Ayub 22:1--31:40
Konteks22:1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
22:2 “Is it to God that a strong man is of benefit?
Is it to him that even a wise man is profitable? 2
22:3 Is it of any special benefit 3 to the Almighty
that you should be righteous,
or is it any gain to him
that you make your ways blameless? 4
22:4 Is it because of your piety 5 that he rebukes you
and goes to judgment with you? 6
22:5 Is not your wickedness great 7
and is there no end to your iniquity?
22:6 “For you took pledges 8 from your brothers
for no reason,
and you stripped the clothing from the naked. 9
22:7 You gave the weary 10 no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
22:8 Although you were a powerful man, 11 owning land, 12
an honored man 13 living on it, 14
22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms 15 of the orphans you crushed. 16
22:10 That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, 17
and why a flood 18 of water covers you.
22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? 19
And see 20 the lofty stars, 21 how high they are!
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 22
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, 23
as he goes back and forth
in the vault 24 of heaven.’ 25
22:15 Will you keep to the old path 26
that evil men have walked –
22:16 men 27 who were carried off 28 before their time, 29
when the flood 30 was poured out 31
on their foundations? 32
22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ 33
22:18 But it was he 34 who filled their houses
with good things –
yet the counsel of the wicked 35
was far from me. 36
22:19 The righteous see their destruction 37 and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, 38 saying,
22:20 ‘Surely our enemies 39 are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.’
22:21 “Reconcile yourself 40 with God, 41
and be at peace 42 with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
22:22 Accept instruction 43 from his mouth
and store up his words 44 in your heart.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; 45
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
22:24 and throw 46 your gold 47 in the dust –
your gold 48 of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold, 49
and the choicest 50 silver for you.
22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself 51 in the Almighty,
and will lift up your face toward God.
22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows to him. 52
22:28 Whatever you decide 53 on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
22:29 When people are brought low 54 and you say
‘Lift them up!’ 55
then he will save the downcast; 56
22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, 57
who will escape 58 through the cleanness of your hands.”
23:1 Then Job answered:
23:2 “Even today my complaint is still bitter; 60
his 61 hand is heavy despite 62 my groaning.
23:3 O that I knew 63 where I might find him, 64
that I could come 65 to his place of residence! 66
23:4 I would lay out my case 67 before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
23:5 I would know with what words 68 he would answer me,
and understand what he would say to me.
23:6 Would he contend 69 with me with great power?
No, he would only pay attention to me. 70
23:7 There 71 an upright person
could present his case 72 before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
23:8 “If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
23:9 In the north 73 when he is at work, 74
I do not see him; 75
when he turns 76 to the south,
I see no trace of him.
23:10 But he knows the pathway that I take; 77
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold. 78
23:11 My feet 79 have followed 80 his steps closely;
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside. 81
23:12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion. 82
23:13 But he is unchangeable, 83 and who can change 84 him?
Whatever he 85 has desired, he does.
23:14 For he fulfills his decree against me, 86
and many such things are his plans. 87
23:15 That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
23:16 Indeed, God has made my heart faint; 88
the Almighty has terrified me.
23:17 Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face. 89
24:1 “Why are times not appointed by 90 the Almighty? 91
Why do those who know him not see his days?
24:2 Men 92 move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them. 93
24:3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey;
they take the widow’s ox as a pledge.
24:4 They turn the needy from the pathway,
and the poor of the land hide themselves together. 94
24:5 Like 95 wild donkeys in the desert
they 96 go out to their labor, 97
seeking diligently for food;
the wasteland provides 98 food for them
and for their children.
24:6 They reap fodder 99 in the field,
and glean 100 in the vineyard of the wicked.
24:7 They spend the night naked because they lack clothing;
they have no covering against the cold.
24:8 They are soaked by mountain rains
and huddle 101 in the rocks because they lack shelter.
24:9 The fatherless child is snatched 102 from the breast, 103
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. 104
24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. 105
24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; 106
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. 107
24:12 From the city the dying 108 groan,
and the wounded 109 cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing. 110
24:13 There are those 111 who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways
and they do not stay on its paths.
24:14 Before daybreak 112 the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is 113 like a thief. 114
24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking, 115 ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
24:16 In the dark the robber 116 breaks into houses, 117
but by day they shut themselves in; 118
they do not know the light. 119
24:17 For all of them, 120 the morning is to them
like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
24:18 121 “You say, 122 ‘He is foam 123 on the face of the waters; 124
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard. 125
24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow; 126
so the grave 127 takes away those who have sinned. 128
24:20 The womb 129 forgets him,
the worm feasts on him,
no longer will he be remembered.
Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.
24:21 He preys on 130 the barren and childless woman, 131
and does not treat the widow well.
24:22 But God 132 drags off the mighty by his power;
when God 133 rises up against him, he has no faith in his life. 134
24:23 God 135 may let them rest in a feeling of security, 136
but he is constantly watching 137 all their ways. 138
24:24 They are exalted for a little while,
and then they are gone, 139
they are brought low 140 like all others,
and gathered in, 141
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’ 142
24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?” 143
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
25:2 “Dominion 145 and awesome might 146 belong to 147 God;
he establishes peace in his heights. 148
25:3 Can his armies be numbered? 149
On whom does his light 150 not rise?
25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure? 151
25:5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 152
25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot 153 –
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
26:1 Then Job replied:
26:2 “How you have helped 155 the powerless! 156
How you have saved the person who has no strength! 157
26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly 158 revealed your insight!
26:4 To whom 159 did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? 160
26:5 “The dead 162 tremble 163 –
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them. 164
26:6 The underworld 165 is naked before God; 166
the place of destruction lies uncovered. 167
26:7 He spreads out the northern skies 168 over empty space; 169
he suspends the earth on nothing. 170
26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
26:9 He conceals 171 the face of the full moon, 172
shrouding it with his clouds.
26:10 He marks out the horizon 173 on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
26:11 The pillars 174 of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke. 175
26:12 By his power he stills 176 the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster 177 to pieces. 178
26:13 By his breath 179 the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 180
26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! 181
How faint is the whisper 182 we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
27:1 And Job took up his discourse again: 183
27:2 “As surely as God lives, 184 who has denied me justice, 185
the Almighty, who has made my life bitter 186 –
27:3 for while 187 my spirit 188 is still in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
27:4 my 189 lips will not speak wickedness,
and my tongue will whisper 190 no deceit.
27:5 I will never 191 declare that you three 192 are in the right;
until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!
27:6 I will maintain my righteousness
and never let it go;
my conscience 193 will not reproach me
for as long as I live. 194
27:7 “May my enemy be like the wicked, 195
my adversary 196 like the unrighteous. 197
27:8 For what hope does the godless have when he is cut off, 198
when God takes away his life? 199
27:9 Does God listen to his cry
when distress overtakes him?
27:10 Will he find delight 200 in the Almighty?
Will he call out to God at all times?
27:11 I will teach you 201 about the power 202 of God;
What is on the Almighty’s mind 203 I will not conceal.
27:12 If you yourselves have all seen this,
Why in the world 204 do you continue this meaningless talk? 205
27:13 This is the portion of the wicked man
allotted by God, 206
the inheritance that evildoers receive
from the Almighty.
27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword! 207
His offspring never have enough to eat. 208
27:15 Those who survive him are buried by the plague, 209
and their 210 widows do not mourn for them.
27:16 If he piles up silver like dust
and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,
27:17 what he stores up 211 a righteous man will wear,
and an innocent man will inherit his silver.
27:18 The house he builds is as fragile as a moth’s cocoon, 212
like a hut 213 that a watchman has made.
27:19 He goes to bed wealthy, but will do so no more. 214
When he opens his eyes, it is all gone. 215
27:20 Terrors overwhelm him like a flood; 216
at night a whirlwind carries him off.
27:21 The east wind carries him away, and he is gone;
it sweeps him out of his place.
27:22 It hurls itself against him without pity 217
as he flees headlong from its power.
27:23 It claps 218 its hands at him in derision
and hisses him away from his place. 219
III. Job’s Search for Wisdom (28:1-28)
No Known Road to Wisdom 22028:1 “Surely 221 there is a mine 222 for silver,
and a place where gold is refined. 223
28:2 Iron is taken from the ground, 224
and rock is poured out 225 as copper.
28:3 Man puts an end to the darkness; 226
he searches the farthest recesses
for the ore in the deepest darkness. 227
28:4 Far from where people live 228 he sinks a shaft,
in places travelers have long forgotten, 229
far from other people he dangles and sways. 230
28:5 The earth, from which food comes,
is overturned below as though by fire; 231
28:6 a place whose stones are sapphires 232
and which contains dust of gold; 233
28:7 a hidden path 234 no bird of prey knows –
no falcon’s 235 eye has spotted it.
28:8 Proud beasts 236 have not set foot on it,
and no lion has passed along it.
28:9 On the flinty rock man has set to work 237 with his hand;
he has overturned mountains at their bases. 238
28:10 He has cut out channels 239 through the rocks;
his eyes have spotted 240 every precious thing.
28:11 He has searched 241 the sources 242 of the rivers
and what was hidden he has brought into the light.
28:12 “But wisdom – where can it be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
28:13 Mankind does not know its place; 243
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
28:14 The deep 244 says, ‘It is not with 245 me.’
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
28:16 It cannot be measured out for purchase 246 with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx 247 or sapphires.
28:17 Neither gold nor crystal 248 can be compared with it,
nor can a vase 249 of gold match its worth.
28:18 Of coral and jasper no mention will be made;
the price 250 of wisdom is more than pearls. 251
28:19 The topaz of Cush 252 cannot be compared with it;
it cannot be purchased with pure gold.
28:20 “But wisdom – where does it come from? 253
Where is the place of understanding?
28:21 For 254 it has been hidden
from the eyes of every living creature,
and from the birds of the sky it has been concealed.
28:22 Destruction 255 and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a rumor about where it can be found.’ 256
28:23 God understands the way to it,
and he alone knows its place.
28:24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and observes everything under the heavens.
28:25 When he made 257 the force of the wind
and measured 258 the waters with a gauge.
28:26 When he imposed a limit 259 for the rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm, 260
28:27 then he looked at wisdom 261 and assessed its value; 262
he established 263 it and examined it closely. 264
28:28 And he said to mankind,
‘The fear of the Lord 265 – that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” 266
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition 26729:1 Then Job continued 268 his speech:
29:2 “O that I could be 269 as 270 I was
in the months now gone, 271
in the days 272 when God watched 273 over me,
29:3 when 274 he caused 275 his lamp 276
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked 277 through darkness; 278
29:4 just as I was in my most productive time, 279
when God’s intimate friendship 280 was experienced in my tent,
29:5 when the Almighty 281 was still with me
and my children were 282 around me;
29:6 when my steps 283 were bathed 284 with butter 285
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil! 286
29:7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square, 287
29:8 the young men would see me and step aside, 288
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
29:9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, 289
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, 290 it blessed me, 291
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who 292 had no one to assist him;
29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, 293
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; 294
29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, 295
my just dealing 296 was like a robe and a turban;
29:15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
29:16 I was a father 297 to the needy,
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
29:17 I broke the fangs 298 of the wicked,
and made him drop 299 his prey from his teeth.
