4:13 In the troubling thoughts 1 of the dreams 2 in the night
when a deep sleep 3 falls on men,
14:18 But as 4 a mountain falls away and crumbles, 5
and as a rock will be removed from its place,
33:15 In a dream, a night vision,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they sleep in their beds.
1 tn Here too the word is rare. The form שְׂעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim, “disquietings”) occurs only here and in 20:2. The form שַׂרְעַפִּים (sar’appim, “disquieting thoughts”), possibly related by dissimilation, occurs in Pss 94:19 and 139:23. There seems to be a connection with סְעִפִּים (sÿ’ippim) in 1 Kgs 18:21 with the meaning “divided opinion”; this is related to the idea of סְעִפָּה (sÿ’ippah, “bough”). H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 47) concludes that the point is that like branches the thoughts lead off into different and bewildering places. E. Dhorme (Job, 50) links the word to an Arabic root (“to be passionately smitten”) for the idea of “intimate thoughts.” The idea here and in Ps 139 has more to do with anxious, troubling, disquieting thoughts, as in a nightmare.
2 tn Heb “visions” of the night.
3 tn The word תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah) is a “deep sleep.” It is used in the creation account when the
4 tn The indication that this is a simile is to be obtained from the conjunction beginning 19c (see GKC 499 §161.a).
5 tn The word יִבּוֹל (yibbol) usually refers to a flower fading and so seems strange here. The LXX and the Syriac translate “and will fall”; most commentators accept this and repoint the preceding word to get “and will surely fall.” Duhm retains the MT and applies the image of the flower to the falling mountain. The verb is used of the earth in Isa 24:4, and so NIV, RSV, and NJPS all have the idea of “crumble away.”