Discovery BoxJob 12:11 
Context12:11 Does not the ear test words,
as 1 the tongue 2 tastes food? 3
Job 20:12
Context20:12 “If 4 evil is sweet in his mouth
and he hides it under his tongue, 5
Job 27:4
Context27:4 my 6 lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper 7 no deceit.
Job 33:2
Context33:2 See now, I have opened 8 my mouth;
my tongue in my mouth has spoken. 9
Job 41:1
Context41:1 (40:25) 10 “Can you pull in 11 Leviathan with a hook,
and tie down 12 its tongue with a rope?
1 tn The ו (vav) introduces the comparison here (see 5:7; 11:12); see GKC 499 §161.a.
2 tn Heb “the palate.”
3 tn The final preposition with its suffix is to be understood as a pleonastic dativus ethicus and not translated (see GKC 439 §135.i).
sn In the rest of the chapter Job turns his attention away from creation to the wisdom of ancient men. In Job 13:1 when Job looks back to this part, he refers to both the eye and the ear. In vv. 13-25 Job refers to many catastrophes which he could not have seen, but must have heard about.
4 tn The conjunction אִם (’im) introduces clauses that are conditional or concessive. With the imperfect verb in the protasis it indicates what is possible in the present or future. See GKC 496 §159.q).
5 sn The wicked person holds on to evil as long as he can, savoring the taste or the pleasure of it.
6 tn The verse begins with אִם (’im), the formula used for the content of the oath (“God lives…if I do/do not…”). Thus, the content of the oath proper is here in v. 4.
7 tn The verb means “to utter; to mumble; to meditate.” The implication is that he will not communicate deceitful things, no matter how quiet or subtle.
8 tn The perfect verbs in this verse should be classified as perfects of resolve: “I have decided to open…speak.”
9 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 210) says, “The self-importance of Elihu is boundless, and he is the master of banality.” He adds that whoever wrote these speeches this way clearly intended to expose the character rather than exalt him.
10 sn Beginning with 41:1, the verse numbers through 41:9 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 41:1 ET = 40:25 HT, 41:2 ET = 40:26 HT, etc., through 41:34 ET = 41:26 HT. The Hebrew verse numbers in the remainder of the chapter differ from the verse numbers in the English Bible. Beginning with 42:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.
11 tn The verb מָשַׁךְ (mashakh) means “to extract from the water; to fish.” The question here includes the use of a hook to fish the creature out of the water so that its jaws can be tied safely.
12 tn The verb שָׁקַע (shaqa’) means “to cause to sink,” if it is connected with the word in Amos 8:8 and 9:5. But it may have the sense of “to tie; to bind.” If the rope were put around the tongue and jaw, binding tightly would be the sense.
