Job 36:3-5 New English Translation
3 With my knowledge I will speak comprehensively,[a]
and to my Creator I will ascribe righteousness.[b]
4 For in truth, my words are not false;
it is one complete[c] in knowledge
who is with you.
5 Indeed, God is mighty; and he does not despise people,[d]
he[e] is mighty, and firm[f] in his intent.[g]
Footnotes
- Job 36:3 tn Heb “I will carry my knowledge to-from afar.” The expression means that he will give a wide range to knowledge, that he will speak comprehensively.
- Job 36:3 tn This line gives the essence of all of Elihu’s speech—to give or ascribe righteousness to God against the charges of Job. Dhorme translates this “I will justify my Maker,” and that is workable if it carries the meaning of “declaring to be right.”
- Job 36:4 tn The word is תְּמִים (temim), often translated “perfect.” It is the same word used of Job in 2:3. Elihu is either a complete stranger to modesty or is confident regarding the knowledge that he believes God has revealed to him for this situation. See the note on the heading before 32:1.
- Job 36:5 tn The object “people” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.
- Job 36:5 tn The text simply repeats “mighty.”
- Job 36:5 tn The last two words are simply כֹּחַ לֵב (koakh lev, “strong in heart”), meaning something like “strong; firm in his decisions.”
- Job 36:5 tc There are several problems in this verse: the repetition of “mighty,” the lack of an object for “despise,” and the meaning of “strength of heart.” Many commentators reduce the verse to a single line, reading something like “Lo, God does not reject the pure in heart” (Kissane). Dhorme and Pope follow Nichols with: “Lo, God is mighty in strength, and rejects not the pure in heart.” This reading moved “mighty” to the first line and took the second to be בַּר (bar, “pure”).
New English Translation (NET)
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