Job 8:18

8:18 If he is uprooted ¹  from his place,

then that place ²  will disown him, saying, ³ 

‘I have never seen you!’

Job 31:28

31:28 then this ⁴  also would be iniquity to be judged, ⁵ 

for I would have been false ⁶  to God above.

[8:18]  ¹ tc Ball reads אֵל (’el, “God”) instead of אִם (’im, “if”): “God destroys it” – but there is no reason for this. The idea would be implied in the context. A. B. Davidson rightly points out that who destroys it is not important, but the fact that it is destroyed.

[8:18]  ² tn Heb “it”; the referent (“his place” in the preceding line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:18]  ³ tn Here “saying” is supplied in the translation.

[31:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “it.”

[31:28]  ⁵ tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.

[31:28]  ⁶ tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.