Job 9:17

9:17 he who ¹  crushes ²  me with a tempest,

and multiplies my wounds for no reason. ³ 

Job 10:7

10:7 although you know ⁴  that I am not guilty,

and that there is no one who can deliver ⁵ 

out of your hand?

Job 16:17

16:17 although ⁶  there is no violence in my hands

and my prayer is pure.

Job 19:6-7

19:6 know ⁷  then that God has wronged me ⁸ 

and encircled ⁹  me with his net. ¹⁰ 

Job’s Abandonment and Affliction

19:7 “If ¹¹  I cry out, ¹²  ‘Violence!’ ¹³ 

I receive no answer; ¹⁴ 

I cry for help,

but there is no justice.

Job 27:2-6

27:2 “As surely as God lives, ¹⁵  who has denied me justice, ¹⁶ 

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter ¹⁷  –

27:3 for while ¹⁸  my spirit ¹⁹  is still in me,

and the breath from God is in my nostrils,

27:4 my ²⁰  lips will not speak wickedness,

and my tongue will whisper ²¹  no deceit.

27:5 I will never ²²  declare that you three ²³  are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience ²⁴  will not reproach me

for as long as I live. ²⁵ 

Job 34:5

34:5 For Job says, ‘I am innocent, ²⁶ 

but God turns away my right.

Job 40:8

40:8 Would you indeed annul ²⁷  my justice?

Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?

[9:17]  ¹ tn The relative pronoun indicates that this next section is modifying God, the Judge. Job does not believe that God would respond or listen to him, because this is the one who is crushing him.

[9:17]  ² tn The verb יְשׁוּפֵנִי (yÿshufeni) is the same verb that is used in Gen 3:15 for the wounding of the serpent. The Targum to Job, the LXX, and the Vulgate all translate it “to crush; to pound,” or “to bruise.” The difficulty for many exegetes is that this is to be done “with a tempest.” The Syriac and Targum Job see a different vocalization and read “with a hair.” The text as it stands is understandable and so no change is needed. The fact that the word “tempest” is written with a different sibilant in other places in Job is not greatly significant in this consideration.

[9:17]  ³ tn חִנָּם (khinnam) is adverbial, meaning “gratuitously, without a cause, for no reason, undeservedly.” See its use in 2:4.

[10:7]  ⁴ tn Heb עַל־דַּעְתְּךָ (’al da’tÿkha, “upon your knowledge”). The use of the preposition means basically “in addition to your knowledge,” or “in spite of your knowledge,” i.e., “notwithstanding” or “although” (see GKC 383 §119.aa, n. 2).

[10:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “and there is no deliverer.”

[16:17]  ⁶ tn For the use of the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce concessive clauses, see GKC 499 §160.c.

[19:6]  ⁷ tn The imperative is used here to introduce a solemn affirmation. This verse proves that Job was in no way acknowledging sin in v. 4. Here Job is declaring that God has wronged him, and in so doing, perverted justice.

[19:6]  ⁸ tn The Piel of עָוַת (’avat) means “to warp justice” (see 8:3), or here, to do wrong to someone (see Ps 119:78). The statement is chosen to refute the question that Bildad asked in his first speech.

[19:6]  ⁹ tn The verb נָקַף (naqaf) means “to turn; to make a circle; to encircle.” It means that God has encircled or engulfed Job with his net.

[19:6]  ¹⁰ tn The word מְצוּדוֹ (mÿtsudo) is usually connected with צוּד (tsud, “to hunt”), and so is taken to mean “a net.” Gordis and Habel, however, interpret it to mean “siegeworks” thrown up around a city – but that would require changing the ד (dalet) to a ר (resh) (cf. NLT, “I am like a city under siege”). The LXX, though, has “bulwark.” Besides, the previous speech used several words for “net.”

[19:7]  ¹¹ tn The particle is used here as in 9:11 (see GKC 497 §159.w).

[19:7]  ¹² tc The LXX has “I laugh at reproach.”

[19:7]  ¹³ tn The same idea is expressed in Jer 20:8 and Hab 1:2. The cry is a cry for help, that he has been wronged, that there is no justice.

[19:7]  ¹⁴ tn The Niphal is simply “I am not answered.” See Prov 21:13b.

[27:2]  ¹⁵ tn The expression חַי־אֵל (khay-’el) is the oath formula: “as God lives.” In other words, the speaker is staking God’s life on the credibility of the words. It is like saying, “As truly as God is alive.”

[27:2]  ¹⁶ tn “My judgment” would here, as before, be “my right.” God has taken this away by afflicting Job unjustly (A. B. Davidson, Job, 187).

[27:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb הֵמַר (hemar) is the Hiphil perfect from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”) and hence, “to make bitter.” The object of the verb is “my soul,” which is better translated as “me” or “my life.”

[27:3]  ¹⁸ tn The adverb עוֹד (’od) was originally a noun, and so here it could be rendered “all the existence of my spirit.” The word comes between the noun in construct and its actual genitive (see GKC 415 §128.e).

[27:3]  ¹⁹ tn The word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah) is the “breath” that was breathed into Adam in Gen 2:7. Its usage includes the animating breath, the spiritual understanding, and the functioning conscience – so the whole spirit of the person. The other word in this verse, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context. Here, since it talks about the nostrils, it should be translated “breath.”

[27:4]  ²⁰ tn The verse begins with אִם (’im), the formula used for the content of the oath (“God lives…if I do/do not…”). Thus, the content of the oath proper is here in v. 4.

[27:4]  ²¹ tn The verb means “to utter; to mumble; to meditate.” The implication is that he will not communicate deceitful things, no matter how quiet or subtle.

[27:5]  ²² tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”

[27:5]  ²³ tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.

[27:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “my heart.”

[27:6]  ²⁵ tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”

[34:5]  ²⁶ tn Heb “righteous,” but in this context it means to be innocent or in the right.

[40:8]  ²⁷ tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to annul; to break; to frustrate.” It was one thing for Job to claim his own integrity, but it was another matter altogether to nullify God’s righteousness in the process.