Job 9:19

9:19 If it is a matter of strength, ¹ 

most certainly ²  he is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice,

he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ ³ 

Job 9:21

9:21 I am blameless. ⁴  I do not know myself. ⁵ 

I despise my life.

Job 23:3-7

23:3 O that I knew ⁶  where I might find him, ⁷ 

that I could come ⁸  to his place of residence! ⁹ 

23:4 I would lay out my case ¹⁰  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

23:5 I would know with what words ¹¹  he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

23:6 Would he contend ¹²  with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me. ¹³ 

23:7 There ¹⁴  an upright person

could present his case ¹⁵  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 40:2-8

40:2 “Will the one who contends ¹⁶  with the Almighty correct him? ¹⁷ 

Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”

40:3 Then Job answered the Lord:

40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy ¹⁸  – how could I reply to you?

I put ¹⁹  my hand over my mouth to silence myself. ²⁰ 

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ²¹ 

The Lord’s Second Speech ²² 

40:6 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

40:7 “Get ready for a difficult task ²³  like a man.

I will question you and you will inform me!

40:8 Would you indeed annul ²⁴  my justice?

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

Job 42:3-5

42:3 you asked, ²⁵ 

‘Who is this who darkens counsel

without knowledge?’

But ²⁶  I have declared without understanding ²⁷ 

things too wonderful for me to know. ²⁸ 

42:4 You said, ²⁹ 

‘Pay attention, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you will answer me.’

42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye has seen you. ³⁰ 

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ³¹  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ³² 

[9:19]  ¹ tn The MT has only “if of strength.”

[9:19]  ² tn “Most certainly” translates the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh).

[9:19]  ³ tn The question could be taken as “who will summon me?” (see Jer 49:19 and 50:44). This does not make immediate sense. Some have simply changed the suffix to “who will summon him.” If the MT is retained, then supplying something like “he will say” could make the last clause fit the whole passage. Another option is to take it as “Who will reveal it to me?” – i.e., Job could be questioning his friends’ qualifications for being God’s emissaries to bring God’s charges against him (cf. KJV, NKJV; and see 10:2 where Job uses the same verb in the Hiphil to request that God reveal what his sin has been that has led to his suffering).

[9:21]  ⁴ tn Dhorme, in an effort to avoid tautology, makes this a question: “Am I blameless?” The next clause then has Job answering that he does not know. But through the last section Job has been proclaiming his innocence. The other way of interpreting these verses is to follow NIV and make all of them hypothetical (“If I were blameless, he would pronounce me guilty”) and then come to this verse with Job saying, “I am blameless.” The second clause of this verse does not fit either view very well. In vv. 20, 21, and 22 Job employs the same term for “blameless” (תָּם, tam) as in the prologue (1:1). God used it to describe Job in 1:8 and 2:3. Bildad used it in 8:20. These are the final occurrences in the book.

[9:21]  ⁵ tn The meaning of the expression “I do not know myself” seems to be, “I do not care.” NIV translates it, “I have no concern for my life.”

[23:3]  ⁶ tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

[23:3]  ⁷ tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

[23:3]  ⁸ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

[23:3]  ⁹ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

[23:4]  ¹⁰ 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.

[23:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”

[23:6]  ¹² tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?

[23:6]  ¹³ tn The verbal clause יָשִׂם בִּי (yasim bi) has been translated “he would pay [attention] to me.” Job is saying that God will not need all his power – he will just have pay attention to Job’s complaint. Job does not need the display of power – he just wants a hearing.

[23:7]  ¹⁴ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ¹⁵ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”

[40:2]  ¹⁶ tn The form רֹב (rov) is the infinitive absolute from the verb רִיב (riv, “contend”). Dhorme wishes to repoint it to make it the active participle, the “one who argues with the Almighty.”

[40:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb יִסּוֹר (yissor) is found only here, but comes from a common root meaning “to correct; to reprove.” Several suggestions have been made to improve on the MT. Dhorme read it יָסוּר (yasur) in the sense of “to turn aside; to yield.” Ehrlich read this emendation as “to come to an end.” But the MT could be read as “to correct; to instruct.”

[40:4]  ¹⁸ tn The word קַלֹּתִי (qalloti) means “to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant.” From this comes the meaning “contemptible,” which in the causative stem would mean “to treat with contempt; to curse.” Dhorme tries to make the sentence a conditional clause and suggests this meaning: “If I have been thoughtless.” There is really no “if” in Job’s mind.

[40:4]  ¹⁹ tn The perfect verb here should be classified as an instantaneous perfect; the action is simultaneous with the words.

[40:4]  ²⁰ tn The words “to silence myself” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[40:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will not add.”

[40:6]  ²² sn The speech can be divided into three parts: the invitation to Job to assume the throne and rule the world (40:7-14), the description of Behemoth (40:15-24), and the description of Leviathan (41:1-34).

[40:7]  ²³ tn See note on “task” in 38:3.

[40:8]  ²⁴ 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.

[42:3]  ²⁵ tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.

[42:3]  ²⁶ tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.

[42:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”

[42:3]  ²⁸ tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.

[42:4]  ²⁹ tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.

[42:5]  ³⁰ sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.

[143:2]  ³¹ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ³² tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”