Ayub 9:19

9:19 If it is a matter of strength, ¹ 

most certainly ²  he is the strong one!

And if it is a matter of justice,

he will say, ‘Who will summon me?’ ³ 

Ayub 19:7

Job’s Abandonment and Affliction

19:7 “If ⁴  I cry out, ⁵  ‘Violence!’ ⁶ 

I receive no answer; ⁷ 

I cry for help,

but there is no justice.

[9:19]  ¹ tn The MT has only “if of strength.”

[9:19]  ² tn “Most certainly” translates the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh).

[9:19]  ³ tn The question could be taken as “who will summon me?” (see Jer 49:19 and 50:44). This does not make immediate sense. Some have simply changed the suffix to “who will summon him.” If the MT is retained, then supplying something like “he will say” could make the last clause fit the whole passage. Another option is to take it as “Who will reveal it to me?” – i.e., Job could be questioning his friends’ qualifications for being God’s emissaries to bring God’s charges against him (cf. KJV, NKJV; and see 10:2 where Job uses the same verb in the Hiphil to request that God reveal what his sin has been that has led to his suffering).

[9:19]  sn Job is saying that whether it is a trial of strength or an appeal to justice, he is unable to go against God.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn The particle is used here as in 9:11 (see GKC 497 §159.w).

[19:7]  ⁵ tc The LXX has “I laugh at reproach.”

[19:7]  ⁶ tn The same idea is expressed in Jer 20:8 and Hab 1:2. The cry is a cry for help, that he has been wronged, that there is no justice.

[19:7]  ⁷ tn The Niphal is simply “I am not answered.” See Prov 21:13b.