Discovery BoxJob 9:29-31
Contextwhy then 2 weary myself 3 in vain? 4
9:30 If I wash myself with snow water, 5
and make my hands clean with lye, 6
9:31 then you plunge me into a slimy pit 7
and my own clothes abhor me.
Job 13:26
Context13:26 For you write down 8 bitter things against me
and cause me to inherit the sins of my youth. 9
Job 14:16
Context14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 11
then you would not mark 12 my sin. 13
Job 22:5
Context22:5 Is not your wickedness great 14
and is there no end to your iniquity?
Job 31:33
Context31:33 if 15 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 16
by hiding 17 iniquity in my heart, 18
Job 33:9
Context33:9 19 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 20 and have no iniquity.
Job 33:27
Context33:27 That person sings 21 to others, 22 saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved. 23
Psalms 80:4
Context80:4 O Lord God, invincible warrior! 24
How long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you? 25
[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).
[9:30] 5 tn The Syriac and Targum Job read with the Qere “with water of [בְמֵי, bÿme] snow.” The Kethib simply has “in [בְמוֹ, bÿmo] snow.” In Ps 51:9 and Isa 1:18 snow forms a simile for purification. Some protest that snow water is not necessarily clean; but if fresh melting snow is meant, then the runoff would be very clear. The image would work well here. Nevertheless, others have followed the later Hebrew meaning for שֶׁלֶג (sheleg) – “soap” (so NIV, NRSV, NLT). Even though that makes a nice parallelism, it is uncertain whether that meaning was in use at the time this text was written.
[9:30] 6 tn The word בֹּר (bor, “lye, potash”) does not refer to purity (Syriac, KJV, ASV), but refers to the ingredient used to make the hands pure or clean. It has the same meaning as בֹּרִית (borit), the alkali or soda made from the ashes of certain plants.
[9:31] 7 tn The pointing in the MT gives the meaning “pit” or “ditch.” A number of expositors change the pointing to שֻׁחוֹת (shukhot) to obtain the equivalent of שֻׂחוֹת (sukhot) / סֻחוֹת (sukhot): “filth” (Isa 5:25). This would make the contrast vivid – Job has just washed with pure water and soap, and now God plunges him into filth. M. H. Pope argues convincingly that the word “pit” in the MT includes the idea of “filth,” making the emendation unnecessary (“The Word sahat in Job 9:31,” JBL 83 [1964]: 269-78).
[13:26] 8 tn The meaning is that of writing down a formal charge against someone (cf. Job 31:15).
[13:26] 9 sn Job acknowledges sins in his youth, but they are trifling compared to the suffering he now endures. Job thinks it unjust of God to persecute him now for those – if that is what is happening.
[14:16] 10 sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.
[14:16] 11 tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.
[14:16] 12 sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O
[14:16] 13 tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.
[22:5] 14 tn The adjective רַבָּה (rabbah) normally has the idea of “great” in quantity (“abundant,” ESV) rather than “great” in quality.
[31:33] 15 tn Now the protasis continues again.
[31:33] 16 sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.
[31:33] 17 tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.
[31:33] 18 tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.
[33:9] 19 sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.
[33:9] 20 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.”
[33:27] 21 tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).
[33:27] 23 tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”
[80:4] 24 tn Heb “
[80:4] 25 tn Heb “How long will you remain angry during the prayer of your people.” Some take the preposition -בְּ (bet) in an adversative sense here (“at/against the prayer of your people”), but the temporal sense is preferable. The psalmist expects persistent prayer to pacify God.
