Job 21:4

Is my ¹  complaint against a man? ²  If so, ³  why should I not be impatient? ⁴ 

Ex 6:9; 1Sa 1:16; 2Ki 6:26,27; Job 7:11-21; Job 10:1,2; Ps 22:1-3; Ps 42:11; Ps 77:3-9; Ps 102:1; Ps 142:2,3; Mt 26:38

¹ tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).

² sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).

³ tn On disjunctive interrogatives, see GKC 475 §150.g.

⁴ tn Heb “why should my spirit/breath not be short” (see Num 21:4; Judg 16:16).