7:11 “Therefore, 1 I will not refrain my mouth; 2
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain 3 in the bitterness of my soul.
16:4 I also could speak 4 like you,
if 5 you were in my place;
I could pile up 6 words against you
and I could shake my head at you. 7
16:6 “But 8 if I speak, my pain is not relieved, 9
and if I refrain from speaking
– how 10 much of it goes away?
32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; 11
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, 12 while you were searching for words.
36:2 “Be patient 13 with me a little longer
and I will instruct you,
for I still have words to speak on God’s behalf. 14
1 tn “Also I” has been rendered frequently as “therefore,” introducing a conclusion. BDB 168-69 s.v. גַמּ lists Ps 52:7 [5] as a parallel, but it also could be explained as an adversative.
2 sn “Mouth” here is metonymical for what he says – he will not withhold his complaints. Peake notes that in this section Job comes very close to doing what Satan said he would do. If he does not curse God to his face, he certainly does cast off restraints to his lament. But here Job excuses himself in advance of the lament.
3 tn The verb is not limited to mental musing; it is used for pouring out a complaint or a lament (see S. Mowinckel, “The Verb siah and the Nouns siah, siha,” ST 15 [1961]: 1-10).
4 tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.
5 tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).
6 tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).
7 sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).
8 tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.
9 tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”
10 tn Some argue that מָה (mah) in the text is the Arabic ma, the simple negative. This would then mean “it does not depart far from me.” The interrogative used rhetorically amounts to the same thing, however, so the suggestion is not necessary.
11 tn Heb “for your words.”
12 tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.
13 tn The verb כָּתַּר (kattar) is the Piel imperative; in Hebrew the word means “to surround” and is related to the noun for crown. But in Syriac it means “to wait.” This section of the book of Job will have a few Aramaic words.
14 tn The Hebrew text simply has “for yet for God words.”