2tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.

3tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”

4tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.

5tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.

6sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.

7tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).

8tn Heb “the Lord.” The title has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

9tn Heb “is kindled.”

10tn The form נְכוֹנָה (n˙khonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian word kenu (from כּוּן, kun) connotes justice and truth.

11tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.

12tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”

13tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”

14tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.

15tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.

16sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.

17tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.

18tn The paragraph begins with the disjunctive vav, “Now as for the Lord, he….”

19sn The expression here is interesting: “he returned the captivity of Job,” a clause used elsewhere in the Bible of Israel (see e.g., Ps 126). Here it must mean “the fortunes of Job,” i.e., what he had lost. There is a good deal of literature on this; for example, see R. Borger, “Zu sub sb(i)t,” ZAW 25 (1954): 315-16; and E. Baumann, ZAW 6 (1929): 17ff.

20tn This is a temporal clause, using the infinitive construct with the subject genitive suffix. By this it seems that this act of Job was also something of a prerequisite for restoration – to pray for them.

21tn The construction uses the verb “and he added” with the word “repeat” (or “twice”).

22tn Heb “ate bread.”

23tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (q˙sitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

sn The Hebrew word refers to a piece of silver, yet uncoined. It is the kind used in Gen 33:19 and Josh 24:32. It is what would be expected of a story set in the patriarchal age.

24sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.

25tn The word for “seven” is spelled in an unusual way. From this some have thought it means “twice seven,” or fourteen sons. Several commentators take this view; but it is probably not warranted.

26sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.”

27sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.”

28sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.”