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 9:13

9:13 God does not restrain his anger; ³ 

under him the helpers of Rahab ⁴  lie crushed. ⁵ 

Job 16:13

16:13 his archers ⁶  surround me.

Without pity ⁷  he pierces ⁸  my kidneys

and pours out my gall ⁹  on the ground.

Job 19:16

19:16 I summon ¹⁰  my servant, but he does not respond,

even though I implore ¹¹  him with my own mouth.

Job 20:13

20:13 if he retains it for himself

and does not let it go,

and holds it fast in his mouth, ¹² 

Job 21:21

21:21 For what is his interest ¹³  in his home

after his death, ¹⁴ 

when the number of his months

has been broken off? ¹⁵ 

Job 34:23

34:23 For he does not still consider a person, ¹⁶ 

that he should come before God in judgment.

Job 39:27

39:27 Is it at your command ¹⁷  that the eagle soars,

and builds its nest on high?

[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.

[9:13]  ³ sn The meaning of the line is that God’s anger will continue until it has accomplished its purpose (23:13-14).

[9:13]  ⁴ sn “Rahab” is not to be confused with the harlot of the same name from Jericho. “Rahab” is identified with Tiamat of the Babylonian creation epic, or Leviathan of the Canaanite myths. It is also used in parallelism to the sea (26:12), or the Red Sea (Ps 74:13), and so comes to symbolize Egypt (Isa 30:7). In the Babylonian Creation Epic there is reference to the helpers of Tiamat. In the Bible the reference is only to the raging sea, which the Lord controlled at creation.

[9:13]  ⁵ tn The verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) means “to be prostrate” or “to crouch.” Here the enemies are prostrate under the feet of God – they are crushed.

[16:13]  ⁵ tn The meaning of “his archers” is supported for רַבָּיו (rabbayv) in view of Jer 50:29. The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum Job, followed by several translations and commentators prefer “arrows.” They see this as a more appropriate figure without raising the question of who the archers might be (see 6:4). The point is an unnecessary distinction, for the figure is an illustration of the affliction that God has brought on him.

[16:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he does not pity,” but the clause is functioning adverbially in the line.

[16:13]  ⁷ tn The verb פָּלַח (palakh) in the Piel means “to pierce” (see Prov 7:23). A fuller comparison should be made with Lam 3:12-13.

[16:13]  ⁸ tn This word מְרֵרָתִי (mÿrerati, “my gall”) is found only here. It is close to the form in Job 13:26, “bitter things.” In Job 20:14 it may mean “poison.” The thought is also found in Lam 2:11.

[19:16]  ⁷ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the ל (lamed) preposition means “to summon.” Contrast Ps 123:2.

[19:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “plead for grace” or “plead for mercy” (ESV).

[20:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the middle of his palate.”

[21:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).

[21:21]  ¹² tn Heb “after him,” but clearly the meaning is “after he is gone.”

[21:21]  ¹³ tc The rare word חֻצָּצוּ (khutsatsu) is probably a cognate of hassa in Arabic, meaning “to cut off.” There is also an Akkadian word “to cut in two” and “to break.” These fit the context here rather well. The other Hebrew words that are connected to the root חָצַצ (khatsats) do not offer any help.

[34:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “for he does not put upon man yet.” This has been given a wide variety of interpretations, all of which involve a lot of additional thoughts. The word עוֹד (’od, “yet, still”) has been replaced with מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “an appointed time,” Reiske and Wright), with the ם (mem) having dropped out by haplography. This makes good sense. If the MT is retained, the best interpretation would be that God does not any more consider (from “place upon the heart”) man, that he might appear in judgment.

[39:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “your mouth.”