Job 8:20

8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man, ¹ 

nor does he grasp the hand ² 

of the evildoers.

Job 9:11-12

9:11 If ³  he passes by me, I cannot see ⁴  him, ⁵ 

if he goes by, I cannot perceive him. ⁶ 

9:12 If he snatches away, ⁷  who can turn him back? ⁸ 

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

Job 12:14

12:14 If ⁹  he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt;

if he imprisons a person, there is no escape. ¹⁰ 

Job 13:15

13:15 Even if he slays me, I will hope in him; ¹¹ 

I will surely ¹²  defend ¹³  my ways to his face!

Job 24:5

24:5 Like ¹⁴  wild donkeys in the desert

they ¹⁵  go out to their labor, ¹⁶ 

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides ¹⁷  food for them

and for their children.

Job 25:5

25:5 If even the moon is not bright,

and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, ¹⁸ 

Job 28:28

28:28 And he said to mankind,

‘The fear of the Lord ¹⁹  – that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” ²⁰ 

Job 32:11

32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; ²¹ 

I listened closely to your wise thoughts, ²² while you were searching for words.

Job 33:12

33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, ²³ 

for God is greater than a human being. ²⁴ 

Job 33:29

Elihu’s Appeal to Job ²⁵ 

33:29 “Indeed, God does all these things,

twice, three times, in his dealings ²⁶  with a person,

Job 36:26

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! ²⁷ 

The number of his years is unsearchable.

Job 40:23

40:23 If the river rages, ²⁸  it is not disturbed,

it is secure, ²⁹  though the Jordan

should surge up to its mouth.

[8:20]  ¹ sn This is the description that the book gave to Job at the outset, a description that he deserved according to God’s revelation. The theme “God will not reject the blameless man” becomes Job’s main point (see 9:20,21; 10:3).

[8:20]  ² sn The idiom “to grasp the hand” of someone means to support or help the person.

[9:11]  ³ tn The NIV has “when” to form a temporal clause here. For the use of “if,” see GKC 497 §159.w.

[9:11]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verbs in this verse are consistent with the clauses. In the conditional clauses a progressive imperfect is used, but in the following clauses the verbs are potential imperfects.

[9:11]  ⁵ tn The pronoun “him” is supplied here; it is not in MT, but the Syriac and Vulgate have it (probably for translation purposes as well).

[9:11]  ⁶ sn Like the mountains, Job knows that God has passed by and caused him to shake and tremble, but he cannot understand or perceive the reasons.

[9:12]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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).

[12:14]  ⁷ tn The use of הֵן (hen, equivalent to הִנֵּה, hinneh, “behold”) introduces a hypothetical condition.

[12:14]  ⁸ tn The verse employs antithetical ideas: “tear down” and “build up,” “imprison” and “escape.” The Niphal verbs in the sentences are potential imperfects. All of this is to say that humans cannot reverse the will of God.

[13:15]  ⁹ tn There is a textual difficulty here that factors into the interpretation of the verse. The Kethib is לֹא (lo’, “not”), but the Qere is לוֹ (lo, “to him”). The RSV takes the former: “Behold, he will slay me, I have no hope.” The NIV takes it as “though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job is looking ahead to death, which is not an evil thing to him. The point of the verse is that he is willing to challenge God at the risk of his life; and if God slays him, he is still confident that he will be vindicated – as he says later in this chapter. Other suggestions are not compelling. E. Dhorme (Job, 187) makes a slight change of אֲיַחֵל (’ayakhel, “I will hope”) to אַחִיל (’akhil, “I will [not] tremble”). A. B. Davidson (Job, 98) retains the MT, but interprets the verb more in line with its use in the book: “I will not wait” (cf. NLT).

[13:15]  ¹⁰ tn On אַךְ (’akh, “surely”) see GKC 483 §153 on intensive clauses.

[13:15]  ¹¹ tn The verb once again is יָכָה (yakhah, in the Hiphil, “argue a case, plead, defend, contest”). But because the word usually means “accuse” rather than “defend,” I. L. Seeligmann proposed changing “my ways” to “his ways” (“Zur Terminologie für das Gerichtsverfahren im Wortschatz des biblischen Hebräisch,” VTSup 16 [1967]: 251-78). But the word can be interpreted appropriately in the context without emendation.

[24:5]  ¹¹ tc The verse begins with הֵן (hen); but the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac all have “like.” R. Gordis (Job, 265) takes הֵן (hen) as a pronoun “they” and supplies the comparative. The sense of the verse is clear in either case.

[24:5]  ¹² tn That is, “the poor.”

[24:5]  ¹³ tc The MT has “in the working/labor of them,” or “when they labor.” Some commentators simply omit these words. Dhorme retains them and moves them to go with עֲרָבָה (’aravah), which he takes to mean “evening”; this gives a clause, “although they work until the evening.” Then, with many others, he takes לוֹ (lo) to be a negative and finishes the verse with “no food for the children.” Others make fewer changes in the text, and as a result do not come out with such a hopeless picture – there is some food found. The point is that they spend their time foraging for food, and they find just enough to survive, but it is a day-long activity. For Job, this shows how unrighteous the administration of the world actually is.

[24:5]  ¹⁴ tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.

[25:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”

[28:28]  ¹⁵ tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“Lord”); BHS has אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”). As J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 383) points out, this is the only occurrence of אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “Lord”) in the book of Job, creating doubt for retaining it. Normally, YHWH is avoided in the book. “Fear of” (יִרְאַת, yir’at) is followed by שַׁדַּי (shadday, “Almighty”) in 6:14 – the only other occurrence of this term for “fear” in construct with a divine title.

[28:28]  ¹⁶ tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “Lord”) here, and (2) it is not consistent with the argument that precedes it. But as H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 185) points out, there is inconsistency in this reasoning, for many of the critics have already said that this chapter is an interpolation. Following that line of thought, then, one would not expect it to conform to the rest of the book in this matter of the divine name. And concerning the second difficulty, the point of this chapter is that wisdom is beyond human comprehension and control. It belongs to God alone. So the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is wisdom is the necessary conclusion. Rowley concludes: “It is a pity to rob the poem of its climax and turn it into the expression of unrelieved agnosticism.”

[32:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for your words.”

[32:11]  ¹⁸ tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.

[33:12]  ¹⁹ tn The meaning of this verb is “this is my answer to you.”

[33:12]  ²⁰ tc The LXX has “he that is above men is eternal.” Elihu is saying that God is far above Job’s petty problems.

[33:29]  ²¹ sn Elihu will repeat these instructions for Job to listen, over and over in painful repetition. See note on the heading to 32:1.

[33:29]  ²² tn The phrase “in his dealings” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[36:26]  ²³ tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”

[40:23]  ²⁵ tn The word ordinarily means “to oppress.” So many commentators have proposed suitable changes: “overflows” (Beer), “gushes” (Duhm), “swells violently” (Dhorme, from a word that means “be strong”).

[40:23]  ²⁶ tn Or “he remains calm.”