35:3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’ 1
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’ 2
35:4 I 3 will reply to you, 4
and to your friends with you.
1 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
2 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
3 tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
4 tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.