10:18 “Why then did you bring me out from the womb?
I should have died 1
and no eye would have seen me!
22:3 Is it of any special benefit 2 to the Almighty
that you should be righteous,
or is it any gain to him
that you make your ways blameless? 3
34:33 Is it your opinion 4 that God 5 should recompense it,
because you reject this? 6
But you must choose, and not I,
so tell us what you know.
1 tn The two imperfect verbs in this section are used to stress regrets for something which did not happen (see GKC 317 §107.n).
2 tn The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.
3 tn The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.
4 tn Heb “is it from with you,” an idiomatic expression meaning “to suit you” or “according to your judgment.”
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn There is no object on the verb, and the meaning is perhaps lost. The best guess is that Elihu is saying Job has rejected his teaching.