Discovery BoxJob 34:35-37 
Context34:35 that 1 Job speaks without knowledge
and his words are without understanding. 2
34:36 But 3 Job will be tested to the end,
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
34:37 For he adds transgression 4 to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands, 5
and multiplies his words against God.”
1 tn Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.
2 tn The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”
3 tc The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only
4 tn Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”
5 tc If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.
