9:33 Nor is there an arbiter 2 between us,
who 3 might lay 4 his hand on us both, 5
32:9 It is not the aged 6 who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
32:21 I will not show partiality to anyone, 7
nor will I confer a title 8 on any man.
33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure 9 be heavy on you. 10
1 tn The last clause is difficult to translate. It simply reads, “and he did not give unseemliness to God.” The word תִּפְלָה (tiflah) means “unsavoriness” or “unseemliness” in a moral sense. The sense is that Job did not charge God with any moral impropriety in his dealings with him. God did nothing worthless or tasteless. The ancient versions saw the word connected with “foolishness” or “stupidity” (תָּפֵל, tafel, “to be tasteless”). It is possible that “folly” would capture some of what Job meant here. See also M. Dahood, “Hebrew-Ugaritic Lexicography XII,” Bib 55 (1974): 381-93.
2 tn The participle מוֹכִיחַ (mokhiakh) is the “arbiter” or “mediator.” The word comes from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh, “decide, judge”), which is concerned with legal and nonlegal disputes. The verbal forms can be used to describe the beginning of a dispute, the disputation in progress, or the settling of it (here, and in Isa 1:18).
sn The old translation of “daysman” came from a Latin expression describing the fixing of a day for arbitration.
3 tn The relative pronoun is understood in this clause.
4 tn The jussive in conditional sentences retains its voluntative sense: let something be so, and this must happen as a consequence (see GKC 323 §109.i).
5 sn The idiom of “lay his hand on the two of us” may come from a custom of a judge putting his hands on the two in order to show that he is taking them both under his jurisdiction. The expression can also be used for protection (see Ps 139:5). Job, however, has a problem in that the other party is God, who himself will be arbiter in judgment.
6 tn The MT has “the great” or “the many,” meaning great in years according to the parallelism.
7 tn The idiom is “I will not lift up the face of a man.” Elihu is going to show no favoritism, but speak his mind.
8 tn The verb means “to confer an honorary title; to give a mark of distinction,” but it is often translated with the verb “flatter.” Elihu will not take sides, he will not use pompous titles.
9 tc The noun means “my pressure; my burden” in the light of the verb אָכֲף (’akhaf, “to press on; to grip tightly”). In the parallel passages the text used “hand” and “rod” in the hand to terrify. The LXX has “hand” here for this word. But simply changing it to “hand” is ruled out because the verb is masculine.
10 tn See Job 9:34 and 13:21.