4:2 “If someone 1 should attempt 2 a word with you,
will you be impatient? 3
But who can refrain from speaking 4 ?
6:14 “To the one in despair, kindness 5 should come from his friend 6
even if 7 he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 8 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 9 to him?’ 10
37:19 Tell us what we should 11 say to him.
We cannot prepare a case 12
because of the darkness.
37:20 Should he be informed that I want 13 to speak?
If a man speaks, surely he would be swallowed up!
40:23 If the river rages, 14 it is not disturbed,
it is secure, 15 though the Jordan
should surge up to its mouth.
1 tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so may be translated with “one” or “someone.”
2 tn The Piel perfect is difficult here. It would normally be translated “has one tried (words with you)?” Most commentaries posit a conditional clause, however.
3 tn The verb means “to be weary.” But it can have the extended sense of being either exhausted or impatient (see v. 5). A. B. Davidson (Job, 29) takes it in the sense of “will it be too much for you?” There is nothing in the sentence that indicates this should be an interrogative clause; it is simply an imperfect. But in view of the juxtaposition of the first part, this seems to make good sense. E. Dhorme (Job, 42) has “Shall we address you? You are dejected.”
4 tn The construction uses a noun with the preposition: “and to refrain with words – who is able?” The Aramaic plural of “words” (מִלִּין, millin) occurs 13 times in Job, with the Hebrew plural ten times. The commentaries show that Eliphaz’s speech had a distinctly Aramaic coloring to it.
5 tn In this context חֶסֶד (khesed) could be taken as “loyalty” (“loyalty should be shown by his friend”).
6 tn The Hebrew of this verse is extremely difficult, and while there are many suggestions, none of them has gained a consensus. The first colon simply has “to the despairing // from his friend // kindness.” Several commentators prefer to change the first word לַמָּס (lammas, “to the one in despair”) to some sort of verb; several adopt the reading “the one who withholds/he withholds mercy from his friend forsakes….” The point of the first half of the verse seems to be that one should expect kindness (or loyalty) from a friend in times of suffering.
7 tn The relationship of the second colon to the first is difficult. The line just reads literally “and the fear of the Almighty he forsakes.” The ו (vav) could be interpreted in several different ways: “else he will forsake…,” “although he forsakes…,” “even the one who forsakes…,” or “even if he forsakes…” – the reading adopted here. If the first colon receives the reading “His friend has scorned compassion,” then this clause would be simply coordinated with “and forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” The sense of the verse seems to say that kindness/loyalty should be shown to the despairing, even to the one who is forsaking the fear of the
8 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
9 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
10 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.
11 tn The imperfect verb here carries the obligatory nuance, “what we should say?”
12 tn The verb means “to arrange; to set in order.” From the context the idea of a legal case is included.
13 tn This imperfect works well as a desiderative imperfect.
14 tn The word ordinarily means “to oppress.” So many commentators have proposed suitable changes: “overflows” (Beer), “gushes” (Duhm), “swells violently” (Dhorme, from a word that means “be strong”).
15 tn Or “he remains calm.”