20:21 “Nothing is left for him to devour; 1
that is why his prosperity does not last. 2
32:15 “They are dismayed 4 and cannot answer any more;
they have nothing left to say. 5
1 tn Heb “for his eating,” which is frequently rendered “for his gluttony.” It refers, of course, to all the desires he has to take things from other people.
2 sn The point throughout is that insatiable greed and ruthless plundering to satisfy it will be recompensed with utter and complete loss.
3 sn Elihu now will give another reason why he will speak – the arguments of these friends failed miserably. But before he gets to his argument, he will first qualify his authority.
4 tn The verb חַתּוּ (khattu) is from חָתַת (khatat) which means “to be terrified.” But here it stresses the resulting dilemma. R. Gordis (Job, 369) renders it, “they are shattered, beaten in an argument.”
5 tn Heb “words have moved away from them,” meaning words are gone from them, they have nothing left to say.