Job 8:4

If ¹  your children sinned against him, he gave them over ²  to the penalty ³  of their sin.

When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin.

"If your sons sinned against Him, Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.

Your children obviously sinned against him, so their punishment was well deserved.

It's plain that your children sinned against him--otherwise, why would God have punished them?

If your children have done evil against him, then their punishment is from his hand.

If your children sinned against him, he delivered them into the power of their transgression.

If your sons have sinned against Him, He has cast them away for their transgression.

If ¹  your children sinned against him, he gave them over ²  to the penalty ³  of their sin.

¹ tn The AV and RV take the protasis down to the middle of v. 6. The LXX changes the “if” at the beginning of v. 5 to “then” and makes that verse the apodosis. If the apodosis comes in the second half of v. 4, then v. 4 would be a complete sentence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 71; A. B. Davidson, Job, 60). The particle אִם (’im) has the sense of “since” in this section.

² tn The verb is a Piel preterite with a vav (ו) consecutive. The ו (vav) need not be translated if the second half of the verse is the apodosis of the first – since they sinned…he did this. The verb שִׁלֵּחַ (shilleakh) means “to expel; to thrust out” normally; here the sense of “deliver up” or “deliver over” fits the sentence well. The verse is saying that sin carries its own punishment, and so God merely delivered the young people over to it.

³ tn Heb “into the hand of their rebellion.” The word “hand” often signifies “power.” The rebellious acts have the power to destroy, and so that is what happened – according to Bildad. Bildad’s point is that Job should learn from what happened to his family.