Job 6:26

6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,

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

Job 11:19

11:19 You will lie down with ²  no one to make you afraid,

and many will seek your favor. ³ 

Job 16:21

16:21 and ⁴  he contends with God on behalf of man

as a man ⁵  pleads ⁶  for his friend.

Job 21:31

21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;

no one repays him for what ⁷  he has done. ⁸ 

Job 30:13

30:13 They destroy ⁹  my path;

they succeed in destroying me ¹⁰ 

without anyone assisting ¹¹  them.

Job 31:2

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty ¹²  on high?

Job 38:26

38:26 to cause it to rain on an uninhabited land, ¹³ 

a desert where there are no human beings, ¹⁴ 

Job 40:24

40:24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes, ¹⁵ 

or pierce its nose with a snare? ¹⁶ 

[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.”

[11:19]  ² tn The clause that reads “and there is no one making you afraid,” is functioning circumstantially here (see 5:4; 10:7).

[11:19]  ³ tn Heb “they will stroke your face,” a picture drawn from the domestic scene of a child stroking the face of the parent. The verb is a Piel, meaning “stroke, make soft.” It is used in the Bible of seeking favor from God (supplication); but it may on the human level also mean seeking to sway people by flattery. See further D. R. Ap-Thomas, “Notes on Some Terms Relating to Prayer,” VT 6 (1956): 225-41.

[16:21]  ³ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 240) alters this slightly to read “Would that” or “Ah! if only.”

[16:21]  ⁴ tn This is the simple translation of the expression “son of man” in Job. But some commentators wish to change the word בֵּן (ben, “son”) to בֵּין (ben, “between”). It would then be “[as] between a man and [for] his friend.” Even though a few mss have this reading, it is to be rejected. But see J. Barr, “Some Notes on ‘ben’ in Classical Hebrew,” JSS 23 (1978): 1-22.

[16:21]  ⁵ tn The verb is supplied from the parallel clause.

[21:31]  ⁴ tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”

[21:31]  ⁵ 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.

[30:13]  ⁵ tn This verb נָתְסוּ (natÿsu) is found nowhere else. It is probably a variant of the verb in Job 19:10. R. Gordis (Job, 333-34) notes the Arabic noun natsun (“thorns”), suggesting a denominative idea “they have placed thorns in my path.” Most take it to mean they ruin the way of escape.

[30:13]  ⁶ tc The MT has “they further my misfortune.” The line is difficult, with slight textual problems. The verb יֹעִילוּ (yo’ilu) means “to profit,” and so “to succeed” or “to set forward.” Good sense can be made from the MT as it stands, and many suggested changes are suspect.

[30:13]  ⁷ tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).

[31:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.

[38:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “on a land, no man.”

[38:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “a desert, no man in it.”

[40:24]  ⁸ tn The idea would be either (1) catch it while it is watching, or (2) in some way disabling its eyes before the attack. But others change the reading; Ball suggested “with hooks” and this has been adopted by some modern English versions (e.g., NRSV).

[40:24]  ⁹ tn Ehrlich altered the MT slightly to get “with thorns,” a view accepted by Driver, Dhorme and Pope.