Job 8:5

8:5 But ¹  if you will look ²  to God,

and make your supplication ³  to the Almighty,

Job 15:25

15:25 for he stretches out his hand against God, ⁴ 

and vaunts himself ⁵  against the Almighty,

Job 34:14

34:14 If God ⁶  were to set his heart on it, ⁷ 

and gather in his spirit and his breath,

Job 41:3

41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, ⁸ 

will it speak to you with tender words? ⁹ 

[8:5]  ¹ tn “But” is supplied to show the contrast between this verse and the preceding line.

[8:5]  ² tn The verb שִׁחַר (shikhar) means “to seek; to seek earnestly” (see 7:21). With the preposition אֶל (’el) the verb may carry the nuance of “to address; to have recourse to” (see E. Dhorme, Job, 114). The LXX connected it etymologically to “early” and read, “Be early in prayer to the Lord Almighty.”

[8:5]  ³ tn The verb תִּתְחַנָּן (titkhannan) means “to make supplication; to seek favor; to seek grace” (from חָנַן, khanan). Bildad is saying that there is only one way for Job to escape the same fate as his children – he must implore God’s mercy. Job’s speech had spoken about God’s seeking him and not finding him; but Bildad is speaking of the importance of Job’s seeking God.

[15:25]  ⁴ sn The symbol of the outstretched hand is the picture of attempting to strike someone, or shaking a fist at someone; it is a symbol of a challenge or threat (see Isa 5:25; 9:21; 10:4).

[15:25]  ⁵ tn The Hitpael of גָּבַר (gavar) means “to act with might” or “to behave like a hero.” The idea is that the wicked boldly vaunts himself before the Lord.

[34:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:14]  ⁸ tc This is the reading following the Qere. The Kethib and the Syriac and the LXX suggest a reading יָשִׂים (yasim, “if he [God] recalls”). But this would require leaving out “his heart,” and would also require redividing the verse to make “his spirit” the object. It makes better parallelism, but may require too many changes.

[41:3]  ¹⁰ tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.

[41:3]  ¹¹ tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.