29:18 “Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home, 300
my days as numerous as the grains of sand. 301
29:19 My roots reach the water,
and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
29:20 My glory 302 will always be fresh 303 in me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
29:21 “People 304 listened to me and waited silently; 305
they kept silent for my advice.
29:22 After I had spoken, they did not respond;
my words fell on them drop by drop. 306
29:23 They waited for me as people wait 307 for the rain,
and they opened their mouths 308
as for 309 the spring rains.
29:24 If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; 310
and they did not cause the light of my face to darken. 311
29:25 I chose 312 the way for them 313
and sat as their chief; 314
I lived like a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners. 315
30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger 316 than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much 317
to put with my sheep dogs. 318
30:2 Moreover, the strength of their 319 hands –
what use was it to me?
Men whose strength 320 had perished;
30:3 gaunt 321 with want and hunger,
they would gnaw 322 the parched land,
in former time desolate and waste. 323
30:4 By the brush 324 they would gather 325 herbs from the salt marshes, 326
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
30:5 They were banished from the community 327 –
people 328 shouted at them
like they would shout at thieves 329 –
30:6 so that they had to live 330
in the dry stream beds, 331
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
30:7 They brayed 332 like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together 333 under the nettles.
30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, 334
they were driven out of the land with whips. 335
30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword 336 among them.
30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance; 337
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11 Because God has untied 338 my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence. 339
30:12 On my right the young rabble 340 rise up;
they drive me from place to place, 341
and build up siege ramps 342 against me. 343
30:13 They destroy 344 my path;
they succeed in destroying me 345
without anyone assisting 346 them.
30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash 347 they come rolling in. 348
30:15 Terrors are turned loose 349 on me;
they drive away 350 my honor like the wind,
and like a cloud my deliverance has passed away.
30:16 “And now my soul pours itself out within me; 351
days of suffering take hold of me.
30:17 Night pierces 352 my bones; 353
my gnawing pains 354 never cease.
30:18 With great power God 355 grasps my clothing; 356
he binds me like the collar 357 of my tunic.
30:19 He has flung me into the mud,
and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.
30:20 I cry out to you, 358 but you do not answer me;
I stand up, 359 and you only look at me. 360
30:21 You have become cruel to me; 361
with the strength of your hand you attack me. 362
30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; 363
you toss me about 364 in the storm. 365
30:23 I know that you are bringing 366 me to death,
to the meeting place for all the living.
30:24 “Surely one does not stretch out his hand
against a broken man 367
when he cries for help in his distress. 368
30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? 369
Was not my soul grieved for the poor?
30:26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came;
when I expected light, then darkness came.
30:27 My heart 370 is in turmoil 371 unceasingly; 372
the days of my affliction confront me.
30:28 I go about blackened, 373 but not by the sun;
in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.
30:29 I have become a brother to jackals
and a companion of ostriches. 374
30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; 375
my body 376 is hot with fever. 377
30:31 My harp is used for 378 mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.
31:1 “I made a covenant with 379 my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? 380
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty 381 on high?
31:3 Is it not misfortune for the unjust,
and disaster for those who work iniquity?
31:4 Does he not see my ways
and count all my steps?
31:5 If 382 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 383 my foot has hastened 384 to deceit –
31:6 let him 385 weigh me with honest 386 scales;
then God will discover 387 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 388
or if anything 389 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 390 and let another eat,
and let my crops 391 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 392
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 393 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 394
31:11 For I would have committed 395 a shameful act, 396
an iniquity to be judged. 397
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 398
and it would uproot 399 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 400 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 401
when he intervenes, 402
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 403
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 404
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans 405 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 406 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 407
I guided the widow! 408
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 409
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 410
31:21 if I have raised my hand 411 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 412
31:22 then 413 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 414
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 415
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 416
and by reason of his majesty 417 I was powerless.
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
31:26 if I looked at the sun 418 when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, 419
31:28 then this 420 also would be iniquity to be judged, 421
for I would have been false 422 to God above.
31:29 If 423 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 424
or exulted 425 because calamity 426 found him –
31:30 I 427 have not even permitted my mouth 428 to sin
by asking 429 for his life through a curse –
31:31 if 430 the members of my household 431 have never said, 432
‘If only there were 433 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 434 meat!’ –
31:32 But 435 no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler 436 –
31:33 if 437 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 438
by hiding 439 iniquity in my heart, 440
31:34 because I was terrified 441 of the great multitude, 442
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors – 443
31:35 “If only I had 444 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 445
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 446
that my accuser had written. 447
31:36 Surely 448 I would wear it proudly 449 on my shoulder,
I would bind 450 it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 “If my land cried out against me 452
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 453
or caused the death 454 of its owners, 455
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!” 456
The words of Job are ended.
[22:1] 1 sn The third and final cycle of speeches now begins with Eliphaz’ final speech. Eliphaz will here underscore the argument that man’s ills are brought about by sin; he will then deduce from Job’s sufferings the sins he must have committed and the sinful attitude he has about God. The speech has four parts: Job’s suffering is proof of his sin (2-5), Job’s sufferings demonstrate the kinds of sin Job committed (6-11), Job’s attitude about God (12-20), and the final appeal and promise to Job (21-30).
[22:2] 2 tn Some do not take this to be parallel to the first colon, taking this line as a statement, but the parallel expressions here suggest the question is repeated.
[22:3] 3 tn The word חֵפֶץ (khefets) in this passage has the nuance of “special benefit; favor.” It does not just express the desire for something or the interest in it, but the profit one derives from it.
[22:3] 4 tn The verb תַתֵּם (tattem) is the Hiphil imperfect of תָּמַם (tamam, “be complete, finished”), following the Aramaic form of the geminate verb with a doubling of the first letter.
[22:4] 5 tn The word “your fear” or “your piety” refers to Job’s reverence – it is his fear of God (thus a subjective genitive). When “fear” is used of religion, it includes faith and adoration on the positive side, fear and obedience on the negative.
[22:4] 6 sn Of course the point is that God does not charge Job because he is righteous; the point is he must be unrighteous.
[22:5] 7 tn The adjective רַבָּה (rabbah) normally has the idea of “great” in quantity (“abundant,” ESV) rather than “great” in quality.
[22:6] 8 tn The verb חָבַל (khaval) means “to take pledges.” In this verse Eliphaz says that Job not only took as pledge things the poor need, like clothing, but he did it for no reason.
[22:6] 9 tn The “naked” here refers to people who are poorly clothed. Otherwise, a reading like the NIV would be necessary: “you stripped the clothes…[leaving them] naked.” So either he made them naked by stripping their garments off, or they were already in rags.
[22:7] 10 tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.
[22:8] 11 tn The idiom is “a man of arm” (= “powerful”; see Ps 10:15). This is in comparison to the next line, “man of face” (= “dignity; high rank”; see Isa 3:5).
[22:8] 12 tn Heb “and a man of arm, to whom [was] land.” The line is in contrast to the preceding one, and so the vav here introduces a concessive clause.
[22:8] 13 tn The expression is unusual: “the one lifted up of face.” This is the “honored one,” the one to whom the dignity will be given.
[22:8] 14 tn Many commentators simply delete the verse or move it elsewhere. Most take it as a general reference to Job, perhaps in apposition to the preceding verse.
[22:9] 15 tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.
[22:9] 16 tn The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yÿdukka’, “was [were] crushed”). GKC 388 §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.
[22:11] 17 tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.
[22:11] 18 tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.
[22:12] 19 tn This reading preserves the text as it is. The nouns “high” and “heavens” would then be taken as adverbial accusatives of place (see GKC 373-74 §118.g).
[22:12] 20 tn The parallel passage in Isa 40:26-27, as well as the context here, shows that the imperative is to be retained here. The LXX has “he sees.”
[22:12] 21 tn Heb “head of the stars.”
[22:13] 22 sn Eliphaz is giving to Job the thoughts and words of the pagans, for they say, “How does God know, and is there knowledge in the Most High?” (see Ps 73:11; 94:11).
[22:14] 23 tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
[22:14] 24 sn The word is “circle; dome”; here it is the dome that covers the earth, beyond which God sits enthroned. A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) suggests “on the arch of heaven” that covers the earth.
[22:14] 25 sn The idea suggested here is that God is not only far off, but he is unconcerned as he strolls around heaven – this is what Eliphaz says Job means.
[22:15] 26 tn The “old path” here is the way of defiance to God. The text in these two verses is no doubt making reference to the flood in Genesis, one of the perennial examples of divine judgment.
[22:16] 27 tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”
[22:16] 28 tn The verb קָמַט (qamat) basically means “to seize; to tie together to make a bundle.” So the Pual will mean “to be bundled away; to be carried off.”
[22:16] 29 tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.
[22:16] 30 tn The word is נָהַר (nahar, “river” or “current”); it is taken here in its broadest sense of the waters on the earth that formed the current of the flood (Gen 7:6, 10).
[22:16] 31 tn The verb יָצַק (yatsaq) means “to pour out; to shed; to spill; to flow.” The Pual means “to be poured out” (as in Lev 21:10 and Ps 45:3).
[22:16] 32 tn This word is then to be taken as an adverbial accusative of place. Another way to look at this verse is what A. B. Davidson (Job, 165) proposes “whose foundation was poured away and became a flood.” This would mean that that on which they stood sank away.
[22:17] 33 tn The form in the text is “to them.” The LXX and the Syriac versions have “to us.”
[22:18] 34 tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.
[22:18] 36 tc The LXX has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the MT is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14-16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 156).
[22:19] 37 tn The line is talking about the rejoicing of the righteous when judgment falls on the wicked. An object (“destruction”) has to be supplied here to clarify this (see Pss 52:6 [8]; 69:32 [33]; 107:42).
[22:19] 38 sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
[22:20] 39 tc The word translated “our enemies” is found only here. The word means “hostility,” but used here as a collective for those who are hostile – “enemies.” Some commentators follow the LXX and read “possessions,” explaining its meaning and derivation in different ways. Gordis simply takes the word in the text and affirms that this is the meaning. On the other hand, to get this, E. Dhorme (Job, 336) repoints קִימָנוּ (qimanu) of the MT to יְקוּמַם (yÿqumam), arguing that יְקוּם (yÿqum) means “what exists [or has substance]” (although that is used of animals). He translates: “have not their possessions been destroyed.”
[22:21] 40 tn The verb סָכַן (sakhan) meant “to be useful; to be profitable” in v. 2. Now, in the Hiphil it means “to be accustomed to” or “to have experience with.” Joined by the preposition “with” it means “to be reconciled with him.” W. B. Bishai cites Arabic and Ugaritic words to support a meaning “acquiesce” (“Notes on hskn in Job 22:21,” JNES 20 [1961]: 258-59).
