14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 2
then you would not mark 3 my sin. 4
41:30 Its underparts 5 are the sharp points of potsherds,
it leaves its mark in the mud
like a threshing sledge. 6
1 sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.
2 tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.
3 sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O
4 tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.
5 tn Heb “under him.”
6 tn Here only the word “sharp” is present, but in passages like Isa 41:15 it is joined with “threshing sledge.” Here and in Amos 1:3 and Isa 28:27 the word stands alone, but represents the “sledge.”