Job 4:5

4:5 But now the same thing comes to you,

and you are discouraged;

it strikes you,

and you are terrified.

Job 41:26

41:26 Whoever strikes it with a sword

will have no effect,

nor with the spear, arrow, or dart.


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.

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).

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.

tn This is the clearest reading, following A. B. Davidson, Job, 285. The versions took different readings of the construction.

tn The verb קוּם (qum, “stand”) with בְּלִי (bÿli, “not”) has the sense of “does not hold firm,” or “gives way.”