Job 8:21

8:21 He will yet ¹  fill your mouth with laughter, ² 

and your lips with gladness.

Job 15:32

15:32 Before his time ³  he will be paid in full, ⁴ 

and his branches will not flourish. ⁵ 

Job 21:24

21:24 his body ⁶  well nourished, ⁷ 

and the marrow of his bones moist. ⁸ 

Job 23:4

23:4 I would lay out my case ⁹  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

Job 32:18

32:18 For I am full of words,

and the spirit within me ¹⁰  constrains me. ¹¹ 

Job 36:17

36:17 But now you are preoccupied with the judgment due the wicked,

judgment and justice take hold of you.

Job 38:39

38:39 “Do you hunt prey for the lioness,

and satisfy the appetite ¹²  of the lions,

Job 39:2

39:2 Do you count the months they must fulfill,

and do you know the time they give birth? ¹³ 

[8:21]  ¹ tn The word עַד (’ad, “until”) would give the reading “until he fills your mouth with laughter,” subordinating the verse to the preceding with some difficulty in interpretation. It would be saying that God will not reject the blameless man until he filled Job with joy. Almost all commentators and modern versions change the pointing to עוֹד (’od, “yet”), forming a hope for the future blessing of joy for Job.

[8:21]  ² sn “Laughter” (and likewise “gladness”) will here be metonymies of effect or adjunct, being put in place of the reason for the joy – restoration.

[15:32]  ³ tn Heb “before his day.”

[15:32]  ⁴ tn Those who put the last colon of v. 31 with v. 32 also have to change the verb תִּמָּלֵא (timmale’, “will be fulfilled”). E. Dhorme (Job, 225) says, “a mere glance at the use of yimmal…abundantly proves that the original text had timmal (G, Syr., Vulg), which became timmale’ through the accidental transposition of the ‘alep of bÿsi’o…in verse 31….” This, of course, is possible, if all the other changes up to now are granted. But the meaning of a word elsewhere in no way assures it should be the word here. The LXX has “his harvest shall perish before the time,” which could translate any number of words that might have been in the underlying Hebrew text. A commercial metaphor is not out of place here, since parallelism does not demand that the same metaphor appear in both lines.

[15:32]  ⁵ tn Now, in the second half of the verse, the metaphor of a tree with branches begins.

[21:24]  ⁵ tn The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs – but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev) – “his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.

[21:24]  ⁶ tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.

[21:24]  ⁷ tn The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.

[23:4]  ⁷ tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.

[32:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “the spirit of my belly.”

[32:18]  ¹⁰ tn The verb צוּק (tsuq) means “to constrain; to urge; to press.” It is used in Judg 14:17; 16:16 with the sense of wearing someone down with repeated entreaties. Elihu cannot withhold himself any longer.

[38:39]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fill up the life of.”

[39:2]  ¹³ tn Here the infinitive is again a substantive: “the time of their giving birth.”