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 9:32

9:32 For he ⁴  is not a human being like I am,

that ⁵  I might answer him,

that we might come ⁶  together in judgment.

Job 14:3

14:3 Do you fix your eye ⁷  on such a one? ⁸ 

And do you bring me ⁹  before you for judgment?

Job 16:21

16:21 and ¹⁰  he contends with God on behalf of man

as a man ¹¹  pleads ¹²  for his friend.

Job 23:6-7

23:6 Would he contend ¹³  with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me. ¹⁴ 

23:7 There ¹⁵  an upright person

could present his case ¹⁶  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 34:23

34:23 For he does not still consider a person, ¹⁷ 

that he should come before God in judgment.

Psalms 130:3-4

130:3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of ¹⁸  sins,

O Lord, who could stand before you? ¹⁹ 

130:4 But ²⁰  you are willing to forgive, ²¹ 

so that you might ²²  be honored. ²³ 

Psalms 143:2

143:2 Do not sit in judgment on ²⁴  your servant,

for no one alive is innocent before you. ²⁵ 

Ecclesiastes 12:14

12:14 For God will evaluate every deed, ²⁶ 

including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Isaiah 3:14-15

3:14 The Lord comes to pronounce judgment

on the leaders of his people and their officials.

He says, ²⁷  “It is you ²⁸  who have ruined ²⁹  the vineyard! ³⁰ 

You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor. ³¹ 

3:15 Why do you crush my people

and grind the faces of the poor?” ³² 

The sovereign Lord who commands armies ³³  has spoken.

[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).

[9:32]  ⁴ tn The personal pronoun that would be expected as the subject of a noun clause is sometimes omitted (see GKC 360 §116.s). Here it has been supplied.

[9:32]  ⁵ tn The consecutive clause is here attached without the use of the ו (vav), but only by simple juxtaposition (see GKC 504-5 §166.a).

[9:32]  ⁶ tn The sense of the verb “come” with “together in judgment” means “to confront one another in court.” See Ps 143:2.

[14:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “open the eye on,” an idiom meaning to prepare to judge someone.

[14:3]  ⁸ tn The verse opens with אַף־עַל־זֶה (’af-’al-zeh), meaning “even on such a one!” It is an exclamation of surprise.

[14:3]  ⁹ tn The text clearly has “me” as the accusative; but many wish to emend it to say “him” (אֹתוֹ, ’oto). But D. J. A. Clines rightly rejects this in view of the way Job is written, often moving back and forth from his own tragedy and others’ tragedies (Job [WBC], 283).

[16:21]  ¹⁰ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 240) alters this slightly to read “Would that” or “Ah! if only.”

[16:21]  ¹¹ tn This is the simple translation of the expression “son of man” in Job. But some commentators wish to change the word בֵּן (ben, “son”) to בֵּין (ben, “between”). It would then be “[as] between a man and [for] his friend.” Even though a few mss have this reading, it is to be rejected. But see J. Barr, “Some Notes on ‘ben’ in Classical Hebrew,” JSS 23 (1978): 1-22.

[16:21]  ¹² tn The verb is supplied from the parallel clause.

[23:6]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ¹⁶ 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.”

[34:23]  ¹⁷ 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.

[130:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “observe.”

[130:3]  ¹⁹ tn The words “before you” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The psalmist must be referring to standing before God’s judgment seat. The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one.”

[130:4]  ²⁰ tn Or “surely.”

[130:4]  ²¹ tn Heb “for with you [there is] forgiveness.”

[130:4]  ²² tn Or “consequently you are.”

[130:4]  ²³ tn Heb “feared.”

[143:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “do not enter into judgment with.”

[143:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for no one living is innocent before you.”

[12:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “will bring every deed into judgment.”

[3:14]  ²⁷ tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[3:14]  ²⁸ tn The pronominal element is masculine plural; the leaders are addressed.

[3:14]  ²⁹ tn The verb בָּעַר (ba’ar, “graze, ruin”; HALOT 146 s.v. II בער) is a homonym of the more common בָּעַר (ba’ar, “burn”; see HALOT 145 s.v. I בער).

[3:14]  ³⁰ sn The vineyard is a metaphor for the nation here. See 5:1-7.

[3:14]  ³¹ tn Heb “the plunder of the poor [is] in your houses” (so NASB).

[3:15]  ³² sn The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s outrage at what the leaders have done to the poor. He finds it almost unbelievable that they would have the audacity to treat his people in this manner.

[3:15]  ³³ tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at 1:9.