[22:21] 41 tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:21] 42 tn The two imperatives in this verse imply a relationship of succession and not consequence.
[22:22] 43 tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.
[22:22] 44 tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).
[22:23] 45 tc The MT has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the LXX has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [tÿ’anneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”
[22:24] 46 tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.
[22:24] tn Heb “place.”
[22:24] 47 tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).
[22:24] 48 tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
[22:25] 49 tn The form for “gold” here is plural, which could be a plural of extension. The LXX and Latin versions have “The Almighty will be your helper against your enemies.”
[22:25] 50 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 339) connects this word with an Arabic root meaning “to be elevated, steep.” From that he gets “heaps of silver.”
[22:26] 51 tc This is the same verb as in Ps 37:4. G. R. Driver suggests the word comes from another root that means “abandon oneself to, depend on” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 84).
[22:27] 52 tn The words “to him” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[22:28] 53 tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.
[22:29] 54 tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.
[22:29] 55 tn The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].
[22:29] 56 tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”
[22:30] 57 tc The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).
[22:30] 58 tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”
[23:1] 59 sn Job answers Eliphaz, but not until he introduces new ideas for his own case with God. His speech unfolds in three parts: Job’s longing to meet God (23:2-7), the inaccessibility and power of God (23:8-17), the indifference of God (24:1-25).
[23:2] 60 tc The MT reads here מְרִי (mÿri, “rebellious”). The word is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to revolt”). Many commentators follow the Vulgate, Targum Job, and the Syriac to read מַר (mar, “bitter”). The LXX offers no help here.
[23:2] 61 tc The MT (followed by the Vulgate and Targum) has “my hand is heavy on my groaning.” This would mean “my stroke is heavier than my groaning” (an improbable view from Targum Job). A better suggestion is that the meaning would be that Job tries to suppress his groans but the hand with which he suppresses them is too heavy (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 159). Budde, E. Dhorme, J. E. Hartley, and F. I. Andersen all maintain the MT as the more difficult reading. F. I. Andersen (Job [TOTC], 208) indicates that the ִי(i) suffix could be an example of an unusual third masculine singular. Both the LXX and the Syriac versions have “his hand,” and many modern commentators follow this, along with the present translation. In this case the referent of “his” would be God, whose hand is heavy upon Job in spite of Job’s groaning.
[23:2] 62 tn The preposition can take this meaning; it could be also translated simply “upon.” R. Gordis (Job, 260) reads the preposition “more than,” saying that Job had been defiant (he takes that view) but God’s hand had been far worse.
[23:3] 63 tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”
[23:3] 64 tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”
[23:3] sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 159) quotes Strahan without reference: “It is the chief distinction between Job and his friends that he desires to meet God and they do not.”
[23:3] 65 tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.
[23:3] 66 tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.
[23:4] 67 tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.
[23:5] 68 tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”
[23:6] 69 tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?
[23:6] 70 tn The verbal clause יָשִׂם בִּי (yasim bi) has been translated “he would pay [attention] to me.” Job is saying that God will not need all his power – he will just have pay attention to Job’s complaint. Job does not need the display of power – he just wants a hearing.
[23:7] 71 tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.
[23:7] 72 tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”
[23:9] 73 sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.
[23:9] 74 tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (ba’asoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (ya’tof, “covers himself”).
[23:9] 75 tn The verb is the apocopated form of the imperfect. The object is supplied.
[23:9] 76 tn The MT has “he turns,” but the Syriac and Vulgate have “I turn.”
[23:10] 77 tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.
[23:10] 78 tn There is a perfect verb followed by an imperfect in this clause with the protasis and apodosis relationship (see GKC 493 §159.b).
[23:11] 80 tn Heb “held fast.”
[23:11] 81 tn The last clause, “and I have not turned aside,” functions adverbially in the sentence. The form אָט (’at) is a pausal form of אַתֶּה (’atteh), the Hiphil of נָטָה (natah, “stretch out”).
[23:12] 82 tc The form in the MT (מֵחֻקִּי, mekhuqqi) means “more than my portion” or “more than my law.” An expanded meaning results in “more than my necessary food” (see Ps 119:11; cf. KJV, NASB, ESV). HALOT 346 s.v. חֹק 1 indicates that חֹק (khoq) has the meaning of “portion” and is here a reference to “what is appointed for me.” The LXX and the Latin versions, along with many commentators, have בְּחֵקִי (bÿkheqi, “in my bosom”).
[23:13] 83 tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).
[23:13] 84 tn Heb “cause him to return.”
[23:14] 86 tn The text has “my decree,” which means “the decree [plan] for/against me.” The suffix is objective, equivalent to a dative of disadvantage. The Syriac and the Vulgate actually have “his decree.” R. Gordis (Job, 262) suggests taking it in the same sense as in Job 14:5: “my limit.”.
[23:14] 87 tn Heb “and many such [things] are with him.”
[23:14] sn The text is saying that many similar situations are under God’s rule of the world – his plans are infinite.
[23:16] 88 tn The verb הֵרַךְ (kherakh) means “to be tender”; in the Piel it would have the meaning “to soften.” The word is used in parallel constructions with the verbs for “fear.” The implication is that God has made Job fearful.
[23:17] 89 tn This is a very difficult verse. The Hebrew text literally says: “for I have not been destroyed because of darkness, and because of my face [which] gloom has covered.” Most commentators omit the negative adverb, which gives the meaning that Job is enveloped in darkness and reduced to terror. The verb נִצְמַתִּי (nitsmatti) means “I have been silent” (as in Arabic and Aramaic), and so obviously the negative must be retained – he has not been silent.
[24:1] 90 tn The preposition מִן (min) is used to express the cause (see GKC 389 §121.f).
[24:1] 91 tc The LXX reads “Why are times hidden from the Almighty?” as if to say that God is not interested in the events on the earth. The MT reading is saying that God fails to set the times for judgment and vindication and makes good sense as it stands.
[24:2] 92 tn The line is short: “they move boundary stones.” So some commentators have supplied a subject, such as “wicked men.” The reason for its being wicked men is that to move the boundary stone was to encroach dishonestly on the lands of others (Deut 19:14; 27:17).
[24:2] 93 tc The LXX reads “and their shepherd.” Many commentators accept this reading. But the MT says that they graze the flocks that they have stolen. The difficulty with the MT reading is that there is no suffix on the final verb – but that is not an insurmountable difference.
[24:4] 94 sn Because of the violence and oppression of the wicked, the poor and needy, the widows and orphans, all are deprived of their rights and forced out of the ways and into hiding just to survive.
[24:5] 95 tc The verse begins with הֵן (hen); but the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac all have “like.” R. Gordis (Job, 265) takes הֵן (hen) as a pronoun “they” and supplies the comparative. The sense of the verse is clear in either case.
[24:5] 96 tn That is, “the poor.”
[24:5] 97 tc The MT has “in the working/labor of them,” or “when they labor.” Some commentators simply omit these words. Dhorme retains them and moves them to go with עֲרָבָה (’aravah), which he takes to mean “evening”; this gives a clause, “although they work until the evening.” Then, with many others, he takes לוֹ (lo) to be a negative and finishes the verse with “no food for the children.” Others make fewer changes in the text, and as a result do not come out with such a hopeless picture – there is some food found. The point is that they spend their time foraging for food, and they find just enough to survive, but it is a day-long activity. For Job, this shows how unrighteous the administration of the world actually is.
[24:5] 98 tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.
[24:6] 99 tc The word בְּלִילוֹ (bÿlilo) means “his fodder.” It is unclear to what this refers. If the suffix is taken as a collective, then it can be translated “they gather/reap their fodder.” The early versions all have “they reap in a field which is not his” (taking it as בְּלִי לוֹ, bÿli lo). A conjectural emendation would change the word to בַּלַּיְלָה (ballaylah, “in the night”). But there is no reason for this.
[24:6] 100 tn The verbs in this verse are uncertain. In the first line “reap” is used, and that would be the work of a hired man (and certainly not done at night). The meaning of this second verb is uncertain; it has been taken to mean “glean,” which would be the task of the poor.
[24:8] 101 tn Heb “embrace” or “hug.”
[24:9] 102 tn The verb with no expressed subject is here again taken in the passive: “they snatch” becomes “[child] is snatched.”
[24:9] 103 tn This word is usually defined as “violence; ruin.” But elsewhere it does mean “breast” (Isa 60:16; 66:11), and that is certainly what it means here.
[24:9] 104 tc The MT has a very brief and strange reading: “they take as a pledge upon the poor.” This could be taken as “they take a pledge against the poor” (ESV). Kamphausen suggested that instead of עַל (’al, “against”) one should read עוּל (’ul, “suckling”). This is supported by the parallelism. “They take as pledge” is also made passive here.
[24:10] 105 sn The point should not be missed – amidst abundant harvests, carrying sheaves about, they are still going hungry.
[24:11] 106 tc The Hebrew term is שׁוּרֹתָם (shurotam), which may be translated “terraces” or “olive rows.” But that would not be the proper place to have a press to press the olives and make oil. E. Dhorme (Job, 360-61) proposes on the analogy of an Arabic word that this should be read as “millstones” (which he would also write in the dual). But the argument does not come from a clean cognate, but from a possible development of words. The meaning of “olive rows” works well enough.
[24:11] 107 tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.
[24:12] 108 tc The MT as pointed reads “from the city of men they groan.” Most commentators change one vowel in מְתִים (mÿtim) to get מֵתִים (metim) to get the active participle, “the dying.” This certainly fits the parallelism better, although sense could be made out of the MT.
[24:12] 109 tn Heb “the souls of the wounded,” which here refers to the wounded themselves.
[24:12] 110 tc The MT has the noun תִּפְלָה (tiflah) which means “folly; tastelessness” (cf. 1:22). The verb, which normally means “to place; to put,” would then be rendered “to impute; to charge.” This is certainly a workable translation in the context. Many commentators have emended the text, changing the noun to תְּפִלָּה (tÿfillah, “prayer”), and so then also the verb יָשִׂים (yasim, here “charges”) to יִשְׁמַע (yishma’, “hears”). It reads: “But God does not hear the prayer” – referring to the groans.
[24:13] 111 tn Heb “They are among those who.”
[24:14] 112 tn The text simply has לָאוֹר (la’or, “at light” or “at daylight”), probably meaning just at the time of dawn.
[24:14] 113 tn In a few cases the jussive is used without any real sense of the jussive being present (see GKC 323 §109.k).
[24:14] 114 sn The point is that he is like a thief in that he works during the night, just before the daylight, when the advantage is all his and the victim is most vulnerable.
[24:16] 116 tn The phrase “the robber” has been supplied in the English translation for clarification.
[24:16] 117 tc This is not the idea of the adulterer, but of the thief. So some commentators reverse the order and put this verse after v. 14.
