² sn Here the Babylonians are compared to a bird, perhaps an eagle, that builds its nest in an inaccessible high place where predators cannot reach it.

³ tn Heb “he has made my paths crooked.” The implication is that the paths by which one might escape cannot be traversed.

¹ sn The figure here shifts to that of a burned-up city whose stones cannot be used for building. Babylon will become a permanent heap of ruins.

¹ tn Heb “we have been consumed/destroyed by sword or by starvation.” The “we” cannot be taken literally here since they are still alive.

³ tn A מִדְבָּר (midbar, “wilderness”) receives less than twelve inches of rain per year and therefore cannot support trees and has little plant life.

¹ tn Heb “Its shattering is like the shattering of a jug of [i.e., “made by”] potters, [so] shattered one cannot save [any of it].”

¹ sn The point of this saying is that a weak creature like a lizard, that is so easily caught, cannot be prevented from getting into the most significant places.

³ sn This individual lives beyond his financial means in a vain show to impress other people and thus cannot afford to put food on the table.

² sn This is the intent of a person who makes disparaging comments about others—he cannot wait to share secrets that should be kept.

¹ tn The verb יִשְׁווּ (yish^evu, from שָׁוָה, shavah) can be rendered “are not comparable” or with a modal nuance, “cannot be compared” with her.

¹ sn Because the idols are lifeless, they cannot help their worshipers in times of crisis. Consequently the worshipers end up as dead as the gods in which they trust.

¹ sn Because the idols are lifeless, they cannot help their worshipers in times of crisis. Consequently the worshipers end up as dead as the gods in which they trust.

³ tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.

² sn Even though their life seems so good in contrast to his own plight, Job cannot and will not embrace their principles—“far be from me their counsel.”

⁴ sn The judges, like the counselors, are nobles in the cities. God may reverse their lot, either by captivity or by shame, and they cannot resist his power.

⁴ sn Like the mountains, Job knows that God has passed by and caused him to shake and tremble, but he cannot understand or perceive the reasons.

² sn The point of the comparison with the sand of the sea is that the sand is immeasurable. So the grief of Job cannot be measured.

³ sn The verse provides a picture of the frustration and bewilderment in the crafty who cannot accomplish their ends because God thwarts them.

¹ tn The figure is erotesis, a rhetorical question. He is actually saying he cannot curse them because God has not cursed them.

² tn Heb “who his hand does not reach in his purification”; NASB “whose means are limited for his cleansing”; NIV “who cannot afford the regular offerings for his cleansing.”