15:19 to whom alone the land was given
when no foreigner passed among them. 1
17:11 My days have passed, my plans 2 are shattered,
even 3 the desires 4 of my heart.
28:8 Proud beasts 5 have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
1 sn Eliphaz probably thinks that Edom was the proverbial home of wisdom, and so the reference here would be to his own people. If, as many interpret, the biblical writer is using these accounts to put Yahwistic ideas into the discussion, then the reference would be to Canaan at the time of the fathers. At any rate, the tradition of wisdom to Eliphaz has not been polluted by foreigners, but has retained its pure and moral nature from antiquity.
2 tn This term usually means “plans; devices” in a bad sense, although it can be used of God’s plans (see e.g., Zech 8:15).
3 tn Although not in the Hebrew text, “even” is supplied in the translation, because this line is in apposition to the preceding.
4 tn This word has been linked to the root יָרַשׁ (yarash, “to inherit”) yielding a meaning “the possessions of my heart.” But it is actually to be connected to אָרַשׁ (’arash, “to desire”) cognate to the Akkadian eresu, “desire.” The LXX has “limbs,” which may come from an Aramaic word for “ropes.” An emendation based on the LXX would be risky.
5 tn Heb “the sons of pride.” In Job 41:26 the expression refers to carnivorous wild beasts.