Job 9:4

9:4 He is wise in heart ¹  and mighty ²  in strength ³  –

who has resisted ⁴  him and remained safe? ⁵ 

Job 10:13

10:13 “But these things ⁶  you have concealed in your heart;

I know that this ⁷  is with you: ⁸ 

Job 22:22

22:22 Accept instruction ⁹  from his mouth

and store up his words ¹⁰  in your heart.

Job 27:6

27:6 I will maintain my righteousness

and never let it go;

my conscience ¹¹  will not reproach me

for as long as I live. ¹² 

Job 34:34

34:34 Men of understanding say to me –

any wise man listening to me says –

[9:4]  ¹ tn The genitive phrase translated “in heart” would be a genitive of specification, specifying that the wisdom of God is in his intelligent decisions.

[9:4]  ² sn The words אַמִּיץ (’ammits) and כֹּחַ (koakh) are synonyms, the first meaning “sturdy; mighty; robust,” and the second “strength.” It too can be interpreted as a genitive of specification – God is mighty with respect to his power. But that comes close to expressing a superlative idea (like “song of songs” or “anger of his wrath”).

[9:4]  ³ tn The first half of the verse simply has “wise of heart and mighty of strength.” The entire line is a casus pendens that will refer to the suffix on אֵלָיו (’elayv) in the second colon. So the question is “Who has resisted the one who is wise of heart and mighty of strength?” Again, the rhetorical question is affirming that no one has done this.

[9:4]  ⁴ tn The verb is the Hiphil of the verb קָשָׁה (qashah, “to be hard”). It frequently is found with the word for “neck,” describing people as “stiff-necked,” i.e., stubborn, unbending. So the idea of resisting God fits well. The fact that this word occurs in Exodus with the idea of hardening the heart against God may indicate that there is an allusion to Pharaoh here.

[9:4]  ⁵ tn The use of שָׁלֵם (shalem) in the Qal is rare. It has been translated “remain safe” by E. Dhorme, “survived” by the NEB, “remained unscathed” by the NAB and NIV, or “succeeded” by KJV, G. R. Driver.

[10:13]  ⁶ sn “These things” refers to the affliction that God had brought on Job. They were concealed by God from the beginning.

[10:13]  ⁷ sn The meaning of the line is that this was God’s purpose all along. “These things” and “this” refer to the details that will now be given in the next few verses.

[10:13]  ⁸ sn The contradiction between how God had provided for and cared for Job’s life and how he was now dealing with him could only be resolved by Job with the supposition that God had planned this severe treatment from the first as part of his plan.

[22:22]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.

[22:22]  ¹² tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).

[27:6]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “my heart.”

[27:6]  ¹⁷ tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”