Ayub 30:1--31:40
Konteks30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger 1 than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much 2
to put with my sheep dogs. 3
30:2 Moreover, the strength of their 4 hands –
what use was it to me?
Men whose strength 5 had perished;
30:3 gaunt 6 with want and hunger,
they would gnaw 7 the parched land,
in former time desolate and waste. 8
30:4 By the brush 9 they would gather 10 herbs from the salt marshes, 11
and the root of the broom tree was their food.
30:5 They were banished from the community 12 –
people 13 shouted at them
like they would shout at thieves 14 –
30:6 so that they had to live 15
in the dry stream beds, 16
in the holes of the ground, and among the rocks.
30:7 They brayed 17 like animals among the bushes
and were huddled together 18 under the nettles.
30:8 Sons of senseless and nameless people, 19
they were driven out of the land with whips. 20
30:9 “And now I have become their taunt song;
I have become a byword 21 among them.
30:10 They detest me and maintain their distance; 22
they do not hesitate to spit in my face.
30:11 Because God has untied 23 my tent cord and afflicted me,
people throw off all restraint in my presence. 24
30:12 On my right the young rabble 25 rise up;
they drive me from place to place, 26
and build up siege ramps 27 against me. 28
30:13 They destroy 29 my path;
they succeed in destroying me 30
without anyone assisting 31 them.
30:14 They come in as through a wide breach;
amid the crash 32 they come rolling in. 33
30:15 Terrors are turned loose 34 on me;
they drive away 35 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; 36
days of suffering take hold of me.
30:17 Night pierces 37 my bones; 38
my gnawing pains 39 never cease.
30:18 With great power God 40 grasps my clothing; 41
he binds me like the collar 42 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, 43 but you do not answer me;
I stand up, 44 and you only look at me. 45
30:21 You have become cruel to me; 46
with the strength of your hand you attack me. 47
30:22 You pick me up on the wind and make me ride on it; 48
you toss me about 49 in the storm. 50
30:23 I know that you are bringing 51 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 52
when he cries for help in his distress. 53
30:25 Have I not wept for the unfortunate? 54
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 55 is in turmoil 56 unceasingly; 57
the days of my affliction confront me.
30:28 I go about blackened, 58 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. 59
30:30 My skin has turned dark on me; 60
my body 61 is hot with fever. 62
30:31 My harp is used for 63 mourning
and my flute for the sound of weeping.
31:1 “I made a covenant with 64 my eyes;
how then could I entertain thoughts against a virgin? 65
31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,
one’s heritage from the Almighty 66 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 67 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 68 my foot has hastened 69 to deceit –
31:6 let him 70 weigh me with honest 71 scales;
then God will discover 72 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 73
or if anything 74 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 75 and let another eat,
and let my crops 76 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 77
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 78 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 79
31:11 For I would have committed 80 a shameful act, 81
an iniquity to be judged. 82
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 83
and it would uproot 84 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 85 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 86
when he intervenes, 87
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 88
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 89
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 90 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 91 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 92
I guided the widow! 93
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 94
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 95
31:21 if I have raised my hand 96 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 97
31:22 then 98 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 99
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 100
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 101
and by reason of his majesty 102 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 103 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, 104
31:28 then this 105 also would be iniquity to be judged, 106
for I would have been false 107 to God above.
31:29 If 108 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 109
or exulted 110 because calamity 111 found him –
31:30 I 112 have not even permitted my mouth 113 to sin
by asking 114 for his life through a curse –
31:31 if 115 the members of my household 116 have never said, 117
‘If only there were 118 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 119 meat!’ –
31:32 But 120 no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler 121 –
31:33 if 122 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 123
by hiding 124 iniquity in my heart, 125
31:34 because I was terrified 126 of the great multitude, 127
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors – 128
31:35 “If only I had 129 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 130
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 131
that my accuser had written. 132
31:36 Surely 133 I would wear it proudly 134 on my shoulder,
I would bind 135 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 137
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 138
or caused the death 139 of its owners, 140
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!” 141
The words of Job are ended.
[30:1] 1 tn Heb “smaller than I for days.”
[30:1] 2 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] 3 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] 4 tn The reference is to the fathers of the scorners, who are here regarded as weak and worthless.
[30:2] 5 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] 6 tn This word, גַּלְמוּד (galmud), describes something as lowly, desolate, bare, gaunt like a rock.
[30:3] 7 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] 8 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] 9 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] 10 tn Here too the form is the participle with the article.
[30:4] 11 tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.
[30:5] 12 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] 13 tn The form simply is the plural verb, but it means those who drove them from society.
[30:5] 14 tn The text merely says “as thieves,” but it obviously compares the poor to the thieves.
[30:6] 15 tn This use of the infinitive construct expresses that they were compelled to do something (see GKC 348-49 §114.h, k).
[30:6] 16 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] 17 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] 18 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] 19 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] 20 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] 21 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] 22 tn Heb “they are far from me.”
[30:11] 23 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] 24 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] 25 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] 26 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] 27 tn Heb “paths of their destruction” or “their destructive paths.”
[30:13] 29 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] 30 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] 31 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] 32 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] 33 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] 34 tn The passive singular verb (Hophal) is used with a plural subject (see GKC 388 §121.b).
[30:15] 35 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] 36 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] 37 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] 38 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] 39 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] 40 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[30:18] 41 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] 42 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] 43 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] 44 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] 45 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] 46 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] 47 tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.
[30:22] 48 sn Here Job changes the metaphor again, to the driving storm. God has sent his storms, and Job is blown away.
[30:22] 49 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] 50 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] 51 tn The imperfect verb would be a progressive imperfect, it is future, but it is also already underway.
[30:24] 52 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] 53 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] 54 tn Heb “for the hard of day.”
[30:27] 55 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] 57 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] 58 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] 59 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] 60 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] 61 tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.
[30:30] 62 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] 63 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] 64 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] 65 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] 66 tn Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.
[31:5] 67 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] 68 tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.
[31:5] 69 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] 70 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] 71 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] 72 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] 73 sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”
[31:7] 74 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] 75 tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).
[31:8] 76 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] 77 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] 78 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] 79 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] 80 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] 81 tn The word for “shameful act” is used especially for sexual offenses (cf. Lev 18:27).
[31:11] 82 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] 83 tn Heb “to Abaddon.”
[31:12] 84 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] 85 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] 86 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] 87 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] 88 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] 89 tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”
[31:17] 90 tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”
[31:18] 91 tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.
[31:18] 92 tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”
[31:18] 93 tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.
[31:20] 94 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] 95 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] 96 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] 97 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] 98 sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.
[31:22] 99 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] 100 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] 101 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] 102 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] 103 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] 104 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] 106 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] 107 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] 108 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] 109 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] 110 tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”
[31:29] 111 tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.
[31:30] 112 tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.
[31:30] 113 tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”
[31:30] 114 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] 115 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
[31:31] 116 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
[31:31] 117 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] 118 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
[31:31] 119 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[31:32] 120 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] 121 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] 122 tn Now the protasis continues again.
[31:33] 123 sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.
[31:33] 124 tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.
[31:33] 125 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] 126 tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.
[31:34] 127 tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).
[31:34] 128 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] 129 tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”
[31:35] 130 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] 131 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] 132 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] 133 tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).
[31:36] 134 tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).
[31:36] 135 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] 136 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] 137 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] 138 tn Heb “without silver.”
[31:39] 139 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] 140 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] 141 tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.
