12:3 I also have understanding 1 as well as you;
I am not inferior to you. 2
Who does not know such things as these? 3
18:21 ‘Surely such is the residence 4 of an evil man;
and this is the place of one who has not known God.’” 5
1 tn The word is literally “heart,” meaning a mind or understanding.
2 tn Because this line is repeated in 13:2, many commentators delete it from this verse (as does the LXX). The Syriac translates נֹפֵל (nofel) as “little,” and the Vulgate “inferior.” Job is saying that he does not fall behind them in understanding.
3 tn Heb “With whom are not such things as these?” The point is that everyone knows the things that these friends have been saying – they are commonplace.
4 tn The term is in the plural, “the tabernacles”; it should be taken as a plural of local extension (see GKC 397 §124.b).
5 tn The word “place” is in construct; the clause following it replaces the genitive: “this is the place of – he has not known God.”