Discovery BoxJob 14:16 
Context14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 2
then you would not mark 3 my sin. 4
Job 18:7
Context18:7 His vigorous steps 5 are restricted, 6
and his own counsel throws him down. 7
Job 31:4
Context31:4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
Job 31:37
Context31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
1 sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.
2 tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.
3 sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O
4 tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.
5 tn Heb “the steps of his vigor,” the genitive being the attribute.
6 tn The verb צָרַר (tsarar) means “to be cramped; to be straitened; to be hemmed in.” The trouble has hemmed him in, so that he cannot walk with the full, vigorous steps he had before. The LXX has “Let the meanest of men spoil his goods.”
7 tn The LXX has “causes him to stumble,” which many commentators accept; but this involves the transposition of the three letters. The verb is שָׁלַךְ (shalakh, “throw”) not כָּשַׁל (kashal, “stumble”).
