Job 6:30

6:30 Is there any falsehood ¹  on my lips?

Can my mouth ²  not discern evil things? ³ 

Job 18:7

18:7 His vigorous steps ⁴  are restricted, ⁵ 

and his own counsel throws him down. ⁶ 

Job 22:19

22:19 The righteous see their destruction ⁷  and rejoice;

the innocent mock them scornfully, ⁸  saying,

Job 34:24

34:24 He shatters the great without inquiry, ⁹ 

and sets up others in their place.

[6:30]  ¹ tn The word עַוְלָה (’avlah) is repeated from the last verse. Here the focus is clearly on wickedness or injustice spoken.

[6:30]  ² tn Heb “my palate.” Here “palate” is used not so much for the organ of speech (by metonymy) as of discernment. In other words, what he says indicates what he thinks.

[6:30]  ³ tn The final word, הַוּוֹת (havvot) is usually understood as “calamities.” He would be asking if he could not discern his misfortune. But some argue that the word has to be understood in the parallelism to “wickedness” of words (D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 162). Gordis connects it to Mic 7:3 and Ps 5:10 [9] where the meaning “deceit, falsehood” is found. The LXX has “and does not my throat meditate understanding?”

[18:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “the steps of his vigor,” the genitive being the attribute.

[18:7]  ⁵ tn The verb צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be cramped; to be straitened; to be hemmed in.” The trouble has hemmed him in, so that he cannot walk with the full, vigorous steps he had before. The LXX has “Let the meanest of men spoil his goods.”

[18:7]  ⁶ tn The LXX has “causes him to stumble,” which many commentators accept; but this involves the transposition of the three letters. The verb is שָׁלַךְ (shalakh, “throw”) not כָּשַׁל (kashal, “stumble”).

[22:19]  ⁷ tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).

[22:19]  ⁸ sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.

[34:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[with] no investigation.”