Discovery BoxJob 7:2
Context7:2 Like a servant 1 longing for the evening shadow, 2
and like a hired man looking 3 for his wages, 4
Job 3:19
Context3:19 Small and great are 5 there,
and the slave is free 6 from his master. 7
Job 4:18
Context4:18 If 8 God 9 puts no trust in 10 his servants 11
and attributes 12 folly 13 to his angels,
Job 19:16
Context19:16 I summon 14 my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore 15 him with my own mouth.
Job 31:13
Context31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 16 with me,
Job 41:4
Context41:4 Will it make a pact 17 with you,
so you could take it 18 as your slave for life?
Job 42:8
Context42:8 So now take 19 seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede 20 for you, and I will respect him, 21 so that I do not deal with you 22 according to your folly, 23 because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 24
Job 1:8
Context1:8 So the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered 25 my servant Job? There 26 is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away 27 from evil.”
Job 2:3
Context2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly 28 to his integrity, 29 so that 30 you stirred me up to destroy him 31 without reason.” 32
Job 42:7
ContextVII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)
42:7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he 33 said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up 34 against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, 35 as my servant Job has.
[7:2] 1 tn This term עֶבֶד (’eved) is the servant or the slave. He is compelled to work through the day, in the heat; but he longs for evening, when he can rest from the slavery.
[7:2] 2 tn The expression יִשְׁאַף־צֵל (yish’af tsel, “longing for the evening shadow”) could also be taken as a relative clause (without the relative pronoun): “as a servant [who] longs for the evening shadow” (see GKC 487 §155.g). In either case, the expressions in v. 2 emphasize the point of the comparison, which will be summed up in v. 3.
[7:2] 3 tn The two verbs in this verse stress the eager expectation and waiting. The first, שָׁאַף (sha’af), means “to long for; to desire”; and the second, קָוָה (qavah), has the idea of “to hope for; to look for; to wait.” The words would give the sense that the servant or hired man had the longing on his mind all day.
[7:2] 4 tn The word פֹּעַל (po’al) means “work.” But here the word should be taken as a metonymy, meaning the pay for the work that he has done (compare Jer 22:13).
[3:19] 5 tn The versions have taken the pronoun in the sense of the verb “to be.” Others give it the sense of “the same thing,” rendering the verse as “small and great, there is no difference there.” GKC 437 §135.a, n. 1, follows this idea with a meaning of “the same.”
[3:19] 6 tn The LXX renders this as “unafraid,” although the negative has disappeared in some
[3:19] 7 tn The plural “masters” could be taken here as a plural of majesty rather than as referring to numerous masters.
[4:18] 9 tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a conditional clause here, although the older translations used “behold.” The clause forms the foundation for the point made in the next verse, an argument by analogy – if this be true, then how much more/less the other.
[4:18] 10 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[4:18] 11 tn The verb יַאֲמִין (ya’amin), a Hiphil imperfect from אָמַן (’aman) followed by the preposition בּ (bet), means “trust in.”
[4:18] 12 sn The servants here must be angels in view of the parallelism. The Targum to Job interpreted them to be the prophets. In the book we have already read about the “sons of God” who take their stand as servants before the
[4:18] 13 tn The verb שִׂים (sim, “set”) with the preposition בּ (bet) has the sense of “impute” or “attribute something to someone.”
[4:18] 14 tn The word תָּהֳלָה (toholah) is a hapax legomenon, and so has created some confusion in the various translations. It seems to mean “error; folly.” The word is translated “perverseness” in the LXX; but Symmachus connects it with the word for “madness.” “Some commentators have repointed the word to תְּהִלָּה (tÿhillah, “praise”) making the line read: “he finds no [cause for] praise in his angels.” Others suggest תִּפְלָה (tiflah, “offensiveness, silliness”) a bigger change; this matches the idiom in Job 24:12. But if the etymology of the word is הָלַל (halal, “to be mad”) then that change is not necessary. The feminine noun “madness” still leaves the meaning of the line a little uncertain: “[if] he does not impute madness to his angels.” The point of the verse is that God finds flaws in his angels and does not put his trust in them.
[19:16] 13 tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.
[19:16] 14 tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).
[31:13] 17 tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.
[41:4] 21 tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”
[41:4] 22 tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”
[42:8] 25 tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.
[42:8] 26 tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”
[42:8] 27 tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”
[42:8] 28 tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.
[42:8] 29 tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.
[42:8] 30 sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.
[1:8] 29 tn The Hebrew has “have you placed your heart on Job?” This means “direct your mind to” (cf. BDB 963 s.v. I שׂוּם 2.b).
[1:8] 30 tn The Hebrew conjunction כִּי (ki) need not be translated in this case or it might be taken as emphatic (cf. IBHS 665 §39.3.4e): “Certainly there is no one like him.”
[1:8] 31 tn The same expressions that appeared at the beginning of the chapter appear here in the words of God. In contrast to that narrative report about Job, the emphasis here is on Job’s present character, and so the participle form is translated here asa gnomic or characteristic present (“turns”). It modifies “man” as one who is turning from evil.
[2:3] 33 tn The form is the Hiphil participle, “make strong, seize, hold fast.” It is the verbal use here; joined with עֹדֶנּוּ (’odennu, “yet he”) it emphasizes that “he is still holding firmly.” The testing has simply strengthened Job in his integrity.
[2:3] 34 tn This is the same word used to describe Job as “blameless, pure.” Here it carries the idea of “integrity”; Job remained blameless, perfect.
[2:3] 35 tn The vav (ו) with the preterite is used here to express the logical conclusion or consequence of what was stated previously. God is saying that Job has maintained his integrity, so that now it is clear that Satan moved against him groundlessly (GKC 328 §111.l).
[2:3] 36 tn The verb literally means “to swallow”; it forms an implied comparison in the line, indicating the desire of Satan to ruin him completely. See A Guillaume, “A Note on the Root bala`,” JTS 13 (1962): 320-23; and N. M. Sarna, “Epic Substratum in the Prose of Job,”JBL 76 (1957): 13-25, for a discussion of the Ugaritic deity Mot swallowing up the enemy.
[2:3] 37 sn Once again the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”) is used. It means “graciously, gratis, free, without cause, for no reason.” Here the sense has to be gratuitously, for no reason.” The point of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious”) and its derivatives is that the action is undeserved. In fact, they would deserve the opposite. Sinners seeking grace deserve punishment. Here, Job deserves reward, not suffering.
[42:7] 37 tn Heb “the
[42:7] 38 tn Heb “is kindled.”
[42:7] 39 tn The form נְכוֹנָה (nÿkhonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian word kenu (from כּוּן, kun) connotes justice and truth.
