Job 33:24-26

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Job 33:24 tn This verse seems to continue the protasis begun in the last verse, with the apodosis coming in the next verse.
2. Job 33:24 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3. Job 33:24 tc The verb is either taken as an anomalous form of פָּדַע (padaʿ, “to rescue; to redeem,” or “to exempt him”), or it is emended to some similar word, like פָּרַע (paraʿ, “to let loose,” so Wright).
4. Job 33:24 sn This verse and v. 28 should be compared with Ps 49:7-9, 15 (8-10, 16 HT) where the same basic vocabulary and concepts are employed.
5. Job 33:25 tc The word רֻטֲפַשׁ (rutafash) is found nowhere else. One suggestion is that it should be יִרְטַב (yirtav, “to become fresh”), connected to רָטַב (ratav, “to be well watered [or moist]”). It is also possible that it was a combination of רָטַב (ratav, “to be well watered”) and טָפַשׁ (tafash, “to grow fat”). But these are all guesses in the commentaries.
6. Job 33:25 tn The word describes the period when the man is healthy and vigorous, ripe for what life brings his way.
7. Job 33:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. Job 33:26 tn Heb “his face”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.sn This is usually taken to mean that as a worshiper this individual comes into the presence of the Lord in prayer, and in the sanctuary he sees God’s face, i.e., he sees the evidence of God’s presence.
9. Job 33:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
10. Job 33:26 tc Many commentators think this line is superfluous and so delete it. The RSV changed the verb to “he recounts,” making the idea that the man publishes the news of his victory or salvation (taking “righteousness” as a metonymy of cause).