Job 8:10-12 New English Translation
10 Will they not[a] instruct you and[b] speak to you,
and bring forth words[c]
from their understanding?[d]
11 Can the papyrus plant grow tall[e] where there is no marsh?
Can reeds flourish[f] without water?
12 While they are still beginning to flower[g]
and not ripe for cutting,[h]
they can wither away[i]
faster than[j] any grass.[k]
Footnotes
- Job 8:10 tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”
- Job 8:10 tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”
- Job 8:10 tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”
- Job 8:10 tn Heb “from their heart.”
- Job 8:11 sn H. H. Rowley observes the use of the words for plants that grow in Egypt and suspects that Bildad either knew Egypt or knew that much wisdom came from Egypt. The first word refers to papyrus, which grows to a height of six feet (so the verb means “to grow tall; to grow high”). The second word refers to the reed grass that grows on the banks of the river (see Gen 41:2, 18).
- Job 8:11 tn The two verbs, גָּאָה (gaʾah) and שָׂגָה (sagah), have almost the same meanings of “flourish, grow, become tall.”
- Job 8:12 tn The word has been traditionally translated “greenness” (so KJV, ASV), but some modern commentators argue for “in flower.” The word is found only in Song 6:11 (where it may be translated “blossoms”). From the same root is אָבִיב (ʾaviv, “fresh young ears of barley”). Here the word refers to the plant that is still in its early stages of flowering. It should not be translated to suggest the plant is flowering (so NRSV), but translating as if the plant is green (so NASB) is also problematic.
- Job 8:12 sn The idea is that as the plant begins to flower, but before it is to be cut down, there is no sign of withering or decay in it. But if the water is withdrawn, it will wither sooner than any other herb. The point Bildad will make of this is that when people rebel against God and his grace is withheld, they perish more swiftly than the water reed.
- Job 8:12 tn The imperfect verb here is the modal use of potential, “can wither away” if the water is not there.
- Job 8:12 tn Heb “before.”
- Job 8:12 tn The LXX interprets the line: “does not any herb wither before it has received moisture?”
New English Translation (NET)
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