Discovery BoxJob 16:6 
Context16:6 “But 1 if I speak, my pain is not relieved, 2
and if I refrain from speaking
– how 3 much of it goes away?
Job 21:17
Context21:17 “How often 4 is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?
How often does their 5 misfortune come upon them?
1 tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.
2 tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”
3 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.
4 tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.
5 tn The pronominal suffix is objective; it re-enforces the object of the preposition, “upon them.” The verb in the clause is בּוֹא (bo’) followed by עַל (’al), “come upon [or against],” may be interpreted as meaning attack or strike.
6 tn חֲבָלִים (khavalim) can mean “ropes” or “cords,” but that would not go with the verb “apportion” in this line. The meaning of “pangs (as in “birth-pangs”) seems to fit best here. The wider meaning would be “physical agony.”
7 tn The phrase “to them” is understood and thus is supplied in the translation for clarification.
