Job 9:23

9:23 If a scourge brings sudden death, ¹ 

he mocks ²  at the despair ³  of the innocent. ⁴ 

Job 17:8

17:8 Upright men are appalled ⁵  at this;

the innocent man is troubled ⁶  with the godless.

[9:23]  ¹ tc The LXX contains a paraphrase: “for the worthless die, but the righteous are laughed to scorn.”

[9:23]  ² sn This bold anthropomorphism means that by his treatment of the despair of the innocent, God is in essence mocking them.

[9:23]  ³ tn The term מַסַּת (massat), a hapax legomenon, was translated “trial” in the older versions; but it is not from נָסָה (nasah, “to tempt; to test; to try”), but from מָסַס (masas, “to flow”). It is used in the Niphal to speak of the heart “melting” in suffering. So the idea behind this image is that of despair. This is the view that most interpreters adopt; it requires no change of the text whatsoever.

[9:23]  ⁴ sn Job uses this word to refute Eliphaz; cf. 4:7.

[17:8]  ⁵ tn This verb שָׁמַם (shamam, “appalled”) is the one found in Isa 52:14, translated there “astonished.”

[17:8]  ⁶ tn The verb means “to rouse oneself to excitement.” It naturally means “to be agitated; to be stirred up.”