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.
30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger 2 than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much 3
to put with my sheep dogs. 4
40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy 5 – how could I reply to you?
I put 6 my hand over my mouth to silence myself. 7
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 Heb “smaller than I for days.”
3 tn Heb “who I disdained their fathers to set…,” meaning “whose fathers I disdained to set.” The relative clause modifies the young fellows who mock; it explains that Job did not think highly enough of them to put them with the dogs. The next verse will explain why.
4 sn Job is mocked by young fellows who come from low extraction. They mocked their elders and their betters. The scorn is strong here – dogs were despised as scavengers.
5 tn The word קַלֹּתִי (qalloti) means “to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant.” From this comes the meaning “contemptible,” which in the causative stem would mean “to treat with contempt; to curse.” Dhorme tries to make the sentence a conditional clause and suggests this meaning: “If I have been thoughtless.” There is really no “if” in Job’s mind.
6 tn The perfect verb here should be classified as an instantaneous perfect; the action is simultaneous with the words.
7 tn The words “to silence myself” are supplied in the translation for clarity.