[24:16] 118 tc The verb חִתְּמוּ (khittÿmu) is the Piel from the verb חָתַם (khatam, “to seal”). The verb is now in the plural, covering all the groups mentioned that work under the cover of darkness. The suggestion that they “seal,” i.e., “mark” the house they will rob, goes against the meaning of the word “seal.”
[24:16] 119 tc Some commentators join this very short colon to the beginning of v. 17: “they do not know the light. For together…” becomes “for together they have not known the light.”
[24:17] 120 tn Heb “together.”
[24:18] 121 tc Many commentators find vv. 18-24 difficult on the lips of Job, and so identify this unit as a misplaced part of the speech of Zophar. They describe the enormities of the wicked. But a case can also be made for retaining it in this section. Gordis thinks it could be taken as a quotation by Job of his friends’ ideas.
[24:18] 122 tn The verb “say” is not in the text; it is supplied here to indicate that this is a different section.
[24:18] 124 sn The wicked person is described here as a spray or foam upon the waters, built up in the agitation of the waters but dying away swiftly.
[24:18] 125 tn The text reads, “he does not turn by the way of the vineyards.” This means that since the land is cursed, he/one does not go there. Bickell emended “the way of the vineyards” to “the treader of the vineyard” (see RSV, NRSV). This would mean that “no wine-presser would turn towards” their vineyards.
[24:19] 126 tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”
[24:19] 128 tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”
[24:20] 129 tn Here “womb” is synecdoche, representing one’s mother.
[24:21] 130 tc The form in the text is the active participle, “feed; graze; shepherd.” The idea of “prey” is not natural to it. R. Gordis (Job, 270) argues that third he (ה) verbs are often by-forms of geminate verbs, and so the meaning here is more akin to רָעַע (ra’a’, “to crush”). The LXX seems to have read something like הֵרַע (hera’, “oppressed”).
[24:21] 131 tn Heb “the childless [woman], she does not give birth.” The verbal clause is intended to serve as a modifier here for the woman. See on subordinate verbal clauses GKC 490 §156.d, f.
[24:22] 132 tn God has to be the subject of this clause. None is stated in the Hebrew text, but “God” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[24:22] 133 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity. See the note on the word “life” at the end of the line.
[24:22] 134 tn This line has been given a number of interpretations due to its cryptic form. The verb יָקוּם (yaqum) means “he rises up.” It probably is meant to have God as the subject, and be subordinated as a temporal clause to what follows. The words “against him” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation to specify the object and indicate that “rise up” is meant in a hostile sense. The following verb וְלֹא־יַאֲמִין (vÿlo’-ya’amin), by its very meaning of “and he does not believe,” cannot have God as the subject, but must refer to the wicked.
[24:23] 135 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:23] 136 tn The expression לָבֶטַח (lavetakh, “in security”) precedes the verb that it qualifies – God “allows him to take root in security.” For the meaning of the verb, see Job 8:15.
[24:23] 137 tn Heb “his eyes are on.”
[24:23] 138 sn The meaning of the verse is that God may allow the wicked to rest in comfort and security, but all the time he is watching them closely with the idea of bringing judgment on them.
[24:24] 139 tn The Hebrew throughout this section (vv. 18-24) interchanges the singular and the plural. Here again we have “they are exalted…but he is not.” The verse is clear nonetheless: the wicked rise high, and then suddenly they are gone.
[24:24] 140 tn The verb is the Hophal of the rare verb מָכַךְ (makhakh), which seems to mean “to bend; to collapse.” The text would read “they are made to collapse like all others.” There is no reason here to change “like others” just because the MT is banal. But many do, following the LXX with “like mallows.” The LXX was making a translation according to sense. R. Gordis (Job, 271) prefers “like grass.”
[24:24] 141 tn The verb קָפַץ (qafats) actually means “to shut in,” which does not provide exactly the idea of being gathered, not directly at least. But a change to קָטַף (qataf, “pluck”) while attractive, is not necessary.
[24:24] 142 sn This marks the end of the disputed section, taken here to be a quotation by Job of their sentiments.
[24:25] 143 tn The word אַל (’al, “not”) is used here substantivally (“nothing”).
[25:1] 144 sn The third speech of Bildad takes up Job 25, a short section of six verses. It is followed by two speeches from Job; and Zophar does not return with his third. Does this mean that the friends have run out of arguments, and that Job is just getting going? Many scholars note that in chs. 26 and 27 there is material that does not fit Job’s argument. Many have rearranged the material to show that there was a complete cycle of three speeches. In that light, 26:5-14 is viewed as part of Bildad’s speech. Some, however, take Bildad’s speech to be only ch. 25, and make 26:5-14 an interpolated hymn. For all the arguments and suggestions, one should see the introductions and the commentaries.
[25:2] 145 tn The word הַמְשֵׁל (hamshel) is a Hiphil infinitive absolute used as a noun. It describes the rulership or dominion that God has, that which gives power and authority.
[25:2] 146 tn The word פָּחַד (pakhad) literally means “fear; dread,” but in the sense of what causes the fear or the dread.
[25:2] 147 tn Heb “[are] with him.”
[25:2] 148 sn The line says that God “makes peace in his heights.” The “heights” are usually interpreted to mean the highest heaven. There may be a reference here to combat in the spiritual world between angels and Satan. The context will show that God has a heavenly host at his disposal, and nothing in heaven or on earth can shatter his peace. “Peace” here could also signify the whole order he establishes.
[25:3] 149 tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!
[25:3] 150 tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.
[25:4] 151 sn Bildad here does not come up with new expressions; rather, he simply uses what Eliphaz had said (see Job 4:17-19 and 15:14-16).
[25:5] 152 tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”
[25:6] 153 tn The text just has “maggot” and in the second half “worm.” Something has to be added to make it a bit clearer. The terms “maggot” and “worm” describe man in his lowest and most ignominious shape.
[26:1] 154 sn These two chapters will be taken together under this title, although most commentators would assign Job 26:5-14 to Bildad and Job 27:7-23 to Zophar. Those sections will be noted as they emerge. For the sake of outlining, the following sections will be marked off: Job’s scorn for Bildad (26:2-4); a better picture of God’s greatness (26:5-14); Job’s protestation of innocence (27:2-6); and a picture of the condition of the wicked (27:7-23).
[26:2] 155 tn The interrogative clause is used here as an exclamation, and sarcastic at that. Job is saying “you have in no way helped the powerless.” The verb uses the singular form, for Job is replying to Bildad.
[26:2] 156 tn The “powerless” is expressed here by the negative before the word for “strength; power” – “him who has no power” (see GKC 482 §152.u, v).
[26:2] 157 tn Heb “the arm [with] no strength.” Here too the negative expression is serving as a relative clause to modify “arm,” the symbol of strength and power, which by metonymy stands for the whole person. “Man of arm” denoted the strong in 22:8.
[26:3] 158 tc The phrase לָרֹב (larov) means “to abundance” or “in a large quantity.” It is also used ironically like all these expressions. This makes very good sense, but some wish to see a closer parallel and so offer emendations. Reiske and Kissane thought “to the tender” for the word. But the timid are not the same as the ignorant and unwise. So Graetz supplied “to the boorish” by reading לְבָעַר (lÿba’ar). G. R. Driver did the same with less of a change: לַבּוֹר (labbor; HTR 29 [1936]: 172).
[26:4] 159 tn The verse begins with the preposition and the interrogative: אֶת־מִי (’et-mi, “with who[se help]?”). Others take it as the accusative particle introducing the indirect object: “for whom did you utter…” (see GKC 371 §117.gg). Both are possible.
[26:4] 160 tn Heb “has gone out from you.”
[26:5] 161 sn This is the section, Job 26:5-14, that many conclude makes better sense coming from the friend. But if it is attributed to Job, then he is showing he can surpass them in his treatise of the greatness of God.
[26:5] 162 tn The text has הָרְפָאִים (harÿfa’im, “the shades”), referring to the “dead,” or the elite among the dead (see Isa 14:9; 26:14; Ps 88:10 [11]). For further discussion, start with A. R. Johnson, The Vitality of the Individual, 88ff.
[26:5] 163 tn The verb is a Polal from חִיל (khil) which means “to tremble.” It shows that even these spirits cannot escape the terror.
[26:5] 164 tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.
[26:6] 166 tn Heb “before him.”
[26:6] 167 tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).
[26:7] 168 sn The Hebrew word is צָפוֹן (tsafon). Some see here a reference to Mount Zaphon of the Ugaritic texts, the mountain that Baal made his home. The Hebrew writers often equate and contrast Mount Zion with this proud mountain of the north. Of course, the word just means north, and so in addition to any connotations for pagan mythology, it may just represent the northern skies – the stars. Since the parallel line speaks of the earth, that is probably all that was intended in this particular context.
[26:7] 169 sn There is an allusion to the creation account, for this word is תֹּהוּ (tohu), translated “without form” in Gen 1:2.
[26:7] 170 sn Buttenwieser suggests that Job had outgrown the idea of the earth on pillars, and was beginning to see it was suspended in space. But in v. 11 he will still refer to the pillars.
[26:9] 171 tn The verb means “to hold; to seize,” here in the sense of shutting up, enshrouding, or concealing.
[26:9] 172 tc The MT has כִסֵּה (khisseh), which is a problematic vocalization. Most certainly כֵּסֶה (keseh), alternative for כֶּסֶא (kese’, “full moon”) is intended here. The MT is close to the form of “throne,” which would be כִּסֵּא (kisse’, cf. NLT “he shrouds his throne with his clouds”). But here God is covering the face of the moon by hiding it behind clouds.
[26:10] 173 tn The expression חֹק־חָג (khoq-khag) means “he has drawn a limit as a circle.” According to some the form should have been חָק־חוּג (khaq-khug, “He has traced a circle”). But others argues that the text is acceptable as is, and can be interpreted as “a limit he has circled.” The Hebrew verbal roots are חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to sketch out; to trace”) and חוּג (khug, “describe a circle”) respectively.
[26:11] 174 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 173) says these are the great mountains, perceived to hold up the sky.
[26:11] 175 sn The idea here is that when the earth quakes, or when there is thunder in the heavens, these all represent God’s rebuke, for they create terror.
[26:12] 176 tn The verb רָגַע (raga’) has developed a Semitic polarity, i.e., having totally opposite meanings. It can mean “to disturb; to stir up” or “to calm; to still.” Gordis thinks both meanings have been invoked here. But it seems more likely that “calm” fits the context better.
[26:12] 177 tn Heb “Rahab” (רָהַב), the mythical sea monster that represents the forces of chaos in ancient Near Eastern literature. In the translation the words “the great sea monster” have been supplied appositionally in order to clarify “Rahab.”
[26:12] 178 sn Here again there are possible mythological allusions or polemics. The god Yam, “Sea,” was important in Ugaritic as a god of chaos. And Rahab is another name for the monster of the deep (see Job 9:13).
