13:6 “Listen now to my argument, 1
and be attentive to my lips’ contentions. 2
13:17 Listen carefully 3 to my words;
let your ears be attentive to my explanation. 4
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? 5
Do you limit 6 wisdom to yourself?
15:17 “I will explain to you;
listen to me,
and what 7 I have seen, I will declare, 8
21:2 “Listen carefully 9 to my words;
let this be 10 the consolation you offer me. 11
32:10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen 12 to me.
I, even I, will explain what I know.’
33:1 “But now, O Job, listen to my words,
and hear 13 everything I have to say! 14
33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;
be silent, and I will speak.
33:33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;
hear 15 me, you learned men. 16
34:16 “If you have 17 understanding, listen to this,
hear what I have to say. 18
37:2 Listen carefully 19 to the thunder of his voice,
to the rumbling 20 that proceeds from his mouth.
1 sn Job first will argue with his friends. His cause that he will plead with God begins in v. 13. The same root יָכַח (yakhakh, “argue, plead”) is used here as in v. 3b (see note). Synonymous parallelism between the two halves of this verse supports this translation.
2 tn The Hebrew word רִבוֹת (rivot, “disputes, contentions”) continues the imagery of presenting a legal case. The term is used of legal disputations and litigation. See, also, v. 19a.
3 tn The infinitive absolute intensifies the imperative, which serves here with the force of an immediate call to attention. In accordance with GKC 342 §113.n, the construction could be translated, “Keep listening” (so ESV).
4 tn The verb has to be supplied in this line, for the MT has “and my explanation in your ears.” In the verse, both “word” and “explanation” are Aramaisms (the latter appearing in Dan 5:12 for the explanation of riddles).
5 tn The meaning of סוֹד (sod) is “confidence.” In the context the implication is “secret counsel” of the
6 tn In v. 4 the word meant “limit”; here it has a slightly different sense, namely, “to reserve for oneself.”
7 tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here as a nominative, to introduce an independent relative clause (see GKC 447 §138.h).
8 tn Here the vav (ו) apodosis follows with the cohortative (see GKC 458 §143.d).
9 tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.
10 tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”
11 tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.
12 tc In most Hebrew
13 tn Heb “give ear,” the Hiphil denominative verb from “ear.”
14 tn Heb “hear all my words.”
15 tn Heb “give ear to me.”
16 tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”
17 tn The phrase “you have” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
18 tn Heb “the sound of my words.”
19 tn The imperative is followed by the infinitive absolute from the same root to express the intensity of the verb.
20 tn The word is the usual word for “to meditate; to murmur; to groan”; here it refers to the low building of the thunder as it rumbles in the sky. The thunder is the voice of God (see Ps 29).