5:18 For 1 he 2 wounds, 3 but he also bandages;
he strikes, but his hands also heal.
34:26 He strikes them for their wickedness, 4
in a place where people can see, 5
1 sn Verses 18-23 give the reasons why someone should accept the chastening of God – the hand that wounds is the same hand that heals. But, of course, the lines do not apply to Job because his suffering is not due to divine chastening.
2 tn The addition of the independent pronoun here makes the subject emphatic, as if to say, “For it is he who makes….”
3 tn The imperfect verbs in this verse describe the characteristic activities of God; the classification as habitual imperfect fits the idea and is to be rendered with the English present tense.
4 tn Heb “under wicked men,” or “under wickednesses.” J. C. Greenfield shows that the preposition can mean “among” as well (“Prepositions B Tachat in Jes 57:5,” ZAW 32 [1961]: 227). That would allow “among wicked men.” It could also be “instead of” or even “in return for [their wickedness]” which is what the RSV does.
5 tn The text simply uses רֹאִים (ro’im): “[in the place where there are] seers,” i.e., spectators.