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Job 35:1-3
New English Translation
Job 35:1-3
New English Translation
Elihu’s Third Speech[a]
35 Then Elihu answered:
2 “Do you think this to be[b] just
when[c] you say, ‘My right before God’?[d]
3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’[e]
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’[f]
Footnotes
- Job 35:1 sn This short speech falls into two sections: Elihu refutes Job’s claim that goodness avails nothing (35:2-8), asserting that when the cry of the afflicted goes unanswered they have not learned their lesson (35:9-16).
- Job 35:2 tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.
- Job 35:2 tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
- Job 35:2 tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”
- Job 35:3 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
- Job 35:3 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
Job 35:1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Job 35:1-3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Elihu Condemns Self-Righteousness
35 Elihu continued and said:
2 “Do you think this to be just?
You say, ‘I am in the right before God.’(A)
3 If you ask, ‘What advantage have I?
How am I better off than if I had sinned?’(B)
New English Translation (NET)
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.