Job 21:27

“Yes, I know what you are thinking, ¹  the schemes ²  by which you would wrong me. ³ 

Job 4:8-11; Job 5:3-5; Job 8:3-6; Job 15:20-35; Job 20:5,29; Job 32:3; Job 42:7; Ps 59:4; Ps 119:86; Lu 5:22; 1Pe 2:19

¹ tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.

² tn For the meaning of this word, and its root זָמַם (zamam), see Job 17:11. It usually means the “plans” or “schemes” that are concocted against someone.

³ tn E. Dhorme (Job, 321) distinguishes the verb חָמַס (khamas) from the noun for “violence.” He proposes a meaning of “think, imagine”: “and the ideas you imagined about me.”