Job 6:26

6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,

and treat ¹  the words of a despairing man as wind?

Job 10:1

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ²  am weary ³  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ⁴ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 13:13

13:13 “Refrain from talking ⁵  with me so that ⁶  I may speak;

then let come to me ⁷  what may. ⁸ 

Job 16:6

Abandonment by God and Man

16:6 “But ⁹  if I speak, my pain is not relieved, ¹⁰ 

and if I refrain from speaking

– how ¹¹  much of it goes away?

Job 21:3

21:3 Bear with me ¹²  and I ¹³  will speak,

and after I have spoken ¹⁴  you may mock. ¹⁵ 

Psalms 39:3

39:3 my anxiety intensified. ¹⁶ 

As I thought about it, I became impatient. ¹⁷ 

Finally I spoke these words: ¹⁸ 

Psalms 40:9

40:9 I have told the great assembly ¹⁹  about your justice. ²⁰ 

Look! I spare no words! ²¹ 

O Lord, you know this is true.

[6:26]  ¹ tn This, in the context, is probably the meaning, although the Hebrew simply has the line after the first half of the verse read: “and as/to wind the words of a despairing man.” The line could be translated “and the words of a despairing man, [which are] as wind.” But this translation follows the same approach as RSV, NIV, and NAB, which take the idiom of the verb (“think, imagine”) with the preposition on “wind” to mean “reckon as wind” – “and treat the words of a despairing man as wind.”

[10:1]  ² tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ³ tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ⁴ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[13:13]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew has a pregnant construction: “be silent from me,” meaning “stand away from me in silence,” or “refrain from talking with me.” See GKC 384 §119.ff. The LXX omits “from me,” as do several commentators.

[13:13]  ⁶ tn The verb is the Piel cohortative; following the imperative of the first colon this verb would show purpose or result. The inclusion of the independent personal pronoun makes the focus emphatic – “so that I (in my turn) may speak.”

[13:13]  ⁷ tn The verb עָבַר (’avar, “pass over”) is used with the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) to express the advent of misfortune, namely, something coming against him.

[13:13]  ⁸ tn The interrogative pronoun מָה (mah) is used in indirect questions, here introducing a clause [with the verb understood] as the object – “whatever it be” (see GKC 443-44 §137.c).

[16:6]  ⁹ tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:6]  ¹⁰ tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”

[16:6]  ¹¹ tn Some argue that מָה (mah) in the text is the Arabic ma, the simple negative. This would then mean “it does not depart far from me.” The interrogative used rhetorically amounts to the same thing, however, so the suggestion is not necessary.

[21:3]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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.

[39:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my heart was hot within me.”

[39:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “In my reflection fire burned.” The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite (past tense) or an imperfect being used in a past progressive or customary sense (“fire was burning”).

[39:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I spoke with my tongue.” The phrase “these words” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[40:9]  ¹⁹ sn The great assembly is also mentioned in Pss 22:25 and 35:18.

[40:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “I proclaim justice in the great assembly.” Though “justice” appears without a pronoun here, the Lord’s just acts are in view (see v. 10). His “justice” (צֶדֶק, tsedeq) is here the deliverance that originates in his justice; he protects and vindicates the one whose cause is just.

[40:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “Look! My lips I do not restrain.”