Job 3:13

Footnotes

1. 45 The word עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) may have a logical nuance here, almost with the idea of “if that had been the case …” ( §39.3.4f). However, the temporal “now” is retained in translation since the imperfect verb following two perfects “suggests what Job’s present state would be if he had had the quiet of a still birth” (J. E. Hartley, Job [], , n. 23). Cf. §106.p.
2. 46 The copula on the verb indicates a sequence for the imperfect: “and then I would.…” In the second half of the verse it is paralleled by “then.”
3. 47 The text uses a combination of the perfect (lie down/sleep) and imperfect (quiet/rest). The particle עַתָּה (’attah, “now”) gives to the perfect verb its conditional nuance. It presents actions in the past that are not actually accomplished but seen as possible ( §106.p).
4. 48 The last part uses the impersonal verb “it would be at rest for me.”