4:5 But now the same thing 1 comes to you,
and you are discouraged; 2
it strikes you,
and you are terrified. 3
4:8 Even as I have seen, 4 those who plow 5 iniquity 6
and those who sow trouble reap the same. 7
1 tn The sentence has no subject, but the context demands that the subject be the same kind of trouble that has come upon people that Job has helped.
2 tn This is the same verb used in v. 2, meaning “to be exhausted” or “impatient.” Here with the vav (ו) consecutive the verb describes Job’s state of mind that is a consequence of the trouble coming on him. In this sentence the form is given a present tense translation (see GKC 329 §111.t).
3 tn This final verb in the verse is vivid; it means “to terrify, dismay” (here the Niphal preterite). Job will go on to speak about all the terrors that come on him.
4 tn The perfect verb here represents the indefinite past. It has no specific sighting in mind, but refers to each time he has seen the wicked do this.
5 sn The figure is an implied metaphor. Plowing suggests the idea of deliberately preparing (or cultivating) life for evil. This describes those who are fundamentally wicked.
6 tn The LXX renders this with a plural “barren places.”
7 tn Heb “reap it.”