Job 7:7

7:7 Remember ¹  that my life is but a breath,

that ²  my eyes will never again ³  see happiness.

Job 9:12

9:12 If he snatches away, ⁴  who can turn him back? ⁵ 

Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

Job 14:13

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that ⁶  you would hide me in Sheol, ⁷ 

and conceal me till your anger has passed! ⁸ 

O that you would set me a time ⁹ 

and then remember me! ¹⁰ 

Job 15:22

15:22 He does not expect ¹¹  to escape from darkness; ¹² 

he is marked for the sword; ¹³ 

Job 17:10

Anticipation of Death

17:10 “But turn, all of you, ¹⁴  and come ¹⁵  now! ¹⁶ 

I will not find a wise man among you.

Job 31:14

31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; ¹⁷ 

when he intervenes, ¹⁸ 

how will I respond to him?

Job 33:26

33:26 He entreats God, and God ¹⁹  delights in him,

he sees God’s face ²⁰  with rejoicing,

and God ²¹  restores to him his righteousness. ²² 

[7:7]  ¹ sn Job is probably turning here to God, as is clear from v. 11 on. The NIV supplies the word “God” for clarification. It was God who breathed breath into man’s nostrils (Gen 2:7), and so God is called to remember that man is but a breath.

[7:7]  ² tn The word “that” is supplied in the translation.

[7:7]  ³ tn The verb with the infinitive serves as a verbal hendiadys: “return to see” means “see again.”

[9:12]  ⁴ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 133) surveys the usages and concludes that the verb חָתַף (khataf) normally describes the wicked actions of a man, especially by treachery or trickery against another. But a verb חָתַף (khataf) is found nowhere else; a noun “robber” is found in Prov 23:28. Dhorme sees no reason to emend the text, because he concludes that the two verbs are synonymous. Job is saying that if God acts like a plunderer, there is no one who can challenge what he does.

[9:12]  ⁵ tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect (potential again) from שׁוּב (shuv). In this stem it can mean “turn back, refute, repel” (BDB 999 s.v. Hiph.5).

[14:13]  ⁷ tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”

[14:13]  ⁸ sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.

[14:13]  ⁹ tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.

[15:22]  ¹⁰ tn This is the meaning of the Hiphil imperfect negated: “he does not believe” or “he has no confidence.” It is followed by the infinitive construct functioning as the direct object – he does not expect to return (to escape) from darkness.

[15:22]  ¹¹ sn In the context of these arguments, “darkness” probably refers to calamity, and so the wicked can expect a calamity that is final.

[15:22]  ¹² tn Heb “he is watched [or waited for] by the sword.” G. R. Driver reads it, “he is marked down for the sword” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 78). Ewald suggested “laid up for the sword.” Ball has “looks for the sword.” The MT has a passive participle from צָפָה (tsafah, “to observe, watch”) which can be retained in the text; the meaning of the form can then be understood as the result of the inspection (E. Dhorme, Job, 217).

[17:10]  ¹³ tn The form says “all of them.” Several editors would change it to “all of you,” but the lack of concord is not surprising; the vocative elsewhere uses the third person (see Mic 1:2; see also GKC 441 §135.r).

[17:10]  ¹⁴ tn The first verb, the jussive, means “to return”; the second verb, the imperative, means “to come.” The two could be taken as a hendiadys, the first verb becoming adverbial: “to come again.”

[17:10]  ¹⁵ tn Instead of the exact correspondence between coordinate verbs, other combinations occur – here we have a jussive and an imperative (see GKC 386 §120.e).

[31:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”

[31:14]  ¹⁷ tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”

[33:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his face”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:26]  ²² tc Many commentators think this line is superfluous and so delete it. The RSV changed the verb to “he recounts,” making the idea that the man publishes the news of his victory or salvation (taking “righteousness” as a metonymy of cause).