[26:13] 179 tn Or “wind”; or perhaps “Spirit.” The same Hebrew word, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context.
[26:13] 180 sn Here too is a reference to pagan views indirectly. The fleeing serpent was a designation for Leviathan, whom the book will simply describe as an animal, but the pagans thought to be a monster of the deep. God’s power over nature is associated with defeat of pagan gods (see further W. F. Albright, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan; idem, BASOR 53 [1941]: 39).
[26:14] 181 tn Heb “the ends of his ways,” meaning “the fringes.”
[26:14] 182 tn Heb “how little is the word.” Here “little” means a “fraction” or an “echo.”
[27:1] 183 tn The Hebrew word מָשָׁל (mashal) is characteristically “proverb; by-word.” It normally refers to a brief saying, but can be used for a discourse (see A. R. Johnson, “MasŒal,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 162ff.).
[27:2] 184 tn The expression חַי־אֵל (khay-’el) is the oath formula: “as God lives.” In other words, the speaker is staking God’s life on the credibility of the words. It is like saying, “As truly as God is alive.”
[27:2] 185 tn “My judgment” would here, as before, be “my right.” God has taken this away by afflicting Job unjustly (A. B. Davidson, Job, 187).
[27:2] 186 tn The verb הֵמַר (hemar) is the Hiphil perfect from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”) and hence, “to make bitter.” The object of the verb is “my soul,” which is better translated as “me” or “my life.”
[27:3] 187 tn The adverb עוֹד (’od) was originally a noun, and so here it could be rendered “all the existence of my spirit.” The word comes between the noun in construct and its actual genitive (see GKC 415 §128.e).
[27:3] 188 tn The word נְשָׁמָה (nÿshamah) is the “breath” that was breathed into Adam in Gen 2:7. Its usage includes the animating breath, the spiritual understanding, and the functioning conscience – so the whole spirit of the person. The other word in this verse, רוּחַ (ruakh), may be translated as “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit/Spirit” depending on the context. Here, since it talks about the nostrils, it should be translated “breath.”
[27:4] 189 tn The verse begins with אִם (’im), the formula used for the content of the oath (“God lives…if I do/do not…”). Thus, the content of the oath proper is here in v. 4.
[27:4] 190 tn The verb means “to utter; to mumble; to meditate.” The implication is that he will not communicate deceitful things, no matter how quiet or subtle.
[27:5] 191 tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”
[27:5] 192 tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.
[27:6] 194 tn The prepositional phrase “from my days” probably means “from the days of my birth,” or “all my life.”
[27:7] 195 sn Of course, he means like his enemy when he is judged, not when he is thriving in prosperity and luxury.
[27:7] 196 tn The form is the Hitpolel participle from קוּם (qum): “those who are rising up against me,” or “my adversary.”
[27:7] 197 tc The LXX made a free paraphrase: “No, but let my enemies be as the overthrow of the ungodly, and they that rise up against me as the destruction of transgressors.”
[27:8] 198 tn The verb יִבְצָע (yivtsa’) means “to cut off.” It could be translated transitively or intransitively – the latter is better here (“when he is cut off”). Since the next line speaks of prayer, some have thought this verse should be about prayer. Mandelkern, in his concordance (p. 228b), suggested the verb should be “when he prays” (reading יִפְגַּע [yifga’] in place of יִבְצָע [yivtsa’]).
[27:8] 199 tn The verb יֵשֶׁל (yeshel) is found only here. It has been related spoils [or sheaves]”); שָׁאַל (sha’al, “to ask”); נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to lift up” [i.e., pray]); and a host of others.
[27:10] 200 tn See the note on 22:26 where the same verb is employed.
[27:11] 201 tn The object suffix is in the plural, which gives some support to the idea Job is speaking to them.
[27:11] 202 tn Heb “the hand of.”
[27:11] 203 tn Heb “[what is] with Shaddai.”
[27:12] 204 tn The interrogative uses the demonstrative pronoun in its emphatic position: “Why in the world…?” (IBHS 312-13 §17.4.3c).
[27:12] 205 tn The text has the noun “vain thing; breath; vapor,” and then a denominative verb from the same root: “to become vain with a vain thing,” or “to do in vain a vain thing.” This is an example of the internal object, or a cognate accusative (see GKC 367 §117.q). The LXX has “you all know that you are adding vanity to vanity.”
[27:13] 206 tn The expression “allotted by God” interprets the simple prepositional phrase in the text: “with/from God.”
[27:14] 207 tn R. Gordis (Job, 294) identifies this as a breviloquence. Compare Ps 92:8 where the last two words also constitute the apodosis.
[27:14] 208 tn Heb “will not be satisfied with bread/food.”
[27:15] 209 tn The text says “will be buried in/by death.” A number of passages in the Bible use “death” to mean the plague that kills (see Jer 15:2; Isa 28:3; and BDB 89 s.v. בְּ 2.a). In this sense it is like the English expression for the plague, “the Black Death.”
[27:15] 210 tc The LXX has “their widows” to match the plural, and most commentators harmonize in the same way.
[27:17] 211 tn The text simply repeats the verb from the last clause. It could be treated as a separate short clause: “He may store it up, but the righteous will wear it. But it also could be understood as the object of the following verb, “[what] he stores up the righteous will wear.” The LXX simply has, “All these things shall the righteous gain.”
[27:18] 212 tn Heb כָעָשׁ (kha’ash, “like a moth”), but this leaves room for clarification. Some commentators wanted to change it to “bird’s nest” or just “nest” (cf. NRSV) to make the parallelism; see Job 4:14. But the word is not found. The LXX has a double expression, “as moths, as a spider.” So several take it as the spider’s web, which is certainly unsubstantial (cf. NAB, NASB, NLT; see Job 8:14).
[27:18] 213 tn The Hebrew word is the word for “booth,” as in the Feast of Booths. The word describes something that is flimsy; it is not substantial at all.
[27:19] 214 tc The verb is the Niphal יֵאָסֵף (ye’asef), from אָסַף (’asaf, “to gather”). So, “he lies down rich, but he is not gathered.” This does not make much sense. It would mean “he will not be gathered for burial,” but that does not belong here. Many commentators accept the variant יֹאסִף (yo’sif) stood for יוֹסִיף (yosif, “will [not] add”). This is what the LXX and the Syriac have. This leads to the interpretive translation that “he will do so no longer.”
[27:19] 215 tn Heb “and he is not.” One view is that this must mean that he dies, not that his wealth is gone. R. Gordis (Job, 295) says the first part should be made impersonal: “when one opens one’s eyes, the wicked is no longer there.” E. Dhorme (Job, 396) has it more simply: “He has opened his eyes, and it is for the last time.” But the other view is that the wealth goes overnight. In support of this is the introduction into the verse of the wealthy. The RSV, NRSV, ESV, and NLT take it that “wealth is gone.”
[27:20] 216 tn Many commentators want a word parallel to “in the night.” And so we are offered בַּיּוֹם (bayyom, “in the day”) for כַמַּיִם (khammayim, “like waters”) as well as a number of others. But “waters” sometimes stand for major calamities, and so may be retained here. Besides, not all parallel structures are synonymous.
[27:22] 217 tn The verb is once again functioning in an adverbial sense. The text has “it hurls itself against him and shows no mercy.”
[27:23] 218 tn If the same subject is to be carried through here, it is the wind. That would make this a bold personification, perhaps suggesting the force of the wind. Others argue that it is unlikely that the wind claps its hands. They suggest taking the verb with an indefinite subject: “he claps” means “one claps. The idea is that of people rejoicing when the wicked are gone. But the parallelism is against this unless the second line is changed as well. R. Gordis (Job, 296) has “men will clap their hands…men will whistle upon him.”
[27:23] 219 tn Or “hisses at him from its place” (ESV).
[28:1] 220 sn As the book is now arranged, this chapter forms an additional speech by Job, although some argue that it comes from the writer of the book. The mood of the chapter is not despair, but wisdom; it anticipates the divine speeches in the end of the book. This poem, like many psalms in the Bible, has a refrain (vv. 12 and 20). These refrains outline the chapter, giving three sections: there is no known road to wisdom (1-11); no price can buy it (12-19); and only God has it, and only by revelation can man posses it (20-28).
[28:1] 221 tn The poem opens with כִּי (ki). Some commentators think this should have been “for,” and that the poem once stood in another setting. But there are places in the Bible where this word occurs with the sense of “surely” and no other meaning (cf. Gen 18:20).
[28:1] 222 tn The word מוֹצָא (motsa’, from יָצָא [yatsa’, “go out”]) is the word for “mine,” or more simply, “source.” Mining was not an enormous industry in the land of Canaan or Israel; mined products were imported. Some editors have suggested alternative readings: Dahood found in the word the root for “shine” and translated the MT as “smelter.” But that is going too far. P. Joüon suggested “place of finding,” reading מִמְצָא (mimtsa’) for מוֹצָא (motsa’; see Bib 11 [1930]: 323).
[28:1] 223 tn The verb יָזֹקּוּ (yazoqqu) translated “refined,” comes from זָקַק (zaqaq), a word that basically means “to blow.” From the meaning “to blow; to distend; to inflate” derives the meaning for refining.
[28:2] 224 tn Heb “from dust.”
[28:2] 225 tn The verb יָצוּק (yatsuq) is usually translated as a passive participle “is smelted” (from יָצַק [yatsaq, “to melt”]): “copper is smelted from the ore” (ESV) or “from the stone, copper is poured out” (as an imperfect from צוּק [tsuq]). But the rock becomes the metal in the process. So according to R. Gordis (Job, 304) the translation should be: “the rock is poured out as copper.” E. Dhorme (Job, 400), however, defines the form in the text as “hard,” and simply has it “hard stone becomes copper.”
[28:3] 226 sn The text appears at first to be saying that by opening up a mine shaft, or by taking lights down below, the miner dispels the darkness. But the clause might be more general, meaning that man goes deep into the earth as if it were day.
[28:3] 227 tn The verse ends with “the stone of darkness and deep darkness.” The genitive would be location, describing the place where the stones are found.
[28:4] 228 tc The first part of this verse, “He cuts a shaft far from the place where people live,” has received a lot of attention. The word for “live” is גָּר (gar). Some of the proposals are: “limestone,” on the basis of the LXX; “far from the light,” reading נֵר (ner); “by a foreign people,” taking the word to means “foreign people”; “a foreign people opening shafts”; or taking gar as “crater” based on Arabic. Driver puts this and the next together: “a strange people who have been forgotten cut shafts” (see AJSL 3 [1935]: 162). L. Waterman had “the people of the lamp” (“Note on Job 28:4,” JBL 71 [1952]: 167ff). And there are others. Since there is really no compelling argument in favor of one of these alternative interpretations, the MT should be preserved until shown to be wrong.
[28:4] 229 tn Heb “forgotten by the foot.” This means that there are people walking above on the ground, and the places below, these mines, are not noticed by the pedestrians above.
