31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 1
or if anything 2 has defiled my hands,
9:29 If I am guilty, 3
why then 4 weary myself 5 in vain? 6
13:10 He would certainly rebuke 7 you
if you secretly 8 showed partiality!
1 sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”
2 tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.
3 tn The clause simply has “I am guilty.” It is the same type of construction found in v. 24. It is also the opposite of that in v. 20. GKC 317 §107.n lists this as an example of the use of the imperfect to express an obligation or necessity according to the judgment of others; it would therefore mean “if I am to be guilty.”
4 tn The demonstrative pronoun is included to bring particular emphasis to the question, as if to say, “Why in the world…” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
5 tn The verb means “tire oneself”; see 3:17.
6 tn Here הֶבֶל (hevel, “breath, vapor, vanity”) is used as an adverb (adverbial accusative).
7 tn The verbal idea is intensified with the infinitive absolute. This is the same verb used in v. 3; here it would have the sense of “rebuke, convict.”
sn Peake’s observation is worth noting, namely, that as Job attacks the unrighteousness of God boldly he nonetheless has confidence in God’s righteousness that would not allow liars to defend him.
8 sn The use of the word “in secret” or “secretly” suggests that what they do is a guilty action (31:27a).