6:22 “Have I 1 ever said, 2 ‘Give me something,
and from your fortune 3 make gifts 4 in my favor’?
11:4 For you have said, ‘My teaching 5 is flawless,
and I am pure in your sight.’
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 6
32:7 I said to myself, ‘Age 7 should speak, 8
and length of years 9 should make wisdom known.’
33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing 10
(I heard the sound of the words!):
1 tn The Hebrew הֲכִי (hakhi) literally says “Is it because….”
2 sn For the next two verses Job lashes out in sarcasm against his friends. If he had asked for charity, for their wealth, he might have expected their cold response. But all he wanted was sympathy and understanding (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 63).
3 tn The word כֹּחַ (koakh) basically means “strength, force”; but like the synonym חַיִל (khayil), it can also mean “wealth, fortune.” E. Dhorme notes that to the Semitic mind, riches bring power (Job, 90).
4 tn Or “bribes.” The verb שִׁחֲדוּ (shikhadu) means “give a שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”).” The significance is simply “make a gift” (especially in the sense of corrupting an official [Ezek 16:33]). For the spelling of the form in view of the guttural, see GKC 169 §64.a.
5 tn The word translated “teaching” is related etymologically to the Hebrew word “receive,” but that does not restrict the teaching to what is received.
6 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
7 tn Heb “days.”
8 tn The imperfect here is to be classified as an obligatory imperfect.
9 tn Heb “abundance of years.”
10 tn Heb “in my ears.”