23:7 There 1 an upright person
could present his case 2 before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
41:4 Will it make a pact 3 with you,
so you could take it 4 as your slave for life?
1 tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.
2 tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”
3 tn Heb “will he cut a covenant.”
4 tn The imperfect verb serves to express what the covenant pact would cover, namely, “that you take.”