[28:4] 230 sn This is a description of the mining procedures. Dangling suspended from a rope would be a necessary part of the job of going up and down the shafts.
[28:5] 231 sn The verse has been properly understood, on the whole, as comparing the earth above and all its produce with the upheaval down below.
[28:6] 232 tn It is probably best to take “place” in construct to the rest of the colon, with an understood relative clause: “a place, the rocks of which are sapphires.”
[28:6] sn The modern stone known as sapphire is thought not to have been used until Roman times, and so some other stone is probably meant here, perhaps lapis lazuli.
[28:6] 233 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 181) suggests that if it is lapis lazuli, then the dust of gold would refer to the particles of iron pyrite found in lapis lazuli which glitter like gold.
[28:7] 234 tn The “path” could refer to the mine shaft or it could refer to wisdom. The former seems more likely in the present context; the word “hidden is supplied in the translation to indicate the mines are “hidden” from sharp-eyed birds of prey above.
[28:7] 235 sn The kind of bird mentioned here is debated. The LXX has “vulture,” and so some commentaries follow that. The emphasis on the sight favors the view that it is the falcon.
[28:8] 236 tn Heb “the sons of pride.” In Job 41:26 the expression refers to carnivorous wild beasts.
[28:9] 237 tn The Hebrew verb is simply “to stretch out; to send” (שָׁלח, shalakh). With יָדוֹ (yado, “his hand”) the idea is that of laying one’s hand on the rock, i.e., getting to work on the hardest of rocks.
[28:9] 238 tn The Hebrew מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ (mishoresh) means “from/at [their] root [or base].” In mining, people have gone below ground, under the mountains, and overturned rock and dirt. It is also interesting that here in a small way humans do what God does – overturn mountains (cf. 9:5).
[28:10] 239 tn Or “tunnels.” The word is יְאֹרִים (yÿ’orim), the word for “rivers” and in the singular, the Nile River. Here it refers to tunnels or channels through the rocks.
[28:10] 240 tn Heb “his eye sees.”
[28:11] 241 tc The translation “searched” follows the LXX and Vulgate; the MT reads “binds up” or “dams up.” This latter translation might refer to the damming of water that might seep into a mine (HALOT 289 s.v. חבשׁ; cf. ESV, NJPS, NASB, REB, NLT).
[28:11] 242 tc The older translations had “he binds the streams from weeping,” i.e., from trickling (מִבְּכִי, mibbÿkhi). But the Ugaritic parallel has changed the understanding, reading “toward the spring of the rivers” (`m mbk nhrm). Earlier than that discovery, the versions had taken the word as a noun as well. Some commentators had suggested repointing the Hebrew. Some chose מַבְּכֵי (mabbÿkhe, “sources”). Now there is much Ugaritic support for the reading (see G. M. Landes, BASOR 144 [1956]: 32f.; and H. L. Ginsberg, “The Ugaritic texts and textual criticism,” JBL 62 [1943]: 111).
[28:13] 243 tc The LXX has “its way, apparently reading דַּרְכָה (darkhah) in place of עֶרְכָּהּ (’erkah, “place”). This is adopted by most modern commentators. But R. Gordis (Job, 308) shows that this change is not necessary, for עֶרֶךְ (’erekh) in the Bible means “order; row; disposition,” and here “place.” An alternate meaning would be “worth” (NIV, ESV).
[28:14] 244 sn The תְּהוֹם (tÿhom) is the “deep” of Gen 1:2, the abyss or primordial sea. It was always understood to be a place of darkness and danger. As remote as it is, it asserts that wisdom is not found there (personification). So here we have the abyss and the sea, then death and destruction – but they are not the places that wisdom resides.
[28:14] 245 tn The בּ (bet) preposition is taken here to mean “with” in the light of the parallel preposition.
[28:16] 246 tn The word actually means “weighed,” that is, lifted up on the scale and weighed, in order to purchase.
[28:16] 247 tn The exact identification of these stones is uncertain. Many recent English translations, however, have “onyx” and “sapphires.”
[28:17] 248 tn The word is from זָכַךְ (zakhakh, “clear”). It describes a transparent substance, and so “glass” is an appropriate translation. In the ancient world it was precious and so expensive.
[28:17] 249 tc The MT has “vase”; but the versions have a plural here, suggesting jewels of gold.
[28:18] 250 tn The word מֶשֶׁךְ (meshekh) comes from a root meaning “to grasp; to seize; to hold,” and so the derived noun means “grasping; acquiring; taking possession,” and therefore, “price” (see the discussion in R. Gordis, Job, 309). Gray renders it “acquisition” (so A. Cohen, AJSL 40 [1923/24]: 175).
[28:18] 251 tn In Lam 4:7 these are described as red, and so have been identified as rubies (so NIV) or corals.
[28:19] 252 tn Or “Ethiopia.” In ancient times this referred to the region of the upper Nile, rather than modern Ethiopia (formerly known as Abyssinia).
[28:20] 253 tn The refrain is repeated, except now the verb is תָּבוֹא (tavo’, “come”).
[28:21] 254 tn The vav on the verb is unexpressed in the LXX. It should not be overlooked, for it introduces a subordinate clause of condition (R. Gordis, Job, 310).
[28:22] 256 tn Heb “heard a report of it,” which means a report of its location, thus “where it can be found.”
[28:25] 257 tn Heb “he gave weight to the wind.” The form is the infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition. Some have emended it to change the preposition to the temporal בּ (bet) on the basis of some of the versions (e.g., Latin and Syriac) that have “who made.” This is workable, for the infinitive would then take on the finite tense of the previous verbs. An infinitive of purpose does not work well, for that would be saying God looked everywhere in order to give wind its proper weight (see R. Gordis, Job, 310).
[28:25] 258 tn The verb is the Piel perfect, meaning “to estimate the measure” of something. In the verse, the perfect verb continues the function of the infinitive preceding it, as if it had a ו (vav) prefixed to it. Whatever usage that infinitive had, this verb is to continue it (see GKC 352 §114.r).
[28:26] 260 tn Or “thunderbolt,” i.e., lightning. Heb “the roaring of voices/sounds,” which describes the nature of the storm.
[28:27] 261 tn Heb “it”; the referent (wisdom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[28:27] 262 tn The verb סָפַר (safar) in the Piel basically means “to tell; to declare; to show” or “to count; to number.” Many commentators offer different suggestions for the translation. “Declared” (as in the RSV, NASB, and NRSV) would be the simplest – but to whom did God declare it? Besides “appraised” which is the view of Pope, Dhorme and others (cf. NAB, NIV), J. Reider has suggested “probed” (“Etymological studies in biblical Hebrew,” VT 2 [1952]: 127), Strahan has “studied,” and Kissane has “reckoned.” The difficulty is that the line has a series of verbs, which seem to build to a climax; but without more details it is hard to know how to translate them when they have such a range of meaning.
[28:27] 263 tc The verb כּוּן (kun) means “to establish; to prepare” in this stem. There are several
[28:27] 264 tn The verb חָקַר (khaqar) means “to examine; to search out.” Some of the language used here is anthropomorphic, for the sovereign
[28:28] 265 tc A number of medieval Hebrew manuscripts have YHWH (“
[28:28] 266 tc Many commentators delete this verse because (1) many read the divine name Yahweh (translated “
[29:1] 267 sn Now that the debate with his friends is over, Job concludes with a soliloquy, just as he had begun with one. Here he does not take into account his friends or their arguments. The speech has three main sections: Job’s review of his former circumstances (29:1-25); Job’s present misery (30:1-31); and Job’s vindication of his life (31:1-40).
[29:1] 268 tn The verse uses a verbal hendiadys: “and he added (וַיֹּסֶף, vayyosef)…to raise (שְׂאֵת, sÿ’et) his speech.” The expression means that he continued, or he spoke again.
[29:2] 269 tn The optative is here expressed with מִי־יִתְּנֵנִי (mi-yittÿneni, “who will give me”), meaning, “O that I [could be]…” (see GKC 477 §151.b).
[29:2] 270 tn The preposition כּ (kaf) is used here in an expression describing the state desired, especially in the former time (see GKC 376 §118.u).
[29:2] 271 tn The expression is literally “months of before [or of old; or past].” The word קֶדֶם (qedem) is intended here to be temporal and not spatial; it means days that preceded the present.
[29:2] 272 tn The construct state (“days of”) governs the independent sentence that follows (see GKC 422 §130.d): “as the days of […] God used to watch over me.”
[29:2] 273 tn The imperfect verb here has a customary nuance – “when God would watch over me” (back then), or “when God used to watch over me.”
[29:3] 274 tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.
[29:3] 275 tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”
[29:3] 276 sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.
[29:3] 277 tn Here too the imperfect verb is customary – it describes action that was continuous, but in a past time.
[29:3] 278 tn The accusative (“darkness”) is here an adverbial accusative of place, namely, “in the darkness,” or because he was successfully led by God’s light, “through the darkness” (see GKC 374 §118.h).
[29:4] 279 tn Heb “in the days of my ripeness.” The word חֹרֶף (khoref) denotes the time when the harvest is gathered in because the fruit is ripe. Since this is the autumn, many translate that way here – but “autumn” has a different connotation now. The text is pointing to a time when the righteous reaps what he has sown, and can enjoy the benefits. The translation “most productive time” seems to capture the point better than “autumn” or even “prime.”
[29:4] 280 tc The word סוֹד (sod) in this verse is an infinitive construct, prefixed with the temporal preposition and followed by a subjective genitive. It forms a temporal clause. There is some disagreement about the form and its meaning. The confusion in the versions shows that they were paraphrasing to get the general sense. In the Bible the derived noun (from יָסַד, yasad) means (a) a circle of close friends; (b) intimacy. Others follow the LXX and the Syriac with a meaning of “protect,” based on a change from ד (dalet) to כּ (kaf), and assuming the root was סָכַךְ (sakhakh). This would mean, “when God protected my tent” (cf. NAB). D. W. Thomas tries to justify this meaning without changing the text (“The Interpretation of BSOÝD in Job 29:4,” JBL 65 [1946]: 63-66).
[29:5] 282 tc Some commentators suggest that עִמָּדִי (’immadi, “with me”) of the second colon of v. 6 (which is too long) belongs to the second colon of v. 5, and should be pointed as the verb עָמָדוּ (’amadu, “they stood”), meaning the boys stood around him (see, e.g., E. Dhorme, Job, 417). But as R. Gordis (Job, 319) notes, there is a purpose for the imbalance of the metric pattern at the end of a section.
[29:6] 283 tn The word is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is clear enough. It refers to the walking, the steps, or even the paths where one walks. It is figurative of his course of life.
[29:6] 284 tn The Hebrew word means “to wash; to bathe”; here it is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, “my steps” being the genitive: “in the washing of my steps in butter.”
[29:6] 285 tn Again, as in Job 21:17, “curds.”
