Ayub 19:22

19:22 Why do you pursue me like God does? ¹ 

Will you never be satiated with my flesh? ² 

Ayub 31:31

31:31 if ³  the members of my household ⁴  have never said, ⁵ 

‘If only there were ⁶  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ⁷  meat!’ –

[19:22]  ¹ sn Strahan comments, “The whole tragedy of the book is packed into these extraordinary words.”

[19:22]  ² sn The idiom of eating the pieces of someone means “slander” in Aramaic (see Dan 3:8), Arabic and Akkadian.

[31:31]  ³ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ⁵ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ⁶ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.