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 7:13

7:13 If ⁶  I say, ⁷  “My bed will comfort me, ⁸ 

my couch will ease ⁹  my complaint,”

Job 13:10

13:10 He would certainly rebuke ¹⁰  you

if you secretly ¹¹  showed partiality!

Job 13:14

13:14 Why ¹²  do I put myself in peril, ¹³ 

and take my life in my hands?

Job 22:8

22:8 Although you were a powerful man, ¹⁴  owning land, ¹⁵ 

an honored man ¹⁶  living on it, ¹⁷ 

Job 24:10

24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,

and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. ¹⁸ 

Job 31:36

31:36 Surely ¹⁹  I would wear it proudly ²⁰  on my shoulder,

I would bind ²¹  it on me like a crown;

Job 32:22

32:22 for I do not know how to give honorary titles, ²² 

if I did, ²³  my Creator would quickly do away with me. ²⁴ 

Job 34:31

Job Is Foolish to Rebel

34:31 “Has anyone said to God,

‘I have endured chastisement, ²⁵ 

but I will not act wrongly any more.

[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).

[7:13]  ⁶ tn The particle כִּי (ki) could also be translated “when,” but “if” might work better to introduce the conditional clause and to parallel the earlier reasoning of Job in v. 4 (using אִם, ’im). See GKC 336-37 §112.hh.

[7:13]  ⁷ tn The verb literally means “say,” but here the connotation must be “think” or “say to oneself” – “when I think my bed….”

[7:13]  ⁸ sn Sleep is the recourse of the troubled and unhappy. Here “bed” is metonymical for sleep. Job expects sleep to give him the comfort that his friends have not.

[7:13]  ⁹ tn The verb means “to lift up; to take away” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). When followed by the preposition בּ (bet) with the complement of the verb, the idea is “to bear a part; to take a share,” or “to share in the burden” (cf. Num 11:7). The idea then would be that the sleep would ease the complaint. It would not end the illness, but the complaining for a while.

[13:10]  ¹¹ tn The verbal idea is intensified with the infinitive absolute. This is the same verb used in v. 3; here it would have the sense of “rebuke, convict.”

[13:10]  ¹² sn The use of the word “in secret” or “secretly” suggests that what they do is a guilty action (31:27a).

[13:14]  ¹⁶ tc Most editors reject עַל־מָה (’al mah) as dittography from the last verse.

[13:14]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “why do I take my flesh in my teeth?” This expression occurs nowhere else. It seems to be drawn from animal imagery in which the wild beast seizes the prey and carries it off to a place of security. The idea would then be that Job may be destroying himself. An animal that fights with its flesh (prey) in its mouth risks losing it. Other commentators do not think this is satisfactory, but they are unable to suggest anything better.

[22:8]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ 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.

[24:10]  ²⁶ sn The point should not be missed – amidst abundant harvests, carrying sheaves about, they are still going hungry.

[31:36]  ³¹ tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).

[31:36]  ³² tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).

[31:36]  ³³ tn This verb is only found in Prov 6:21. But E. Dhorme (Job, 470) suggests that (with metathesis) we have a derivative מַעֲדַנּוֹת (ma’adannot, “bonds; ties”) in 38:31.

[32:22]  ³⁶ tn The construction uses a perfect verb followed by the imperfect. This is a form of subordination equivalent to a complementary infinitive (see GKC 385-86 §120.c).

[32:22]  ³⁷ tn The words “if I did” are supplied in the translation to make sense out of the two clauses.

[32:22]  ³⁸ tn Heb “quickly carry me away.”

[34:31]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew text has only “I lift up” or “I bear” (= I endure). The reading “I have been led astray” is obtained by changing the vowels to read a passive. If the MT is retained, an object has to be supplied, such as “chastisement” (so RSV, NASB) or “punishment” (NRSV). If not, then a different reading would be followed (e.g., “I was misguided” [NAB]; “I am guilty” [NIV]).