20:8 Like a dream he flies away, never again to be found, 1
and like a vision of the night he is put to flight.
27:5 I will never 2 declare that you three 3 are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
27:6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience 4 will not reproach me
for as long as I live. 5
31:31 if 6 the members of my household 7 have never said, 8
‘If only there were 9 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 10 meat!’ –
1 tn Heb “and they do not find him.” The verb has no expressed subject, and so here is equivalent to a passive. The clause itself is taken adverbially in the sentence.
2 tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”
3 tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.
4 tn Heb “my heart.”
5 tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”
6 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
7 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
8 sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.
9 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
10 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.