Job 7:9

7:9 As ¹  a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, ² 

so the one who goes down to the grave ³ 

does not come up again. ⁴ 

Job 14:2

14:2 He grows up ⁵  like a flower and then withers away; ⁶ 

he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. ⁷ 

Job 19:22

19:22 Why do you pursue me like God does? ⁸ 

Will you never be satiated with my flesh? ⁹ 

Job 22:14

22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, ¹⁰ 

as he goes back and forth

in the vault ¹¹  of heaven.’ ¹² 

Job 28:13

28:13 Mankind does not know its place; ¹³ 

it cannot be found in the land of the living.

Job 30:24

The Contrast With the Past

30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand

against a broken man ¹⁴ 

when he cries for help in his distress. ¹⁵ 

Job 33:14

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive ¹⁶  it.

Job 35:6

35:6 If you sin, how does it affect God? ¹⁷ 

If your transgressions are many,

what does it do to him? ¹⁸ 

Job 37:23-24

37:23 As for the Almighty, ¹⁹  we cannot attain to him!

He is great in power,

but justice ²⁰  and abundant righteousness he does not oppress.

37:24 Therefore people fear him,

for he does not regard all the wise in heart.” ²¹ 

[7:9]  ¹ tn The comparison is implied; “as” is therefore supplied in the translation.

[7:9]  ² tn The two verbs כָּלַה (kalah) and הָלַךְ (halakh) mean “to come to an end” and “to go” respectively. The picture is of the cloud that breaks up, comes to an end, is dispersed so that it is no longer a cloud; it then fades away or vanishes. This line forms a good simile for the situation of a man who comes to his end and disappears.

[7:9]  ³ tn The noun שְׁאוֹל (shÿ’ol) can mean “the grave,” “death,” or “Sheol” – the realm of departed spirits. In Job this is a land from which there is no return (10:21 and here). It is a place of darkness and gloom (10:21-22), a place where the dead lie hidden (14:13); as a place appointed for all no matter what their standing on earth might have been (30:23). In each case the precise meaning has to be determined. Here the grave makes the most sense, for Job is simply talking about death.

[7:9]  ⁴ sn It is not correct to try to draw theological implications from this statement or the preceding verse (Rashi said Job was denying the resurrection). Job is simply stating that when people die they are gone – they do not return to this present life on earth. Most commentators and theologians believe that theological knowledge was very limited at such an early stage, so they would not think it possible for Job to have bodily resurrection in view. (See notes on ch. 14 and 19:25-27.)

[14:2]  ⁵ tn Heb יָצָא (yatsa’, “comes forth”). The perfect verb expresses characteristic action and so is translated by the present tense (see GKC 329 §111.s).

[14:2]  ⁶ tn The verb וַיִּמָּל (vayyimmal) is from the root מָלַל (malal, “to languish; to wither”) and not from a different root מָלַל (malal, “to cut off”).

[14:2]  ⁷ tn The verb is “and he does not stand.” Here the verb means “to stay fixed; to abide.” The shadow does not stay fixed, but continues to advance toward darkness.

[19:22]  ⁹ sn Strahan comments, “The whole tragedy of the book is packed into these extraordinary words.”

[19:22]  ¹⁰ sn The idiom of eating the pieces of someone means “slander” in Aramaic (see Dan 3:8), Arabic and Akkadian.

[22:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”

[22:14]  ¹⁴ sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.

[22:14]  ¹⁵ sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.

[28:13]  ¹⁷ tc The LXX has “its way, apparently reading דַּרְכָה (darkhah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (’erkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (’erekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).

[30:24]  ²¹ tc Here is another very difficult verse, as is attested by the differences among commentaries and translations. The MT has “surely not against a ruinous heap will he [God] put forth his [God’s] hand.” But A. B. Davidson takes Job as the subject, reading “does not one stretch out his hand in his fall?” The RSV suggests a man walking in the ruins and using his hand for support. Dillmann changed it to “drowning man” to say “does not a drowning man stretch out his hand?” Beer has “have I not given a helping hand to the poor?” Dhorme has, “I did not strike the poor man with my hand.” Kissane follows this but retains the verb form, “one does not strike the poor man with his hand.”

[30:24]  ²² tc The second colon is also difficult; it reads, “if in his destruction to them he cries.” E. Dhorme (Job, 425-26) explains how he thinks “to them” came about, and he restores “to me.” This is the major difficulty in the line, and Dhorme’s suggestion is the simplest resolution.

[33:14]  ²⁵ tn The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his argument is based on another root with this meaning – a root which does not exist (see L. Dennefeld, RB 48 [1939]: 175). The verse is saying that God does speak to man.

[35:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “him” (also in v. 7); the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[35:6]  ³⁰ tn See Job 7:20.

[37:23]  ³³ tn The name “Almighty” is here a casus pendens, isolating the name at the front of the sentence and resuming it with a pronoun.

[37:23]  ³⁴ tn The MT places the major disjunctive accent (the atnach) under “power,” indicating that “and justice” as a disjunctive clause starting the second half of the verse (with ESV, NASB, NIV, NLT). Ignoring the Masoretic accent, NRSV has “he is great in power and justice.”

[37:24]  ³⁷ sn The phrase “wise of heart” was used in Job 9:4 in a negative sense.