; high rank”; see Isa 3:5).

[22:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and a man of arm, to whom [was] land.” The line is in contrast to the preceding one, and so the vav here introduces a concessive clause.

[22:8]  ³⁸ tn The expression is unusual: “the one lifted up of face.” This is the “honored one,” the one to whom the dignity will be given.

[22:8]  ³⁹ tn Many commentators simply delete the verse or move it elsewhere. Most take it as a general reference to Job, perhaps in apposition to the preceding verse.

[22:14]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”

[22:14]  ⁴² sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.

[22:14]  ⁴³ sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.

[24:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:23]  ⁴⁷ tn The expression לָבֶטַח (lavetakh, “in security”) precedes the verb that it qualifies – God “allows him to take root in security.” For the meaning of the verb, see Job 8:15.

[24:23]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “his eyes are on.”

[24:23]  ⁴⁹ sn The meaning of the verse is that God may allow the wicked to rest in comfort and security, but all the time he is watching them closely with the idea of bringing judgment on them.

[29:12]  ⁵¹ tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).

[33:10]  ⁵⁶ sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.

[33:10]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:10]  ⁵⁸ tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.

[34:11]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “for the work of man, he [= God] repays him.”

[34:11]  ⁶² tn Heb “he causes it to find him.” The text means that God will cause a man to find (or receive) the consequences of his actions.

[37:19]  ⁶⁶ tn The imperfect verb here carries the obligatory nuance, “what we should say?”

[37:19]  ⁶⁷ tn The verb means “to arrange; to set in order.” From the context the idea of a legal case is included.