Job 9:29

9:29 If I am guilty, ¹ 

why then ²  weary myself ³  in vain? ⁴ 

Job 13:22

13:22 Then call, ⁵  and I will answer,

or I will speak, and you respond to me.

Job 14:15

14:15 You will call ⁶  and I ⁷  – I will answer you;

you will long for ⁸  the creature you have made. ⁹ 

Job 21:3

21:3 Bear with me ¹⁰  and I ¹¹  will speak,

and after I have spoken ¹²  you may mock. ¹³ 

Job 42:4

42:4 You said, ¹⁴ 

‘Pay attention, and I will speak;

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

Job 9:14

The Impossibility of Facing God in Court

9:14 “How much less, ¹⁵  then, can I answer him ¹⁶ 

and choose my words ¹⁷  to argue ¹⁸  with ¹⁹  him! ²⁰ 

Job 9:35

9:35 Then ²¹  would I speak and not fear him,

but it is not so with me. ²² 

Job 13:2

13:2 What you know, ²³  I ²⁴  know also;

I am not inferior ²⁵  to you!

Job 21:4

21:4 Is my ²⁶  complaint against a man? ²⁷ 

If so, ²⁸  why should I not be impatient? ²⁹ 

Job 29:16

29:16 I was a father ³⁰  to the needy,

and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;

Job 33:31

33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

Job 33:9

33:9 ³¹ ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean ³²  and have no iniquity.

Job 12:3

12:3 I also have understanding ³³  as well as you;

I am not inferior to you. ³⁴ 

Who does not know such things as these? ³⁵ 

Job 16:4

16:4 I also could speak ³⁶  like you,

if ³⁷  you were in my place;

I could pile up ³⁸  words against you

and I could shake my head at you. ³⁹ 

[9:29]  ¹ tn The clause simply has “I am guilty.” It is the same type of construction found in v. 24. It is also the opposite of that in v. 20. GKC 317 §107.n lists this as an example of the use of the imperfect to express an obligation or necessity according to the judgment of others; it would therefore mean “if I am to be guilty.”

[9:29]  ² tn The demonstrative pronoun is included to bring particular emphasis to the question, as if to say, “Why in the world…” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[9:29]  ³ tn The verb means “tire oneself”; see 3:17.

[9:29]  ⁴ tn Here הֶבֶל (hevel, “breath, vapor, vanity”) is used as an adverb (adverbial accusative).

[13:22]  ⁵ tn The imperatives in the verse function like the future tense in view of their use for instruction or advice. The chiastic arrangement of the verb forms is interesting: imperative + imperfect, imperfect + imperative. The imperative is used for God, but the imperfect is used when Job is the subject. Job is calling for the court to convene – he will be either the defendant or the prosecutor.

[14:15]  ⁹ sn The idea would be that God would sometime in the future call Job into his fellowship again when he longed for the work of his hands (cf. Job 10:3).

[14:15]  ¹⁰ tn The independent personal pronoun is emphatic, as if to say, “and I on my part will answer.”

[14:15]  ¹¹ tn The word כָּסַף (kasaf) originally meant “to turn pale.” It expresses the sentiment that causes pallor of face, and so is used for desire ardently, covet. The object of the desire is always introduced with the ל (lamed) preposition (see E. Dhorme, Job, 202).

[14:15]  ¹² tn Heb “long for the work of your hands.”

[21:3]  ¹³ tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).

[21:3]  ¹⁴ tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”

[21:3]  ¹⁵ tn The adverbial clauses are constructed of the preposition “after” and the Piel infinitive construct with the subjective genitive suffix: “my speaking,” or “I speak.”

[21:3]  ¹⁶ tn The verb is the imperfect of לָעַג (la’ag). The Hiphil has the same basic sense as the Qal, “to mock; to deride.” The imperfect here would be modal, expressing permission. The verb is in the singular, suggesting that Job is addressing Zophar; however, most of the versions put it into the plural. Note the singular in 16:3 between the plural in 16:1 and 16:4.

[42:4]  ¹⁷ tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.

[9:14]  ²¹ tn The construction אַף כִּי־אָנֹכִי (’af ki ’anokhi) is an expression that means either “how much more” or “how much less.” Here it has to mean “how much less,” for if powerful forces like Rahab are crushed beneath God’s feet, how could Job contend with him?

[9:14]  ²² tn The imperfect verb here is to be taken with the nuance of a potential imperfect. The idea of “answer him” has a legal context, i.e., answering God in a court of law. If God is relentless in his anger toward greater powers, then Job realizes it is futile for him.

[9:14]  ²³ sn In a legal controversy with God it would be essential to choose the correct words very carefully (humanly speaking); but the calmness and presence of mind to do that would be shattered by the overwhelming terror of God’s presence.

[9:14]  ²⁴ tn The verb is supplied in this line.

[9:14]  ²⁵ tn The preposition אִם (’im, “with”) carries the idea of “in contest with” in a number of passages (compare vv. 2, 3; 16:21).

[9:14]  ²⁶ tn The LXX goes a different way after changing the first person to the third: “Oh then that he would hearken to me, or judge my cause.”

[9:35]  ²⁵ tn There is no conjunction with this cohortative; but the implication from the context is that if God’s rod were withdrawn, if the terror were removed, then Job would speak up without fear.

[9:35]  ²⁶ tn The last half of the verse is rather cryptic: “but not so I with me.” NIV renders it “but as it now stands with me, I cannot.” This is very smooth and interpretive. Others transpose the two halves of the verse to read, “Since it is not so, I with myself // will commune and not fear him.” Job would be saying that since he cannot contend with God on equal terms, and since there is no arbiter, he will come on his own terms. English versions have handled this differently: “for I know I am not what I am thought to be” (NEB); “since this is not the case with me” (NAB); “I do not see myself like that at all” (JB).

[13:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Like your knowledge”; in other words Job is saying that his knowledge is like their knowledge.

[13:2]  ³⁰ tn The pronoun makes the subject emphatic and stresses the contrast: “I know – I also.”

[13:2]  ³¹ tn The verb “fall” is used here as it was in Job 4:13 to express becoming lower than someone, i.e., inferior.

[21:4]  ³³ tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).

[21:4]  ³⁴ sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).

[21:4]  ³⁵ tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.

[21:4]  ³⁶ tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).

[29:16]  ³⁷ sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.

[33:9]  ⁴¹ sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.

[33:9]  ⁴² tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”

[12:3]  ⁴⁵ tn The word is literally “heart,” meaning a mind or understanding.

[12:3]  ⁴⁶ tn Because this line is repeated in 13:2, many commentators delete it from this verse (as does the LXX). The Syriac translates נֹפֵל (nofel) as “little,” and the Vulgate “inferior.” Job is saying that he does not fall behind them in understanding.

[12:3]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “With whom are not such things as these?” The point is that everyone knows the things that these friends have been saying – they are commonplace.

[16:4]  ⁴⁹ tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.

[16:4]  ⁵⁰ tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).

[16:4]  ⁵¹ tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).

[16:4]  ⁵² sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).