Ayub 13:1-9

Job Pleads His Cause to God ¹ 

13:1 “Indeed, my eyes have seen all this, ² 

my ears have heard and understood it.

13:2 What you know, ³  I ⁴  know also;

I am not inferior ⁵  to you!

13:3 But I wish to speak ⁶  to the Almighty, ⁷ 

and I desire to argue ⁸  my case ⁹  with God.

13:4 But you, however, are inventors of lies; ¹⁰ 

all of you are worthless physicians! ¹¹ 

13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! ¹² 

For you, that would be wisdom. ¹³ 

13:6 “Listen now to my argument, ¹⁴ 

and be attentive to my lips’ contentions. ¹⁵ 

13:7 Will you speak wickedly ¹⁶  on God’s behalf? ¹⁷ 

Will you speak deceitfully for him?

13:8 Will you show him partiality? ¹⁸ 

Will you argue the case ¹⁹  for God?

13:9 Would it turn out well if he would examine ²⁰  you?

Or as one deceives ²¹  a man would you deceive him?

[13:1]  ¹ sn Chapter 13 records Job’s charges against his friends for the way they used their knowledge (1-5), his warning that God would find out their insincerity (6-12), and his pleading of his cause to God in which he begs for God to remove his hand from him and that he would not terrify him with his majesty and that he would reveal the sins that caused such great suffering (13-28).

[13:1]  ² tn Hebrew has כֹּל (kol, “all”); there is no reason to add anything to the text to gain a meaning “all this.”

[13:2]  ³ tn Heb “Like your knowledge”; in other words Job is saying that his knowledge is like their knowledge.

[13:2]  ⁴ tn The pronoun makes the subject emphatic and stresses the contrast: “I know – I also.”

[13:2]  ⁵ tn The verb “fall” is used here as it was in Job 4:13 to express becoming lower than someone, i.e., inferior.

[13:3]  ⁶ tn The verb is simply the Piel imperfect אֲדַבֵּר (’adabber, “I speak”). It should be classified as a desiderative imperfect, saying, “I desire to speak.” This is reinforced with the verb “to wish, desire” in the second half of the verse.

[13:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew title for God here is אֶל־שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”).

[13:3]  ⁸ tn The infinitive absolute functions here as the direct object of the verb “desire” (see GKC 340 §113.b).

[13:3]  ⁹ tn The infinitive הוֹכֵחַ (hokheakh) is from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh), which means “to argue, plead, debate.” It has the legal sense here of arguing a case (cf. 5:17).

[13:4]  ¹⁰ tn The טֹפְלֵי־שָׁקֶר (tofÿle shaqer) are “plasterers of lies” (Ps 119:69). The verb means “to coat, smear, plaster.” The idea is that of imputing something that is not true. Job is saying that his friends are inventors of lies. The LXX was influenced by the next line and came up with “false physicians.”

[13:4]  ¹¹ tn The literal rendering of the construct would be “healers of worthlessness.” Ewald and Dillmann translated it “patchers” based on a meaning in Arabic and Ethiopic; this would give the idea “botchers.” But it makes equally good sense to take “healers” as the meaning, for Job’s friends came to minister comfort and restoration to him – but they failed. See P. Humbert, “Maladie et medicine dans l’AT,” RHPR 44 (1964): 1-29.

[13:5]  ¹² tn The construction is the imperfect verb in the wish formula preceded by the infinitive that intensifies it. The Hiphil is not directly causative here, but internally – “keep silent.”

[13:5]  ¹³ tn The text literally reads, “and it would be for you for wisdom,” or “that it would become your wisdom.” Job is rather sarcastic here, indicating if they shut up they would prove themselves to be wise (see Prov 17:28).

[13:6]  ¹⁴ sn Job first will argue with his friends. His cause that he will plead with God begins in v. 13. The same root יָכַח (yakhakh, “argue, plead”) is used here as in v. 3b (see note). Synonymous parallelism between the two halves of this verse supports this translation.

[13:6]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word רִבוֹת (rivot, “disputes, contentions”) continues the imagery of presenting a legal case. The term is used of legal disputations and litigation. See, also, v. 19a.

[13:7]  ¹⁶ tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).

[13:7]  ¹⁷ tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.

[13:8]  ¹⁸ sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.

[13:8]  ¹⁹ tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).

[13:9]  ²⁰ tn The verb חָפַר (khafar) means “to search out, investigate, examine.” In the conditional clause the imperfect verb expresses the hypothetical case.

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Both the infinitive and the imperfect of תָּלַל (talal, “deceive, mock”) retain the ה (he) (GKC 148 §53.q). But for the alternate form, see F. C. Fensham, “The Stem HTL in Hebrew,” VT 9 (1959): 310-11. The infinitive is used here in an adverbial sense after the preposition.