Job 16:21

and ¹  he contends with God on behalf of man as a man ²  pleads ³  for his friend.

Job 9:34,35; Job 13:3,22; Job 23:3-7; Job 31:35; Job 40:1-5; Ec 6:10; Isa 45:9; Ro 9:20

¹ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 240) alters this slightly to read “Would that” or “Ah! if only.”

² tn This is the simple translation of the expression “son of man” in Job. But some commentators wish to change the word בֵּן (ben, “son”) to בֵּין (ben, “between”). It would then be “[as] between a man and [for] his friend.” Even though a few mss have this reading, it is to be rejected. But see J. Barr, “Some Notes on ‘ben’ in Classical Hebrew,” JSS 23 (1978): 1-22.

³ tn The verb is supplied from the parallel clause.