² tc The translation reads face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">לְפָנֵים (face="Scholar">lÿfanim, “formerly”) rather than face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">לְפָנָיו (face="Scholar">lÿfanayv, “to his face”) of the MT. The MT seems to suggest that Nehemiah was not sad before the king, which is contrary to what follows.

³ sn The commentaries mention the parallel construction in the writings of Ashurbanipal: “You were weak, Ashurbanipal, you who sat on the knees of the goddess, queen of Nineveh; of the four teats that were placed near to your mouth, you sucked two and you hid your face in the others” (M. Streck, Assurbanipal [VAB], 348).

³ tn The meaning of the word is “to be dark, dirty”; therefore, it refers to the ash-sprinkled head of the mourner (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 54). The custom was to darken one’s face in sorrow (see Job 2:12; Ps 35:14; 38:7).

² tn The line has “and now, be pleased, turn to me [i.e., face me].” The LXX reverses the idea, “And now, having looked upon your countenances, I will not lie.” The expression “turn to me” means essentially to turn the eyes toward someone to look at him.

² sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.

³ sn The action of lifting up the head is a symbol of pride and honor and self-respect (Judg 8:28) – like “hold your head high.” In 11:15 the one who is at peace with God lifts his head (face).

³ tn The word “lift up” is chosen to recall Job’s statement that he could not lift up his head (10:15); and the words “without spot” recall his words “filled with shame.” The sentence here says that he will lift up his face in innocence and show no signs of God’s anger on him.

³ tn The word face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">כָּסַף (face="Scholar">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 face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">ל (face="Scholar">lamed) preposition (see E. Dhorme, Job, 202).

⁴ tn This expression is open to alternative translations: (1) It could mean that they say in the face of darkness, “Light is near.” (2) It could also mean “The light is near the darkness” or “The light is nearer than the darkness.”

¹ tn The verb face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">פְּנוּ (face="Scholar">pÿnu) is from the verb “to turn,” related to the word for “face.” In calling for them to turn toward him, he is calling for them to look at him. But here it may be more in the sense of their attention rather than just a looking at him.

² sn This is usually taken to mean that as a worshiper this individual comes into the presence of the Lord in prayer, and in the sanctuary he sees God’s face, i.e., he sees the evidence of God’s presence.

² tn The grammatical construction (conjunction + pronominal subject) highlights the contrast between God’s victorious people and the defeated enemies mentioned in the previous line. The perfect verbal forms either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle. They describe the demise of the enemy as being as good as done.

³ tn Or “rise up and remain upright.” On the meaning of the Hitpolel of face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">עוּד (’face="Scholar">ud), see HALOT 795 s.v. I face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">עוד. The verbal forms (a perfect followed by a prefixed form with vav [face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">ו] consecutive) either generalize or, more likely, state rhetorically the people’s confidence as they face the approaching battle.

¹ tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

² tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

² tn The idiom “cause your face to shine” probably refers to a smile (see Eccl 8:1), which in turn suggests favor and blessing (see Num 6:25; Pss 4:6; 31:16; 44:3; 67:1; 89:15; Dan 9:17).

² tn Heb “look [on] the face of your anointed one.” The Hebrew phrase face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">מְשִׁיחֶךָ (face="Scholar">mÿshikhekha, “your anointed one”) refers here to the Davidic king (see Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17).

² tn Heb “to make [the] face shine from oil.” The Hebrew verb face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">צָהַל (face="Scholar">tsahal, “to shine”) occurs only here in the OT. It appears to be an alternate form of face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">צָהַר (face="Scholar">tsahar), a derivative from face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">צָהָרִים (face="Scholar">tsaharim, “noon”).

² tc The word “healing” is a hapax legomenon; some have suggested changes, such as to Arabic jihatu (“face”) or to face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">גְּוִיָּה (face="Scholar">gÿviah, “body”) as in the Syriac and Tg. Prov 17:22, but the MT makes sense as it is and should be retained.

¹ tn The verse begins with face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">אֶת־פְּנֵי מֵבִין (’face="Scholar">et-pÿni mevin), “before the discerning” or “the face of the discerning.” The particle face="Galaxie Unicode Hebrew">אֶת here is simply drawing emphasis to the predicate (IBHS 182-83 §10.3.2b). Cf. NIV “A discerning man keeps wisdom in view.”