[29:6] 286 tn The MT reads literally, “and the rock was poured out [passive participle] for me as streams of oil.” There are some who delete the word “rock” to shorten the line because it seems out of place. But olive trees thrive in rocky soil, and the oil presses are cut into the rock; it is possible that by metonymy all this is intended here (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 186).
[29:7] 287 sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.
[29:8] 288 tn The verb means “to hide; to withdraw.” The young men out of respect would withdraw or yield the place of leadership to Job (thus the translation “step aside”). The old men would rise and remain standing until Job took his seat – a sign of respect.
[29:10] 289 tn The verb here is “hidden” as well as in v. 8. But this is a strange expression for voices. Several argue that the word was erroneously inserted from 8a and needs to be emended. But the word “hide” can have extended meanings of “withdraw; be quiet; silent” (see Gen 31:27). A. Guillaume relates the Arabic habi’a, “the fire dies out,” applying the idea of “silent” only to v. 10 (it is a form of repetition of words with different senses, called jinas). The point here is that whatever conversation was going on would become silent or hushed to hear what Job had to say.
[29:11] 290 tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[29:11] 291 tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.
[29:12] 292 tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).
[29:13] 293 tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).
[29:13] 294 tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.
[29:14] 295 tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.
[29:14] 296 tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.
[29:16] 297 sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.
[29:17] 298 tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.
[29:17] 299 tn “I made [him] drop.” The verb means “to throw; to cast,” throw in the sense of “to throw away.” But in the context with the figure of the beast with prey in its mouth, “drop” or “cast away” is the idea. Driver finds another cognate meaning “rescue” (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).
[29:18] 300 tc The expression in the MT is “with my nest.” The figure is satisfactory for the context – a home with all the young together, a picture of unity and safety. In Isa 16:2 the word can mean “nestlings,” and with the preposition “with” that might be the meaning here, except that his children had grown up and lived in their own homes. The figure cannot be pushed too far. But the verse apparently has caused enormous problems, because the versions offer a variety of readings and free paraphrases. The LXX has “My age shall grow old as the stem of a palm tree, I shall live a long time.” The Vulgate has, “In my nest I shall die and like the palm tree increase my days.” G. R. Driver found an Egyptian word meaning “strength” (“Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 [1955]: 138-39). Several read “in a ripe old age” instead of “in my nest” (Pope, Dhorme; see P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). This requires the verb זָקַן (zaqan, “be old”), i.e., בִּזְקוּנַי (bizqunay, “in my old age”) instead of קִנִּי (qinni, “my nest”). It has support from the LXX.
[29:18] 301 tc For חוֹל (khol, “sand”) the LXX has a word that is “like the palm tree,” but which could also be translated “like the phoenix” (cf. NAB, NRSV). This latter idea was developed further in rabbinical teaching (see R. Gordis, Job, 321). See also M. Dahood, “Nest and phoenix in Job 29:18,” Bib 48 (1967): 542-44. But the MT yields an acceptable sense here.
[29:20] 302 tn The word is “my glory,” meaning his high respect and his honor. Hoffmann proposed to read כִּידוֹן (kidon) instead, meaning “javelin” (as in 1 Sam 17:6), to match the parallelism (RQ 3 [1961/62]: 388). But the parallelism does not need to be so tight.
[29:21] 304 tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.
[29:21] 305 tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.
[29:22] 306 tn The verb simply means “dropped,” but this means like the rain. So the picture of his words falling on them like the gentle rain, drop by drop, is what is intended (see Deut 32:2).
[29:23] 307 tn The phrase “people wait for” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.
[29:23] 308 sn The analogy is that they received his words eagerly as the dry ground opens to receive the rains.
[29:23] 309 tn The כּ (kaf) preposition is to be supplied by analogy with the preceding phrase. This leaves a double proposition, “as for” (but see Job 29:2).
[29:24] 310 tn The connection of this clause with the verse is difficult. The line simply reads: “[if] I would smile at them, they would not believe.” Obviously something has to be supplied to make sense out of this. The view adopted here makes the most sense, namely, that when he smiled at people, they could hardly believe their good fortune. Other interpretations are strained, such as Kissane’s, “If I laughed at them, they believed not,” meaning, people rejected the views that Job laughed at.
[29:24] 311 tn The meaning, according to Gordis, is that they did nothing to provoke Job’s displeasure.
[29:25] 312 tn All of these imperfects describe what Job used to do, and so they all fit the category of customary imperfect.
[29:25] 313 tn Heb “their way.”
[29:25] 314 tn The text simply has “and I sat [as their] head.” The adverbial accusative explains his role, especially under the image of being seated. He directed the deliberations as a king directs an army.
[29:25] 315 tc Most commentators think this last phrase is odd here, and so they either delete it altogether, or emend it to fit the idea of the verse. Ewald, however, thought it appropriate as a transition to the next section, reminding his friends that unlike him, they were miserable comforters. Herz made the few changes in the text to get the reading “where I led them, they were willing to go” (ZAW 20 [1900]: 163). The two key words in the MT are אֲבֵלִים יְנַחֵם (’avelim yÿnakhem, “he [one who] comforts mourners”). Following Herz, E. Dhorme (Job, 422) has these changed to אוֹבִילֵם יִנַּחוּ (’ovilem yinnakhu). R. Gordis has “like one leading a camel train” (Job, 324). But Kissane also retains the line as a summary of the chapter, noting its presence in the versions.
[30:1] 316 tn Heb “smaller than I for days.”
[30:1] 317 tn Heb “who I disdained their fathers to set…,” meaning “whose fathers I disdained to set.” The relative clause modifies the young fellows who mock; it explains that Job did not think highly enough of them to put them with the dogs. The next verse will explain why.
[30:1] 318 sn Job is mocked by young fellows who come from low extraction. They mocked their elders and their betters. The scorn is strong here – dogs were despised as scavengers.
[30:2] 319 tn The reference is to the fathers of the scorners, who are here regarded as weak and worthless.
[30:2] 320 tn The word כֶּלַח (kelakh) only occurs in Job 5:26; but the Arabic cognate gives this meaning “strength.” Others suggest כָּלַח (kalakh, “old age”), ֹכּל־חַיִל (kol-khayil, “all vigor”), כֹּל־לֵחַ (kol-leakh, “all freshness”), and the like. But there is no reason for such emendation.
[30:3] 321 tn This word, גַּלְמוּד (galmud), describes something as lowly, desolate, bare, gaunt like a rock.
[30:3] 322 tn The form is the plural participle with the definite article – “who gnaw.” The article, joined to the participle, joins on a new statement concerning a preceding noun (see GKC 404 §126.b).
[30:3] 323 tn The MT has “yesterday desolate and waste.” The word “yesterday” (אֶמֶשׁ, ’emesh) is strange here. Among the proposals for אֶמֶשׁ (’emesh), Duhm suggested יְמַשְּׁשׁוּ (yÿmashÿshu, “they grope”), which would require darkness; Pope renders “by night,” instead of “yesterday,” which evades the difficulty; and Fohrer suggested with more reason אֶרֶץ (’erets), “a desolate and waste land.” R. Gordis (Job, 331) suggests יָמִישׁוּ / יָמֻשׁוּ (yamishu/yamushu), “they wander off.”
[30:4] 324 tn Or “the leaves of bushes” (ESV), a possibility dating back to Saadia and discussed by G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:209) in their philological notes.
[30:4] 325 tn Here too the form is the participle with the article.
[30:4] 326 tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.
[30:5] 327 tn The word גֵּו (gev) is an Aramaic term meaning “midst,” indicating “midst [of society].” But there is also a Phoenician word that means “community” (DISO 48).
[30:5] 328 tn The form simply is the plural verb, but it means those who drove them from society.
[30:5] 329 tn The text merely says “as thieves,” but it obviously compares the poor to the thieves.
[30:6] 330 tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).
[30:6] 331 tn The adjectives followed by a partitive genitive take on the emphasis of a superlative: “in the most horrible of valleys” (see GKC 431 §133.h).
[30:7] 332 tn The verb נָהַק (nahaq) means “to bray.” It has cognates in Arabic, Aramaic, and Ugaritic, so there is no need for emendation here. It is the sign of an animal’s hunger. In the translation the words “like animals” are supplied to clarify the metaphor for the modern reader.
[30:7] 333 tn The Pual of the verb סָפַח (safakh, “to join”) also brings out the passivity of these people – “they were huddled together” (E. Dhorme, Job, 434).
[30:8] 334 tn The “sons of the senseless” (נָבָל, naval) means they were mentally and morally base and defective; and “sons of no-name” means without honor and respect, worthless (because not named).
[30:8] 335 tn Heb “they were whipped from the land” (cf. ESV) or “they were cast out from the land” (HALOT 697 s.v. נכא). J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 397) follows Gordis suggests that the meaning is “brought lower than the ground.”
[30:9] 336 tn The idea is that Job has become proverbial, people think of misfortune and sin when they think of him. The statement uses the ordinary word for “word” (מִלָּה, millah), but in this context it means more: “proverb; byword.”
[30:10] 337 tn Heb “they are far from me.”
[30:11] 338 tn The verb פָּתַח (patakh) means “to untie [or undo]” a rope or bonds. In this verse יִתְרוֹ (yitro, the Kethib, LXX, and Vulgate) would mean “his rope” (see יֶתֶר [yeter] in Judg 16:7-9). The Qere would be יִתְרִי (yitri, “my rope [or cord]”), meaning “me.” The word could mean “rope,” “cord,” or “bowstring.” If the reading “my cord” is accepted, the cord would be something like “my tent cord” (as in Job 29:20), more than K&D 12:147 “cord of life.” This has been followed in the present translation. If it were “my bowstring,” it would give the sense of disablement. If “his cord” is taken, it would signify that the restraint that God had in afflicting Job was loosened – nothing was held back.
[30:11] 339 sn People throw off all restraint in my presence means that when people saw how God afflicted Job, robbing him of his influence and power, then they turned on him with unrestrained insolence (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 193).
[30:12] 340 tn This Hebrew word occurs only here. The word פִּרְחַח (pirkhakh, “young rabble”) is a quadriliteral, from פָּרַח (parakh, “to bud”) The derivative אֶפְרֹחַ (’efroakh) in the Bible refers to a young bird. In Arabic farhun means both “young bird” and “base man.” Perhaps “young rabble” is the best meaning here (see R. Gordis, Job, 333).
[30:12] 341 tn Heb “they cast off my feet” or “they send my feet away.” Many delete the line as troubling and superfluous. E. Dhorme (Job, 438) forces the lines to say “they draw my feet into a net.”
[30:12] 342 tn Heb “paths of their destruction” or “their destructive paths.”
[30:13] 344 tn This verb נָתְסוּ (natÿsu) is found nowhere else. It is probably a variant of the verb in Job 19:10. R. Gordis (Job, 333-34) notes the Arabic noun natsun (“thorns”), suggesting a denominative idea “they have placed thorns in my path.” Most take it to mean they ruin the way of escape.
[30:13] 345 tc The MT has “they further my misfortune.” The line is difficult, with slight textual problems. The verb יֹעִילוּ (yo’ilu) means “to profit,” and so “to succeed” or “to set forward.” Good sense can be made from the MT as it stands, and many suggested changes are suspect.
[30:13] 346 tn The sense of “restraining” for “helping” was proposed by Dillmann and supported by G. R. Driver (see AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163).
[30:14] 347 tn The MT has “under the crash,” with the idea that they rush in while the stones are falling around them (which is continuing the figure of the military attack). G. R. Driver took the expression to mean in a temporal sense “at the moment of the crash” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 163-64). Guillaume, drawing from Arabic, has “where the gap is made.”
[30:14] 348 tn The verb, the Hitpalpel of גָּלַל (galal), means “they roll themselves.” This could mean “they roll themselves under the ruins” (Dhorme), “they roll on like a storm” (Gordis), or “they roll on” as in waves of enemy attackers (see H. H. Rowley). This particular verb form is found only here (but see Amos 5:24).
[30:15] 349 tn The passive singular verb (Hophal) is used with a plural subject (see GKC 388 §121.b).
[30:15] 350 tc This translation assumes that “terrors” (in the plural) is the subject. Others emend the text in accordance with the LXX, which has, “my hope is gone like the wind.”
[30:16] 351 tn This line can either mean that Job is wasting away (i.e., his life is being poured out), or it can mean that he is grieving. The second half of the verse gives the subordinate clause of condition for this.
[30:17] 352 tn The subject of the verb “pierces” can be the night (personified), or it could be God (understood), leaving “night” to be an adverbial accusative of time – “at night he pierces.”
[30:17] 353 tc The MT concludes this half-verse with “upon me.” That phrase is not in the LXX, and so many commentators delete it as making the line too long.
[30:17] 354 tn Heb “my gnawers,” which is open to several interpretations. The NASB and NIV take it as “gnawing pains”; cf. NRSV “the pain that gnaws me.” Some suggest worms in the sores (7:5). The LXX has “my nerves,” a view accepted by many commentators.
[30:18] 355 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:18] 356 tc This whole verse is difficult. The first problem is that this verb in the MT means “is disguised [or disfigured],” indicating that Job’s clothes hang loose on him. But many take the view that the verb is a phonetic variant of חָבַשׁ (khavash, “to bind; to seize”) and that the Hitpael form is a conflation of the third and second person because of the interchange between them in the passage (R. Gordis, Job, 335). The commentaries list a number of conjectural emendations, but the image in the verse is probably that God seizes Job by the garment and throws him down.
[30:18] 357 tn The phrase “like the collar” is difficult, primarily because their tunics did not have collars. A translation of “neck” would suit better. Some change the preposition to בּ (bet), getting a translation “by the neck of my tunic.”
[30:20] 358 sn The implication from the sentence is that this is a cry to God for help. The sudden change from third person (v. 19) to second person (v. 20) is indicative of the intense emotion of the sufferer.
[30:20] 359 sn The verb is simple, but the interpretation difficult. In this verse it probably means he stands up in prayer (Jer 15:1), but it could mean that he makes his case to God. Others suggest a more figurative sense, like the English expression “stand pat,” meaning “remain silent” (see Job 29:8).
[30:20] 360 tn If the idea of prayer is meant, then a pejorative sense to the verb is required. Some supply a negative and translate “you do not pay heed to me.” This is supported by one Hebrew
[30:21] 361 tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.
[30:21] 362 tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.
[30:22] 363 sn Here Job changes the metaphor again, to the driving storm. God has sent his storms, and Job is blown away.
[30:22] 364 tn The verb means “to melt.” The imagery would suggest softening the ground with the showers (see Ps 65:10 [11]). The translation “toss…about” comes from the Arabic cognate that is used for the surging of the sea.
[30:22] 365 tc The Qere is תּוּשִׁיָּה (tushiyyah, “counsel”), which makes no sense here. The Kethib is a variant orthography for תְּשֻׁאָה (tÿshu’ah, “storm”).
[30:23] 366 tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.
[30:24] 367 tc Here is another very difficult verse, as is attested by the differences among commentaries and translations. The MT has “surely not against a ruinous heap will he [God] put forth his [God’s] hand.” But A. B. Davidson takes Job as the subject, reading “does not one stretch out his hand in his fall?” The RSV suggests a man walking in the ruins and using his hand for support. Dillmann changed it to “drowning man” to say “does not a drowning man stretch out his hand?” Beer has “have I not given a helping hand to the poor?” Dhorme has, “I did not strike the poor man with my hand.” Kissane follows this but retains the verb form, “one does not strike the poor man with his hand.”
[30:24] 368 tc The second colon is also difficult; it reads, “if in his destruction to them he cries.” E. Dhorme (Job, 425-26) explains how he thinks “to them” came about, and he restores “to me.” This is the major difficulty in the line, and Dhorme’s suggestion is the simplest resolution.
[30:25] 369 tn Heb “for the hard of day.”
[30:27] 370 tn Heb “my loins,” “my bowels” (archaic), “my innermost being.” The latter option is reflected in the translation; some translations take the inner turmoil to be literal (NIV: “The churning inside me never stops”).
[30:27] 372 tn The last clause reads “and they [it] are not quiet” or “do not cease.” The clause then serves adverbially for the sentence – “unceasingly.”
[30:28] 373 tn The construction uses the word קֹדֵר (qoder) followed by the Piel perfect of הָלַךְ (halakh, “I go about”). The adjective “blackened” refers to Job’s skin that has been marred by the disease. Adjectives are often used before verbs to describe some bodily condition (see GKC 374-75 §118.n).
[30:29] 374 sn The point of this figure is that Job’s cries of lament are like the howls and screeches of these animals, not that he lives with them. In Job 39:13 the female ostrich is called “the wailer.”
[30:30] 375 tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).
[30:30] 376 tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.
[30:30] 377 tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.
[30:31] 378 tn The verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to serve the purpose of” (see Gen 1:14ff., 17:7, etc.).
[31:1] 379 tn The idea of cutting a covenant for something may suggest a covenant that is imposed, except that this construction elsewhere argues against it (see 2 Chr 29:10).
[31:1] 380 tn This half-verse is the effect of the covenant. The interrogative מָה (mah) may have the force of the negative, and so be translated “not to pay attention.”
[31:2] 381 tn Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.
[31:5] 382 tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.
[31:5] 383 tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.
[31:5] 384 sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.
[31:6] 385 tn “God” is undoubtedly the understood subject of this jussive. However, “him” is retained in the translation at this point to avoid redundancy since “God” occurs in the second half of the verse.
[31:6] 386 tn The word צֶדֶךְ (tsedeq, “righteousness”) forms a fitting genitive for the scales used in trade or justice. The “scales of righteousness” are scales that conform to the standard (see the illustration in Deut 25:13-15). They must be honest scales to make just decisions.
[31:6] 387 tn The verb is וְיֵדַע (vÿyeda’, “and [then] he [God] will know”). The verb could also be subordinated to the preceding jussive, “so that God may know.” The meaning of “to know” here has more the idea of “to come to know; to discover.”
[31:7] 388 sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”
[31:7] 389 tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.
[31:8] 390 tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).
[31:8] 391 tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.
[31:9] 392 tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.
[31:10] 393 tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).
[31:10] 394 tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.
[31:10] sn The idea is that if Job were guilty of adultery it would be an offense against the other woman’s husband, and so by talionic justice another man’s adultery with Job’s wife would be an offense against him. He is not wishing something on his wife; rather, he is simply looking at what would be offenses in kind.
[31:11] 395 tn Heb “for that [would be].” In order to clarify the referent of “that,” which refers to v. 9 rather than v. 10, the words “I have committed” have been supplied in the translation.
[31:11] 396 tn The word for “shameful act” is used especially for sexual offenses (cf. Lev 18:27).
[31:11] 397 tc Some have deleted this verse as being short and irrelevant, not to mention problematic. But the difficulties are not insurmountable, and there is no reason to delete it. There is a Kethib-Qere reading in each half verse; in the first the Kethib is masculine for the subject but the Qere is feminine going with “shameless deed.” In the second colon the Kethib is the feminine agreeing with the preceding noun, but the Qere is masculine agreeing with “iniquity.”
[31:11] tn The expression עָוֹן פְּלִילִים (’avon pÿlilim) means “an iniquity of the judges.” The first word is not spelled as a construct noun, and so this has led some to treat the second word as an adjective (with enclitic mem [ם]). The sense is similar in either case, for the adjective occurs in Job 31:28 meaning “calling for judgment” (See GKC 427 §131.s).
[31:12] 398 tn Heb “to Abaddon.”
[31:12] 399 tn The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”
[31:13] 400 tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.
[31:14] 401 tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”
[31:14] 402 tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”
[31:15] 403 tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).
[31:16] 404 tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”
[31:17] 405 tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”
[31:18] 406 tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.
[31:18] 407 tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”
[31:18] 408 tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.
[31:20] 409 tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).
[31:20] 410 tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”
[31:21] 411 tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.
[31:21] 412 tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.
[31:22] 413 sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.
[31:22] 414 tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”
[31:22] 415 tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.
[31:23] 416 tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.
[31:23] 417 tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).
[31:26] 418 tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.
[31:27] 419 tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.
[31:28] 421 tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.
[31:28] 422 tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.
[31:29] 423 tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.
[31:29] 424 sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”
[31:29] 425 tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”
[31:29] 426 tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.
[31:30] 427 tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.
[31:30] 428 tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”
[31:30] 429 tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.
[31:31] 430 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
[31:31] 431 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
[31:31] 432 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] 433 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
[31:31] 434 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[31:32] 435 tn This verse forms another parenthesis. Job stops almost at every point now in the conditional clauses to affirm his purity and integrity.
[31:32] 436 tn The word in the MT, אֹרחַ (’orakh, “way”), is a contraction from אֹרֵחַ (’oreakh, “wayfarer”); thus, “traveler.” The same parallelism is found in Jer 14:8. The reading here “on/to the road” is meaningless otherwise.
[31:33] 437 tn Now the protasis continues again.
[31:33] 438 sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.
[31:33] 439 tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.
[31:33] 440 tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.
[31:34] 441 tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.
[31:34] 442 tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).
[31:34] 443 sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.
[31:35] 444 tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”
[31:35] 445 tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.
[31:35] 446 tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).
[31:35] 447 tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).
[31:36] 448 tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).
[31:36] 449 tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).
[31:36] 450 tn This verb is only found in Prov 6:21. But E. Dhorme (Job, 470) suggests that (with metathesis) we have a derivative מַעֲדַנּוֹת (ma’adannot, “bonds; ties”) in 38:31.
[31:38] 451 sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.
[31:38] 452 sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.
[31:39] 453 tn Heb “without silver.”
[31:39] 454 tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.
[31:39] 455 tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).
[31:40] 456 tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.
