Ayub 1:9-11
Konteks1:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God? 1 1:10 Have you 2 not made a hedge 3 around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed 4 the work of his hands, and his livestock 5 have increased 6 in the land. 1:11 But 7 extend your hand and strike 8 everything he has, and he will no doubt 9 curse you 10 to your face!”
Ayub 2:4-6
Konteks2:4 But 11 Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for 12 skin! 13 Indeed, a man will give up 14 all that he has to save his life! 15 2:5 But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, 16 and he will no doubt 17 curse you to your face!”
2:6 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, 18 he is 19 in your power; 20 only preserve 21 his life.”
Ayub 22:6-30
Konteks22:6 “For you took pledges 22 from your brothers
for no reason,
and you stripped the clothing from the naked. 23
22:7 You gave the weary 24 no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
22:8 Although you were a powerful man, 25 owning land, 26
an honored man 27 living on it, 28
22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms 29 of the orphans you crushed. 30
22:10 That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, 31
and why a flood 32 of water covers you.
22:12 “Is not God on high in heaven? 33
And see 34 the lofty stars, 35 how high they are!
22:13 But you have said, ‘What does God know?
Does he judge through such deep darkness? 36
22:14 Thick clouds are a veil for him, so he does not see us, 37
as he goes back and forth
in the vault 38 of heaven.’ 39
22:15 Will you keep to the old path 40
that evil men have walked –
22:16 men 41 who were carried off 42 before their time, 43
when the flood 44 was poured out 45
on their foundations? 46
22:17 They were saying to God, ‘Turn away from us,’
and ‘What can the Almighty do to us?’ 47
22:18 But it was he 48 who filled their houses
with good things –
yet the counsel of the wicked 49
was far from me. 50
22:19 The righteous see their destruction 51 and rejoice;
the innocent mock them scornfully, 52 saying,
22:20 ‘Surely our enemies 53 are destroyed,
and fire consumes their wealth.’
22:21 “Reconcile yourself 54 with God, 55
and be at peace 56 with him;
in this way your prosperity will be good.
22:22 Accept instruction 57 from his mouth
and store up his words 58 in your heart.
22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up; 59
if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,
22:24 and throw 60 your gold 61 in the dust –
your gold 62 of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold, 63
and the choicest 64 silver for you.
22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself 65 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. 66
22:28 Whatever you decide 67 on a matter,
it will be established for you,
and light will shine on your ways.
22:29 When people are brought low 68 and you say
‘Lift them up!’ 69
then he will save the downcast; 70
22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent, 71
who will escape 72 through the cleanness of your hands.”
Ayub 34:8-9
Konteks34:8 He goes about 73 in company 74 with evildoers,
he goes along 75 with wicked men. 76
34:9 For he says, ‘It does not profit a man
when he makes his delight with God.’ 77
Ayub 42:7-9
KonteksVII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)
42:7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he 78 said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up 79 against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right, 80 as my servant Job has. 42:8 So now take 81 seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede 82 for you, and I will respect him, 83 so that I do not deal with you 84 according to your folly, 85 because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 86
42:9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job. 87
[1:9] 1 tn The Hebrew form has the interrogative ה (he) on the adverb חִנָּם (khinnam, “gratis”), a derivative either of the verb חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”), or its related noun חֵן (khen, “grace, favor”). The adverb has the sense of “free; gratis; gratuitously; for nothing; for no reason” (see BDB 336 s.v. חִנָּם). The idea is that Satan does not disagree that Job is pious, but that Job is loyal to God because of what he receives from God. He will test the sincerity of Job.
[1:10] 2 tn The use of the independent personal pronoun here emphasizes the subject of the verb: “Have you not put up a hedge.”
[1:10] 3 tn The verb שׂוּךְ (sukh) means “to hedge or fence up, about” something (BDB 962 s.v. I שׂוּךְ). The original idea seems to have been to surround with a wall of thorns for the purpose of protection (E. Dhorme, Job, 7). The verb is an implied comparison between making a hedge and protecting someone.
[1:10] 4 sn Here the verb “bless” is used in one of its very common meanings. The verb means “to enrich,” often with the sense of enabling or empowering things for growth or fruitfulness. See further C. Westermann, Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church (OBT).
[1:10] 5 tn Or “substance.” The herds of livestock may be taken by metonymy of part for whole to represent possessions or prosperity in general.
[1:10] 6 tn The verb פָּרַץ (parats) means “to break through.” It has the sense of abundant increase, as in breaking out, overflowing (see also Gen 30:30 and Exod 1:12).
[1:11] 7 tn The particle אוּלָם (’ulam, “but”) serves to restrict the clause in relation to the preceding clause (IBHS 671-73 §39.3.5e, n. 107).
[1:11] 8 tn The force of the imperatives in this sentence are almost conditional – if God were to do this, then surely Job would respond differently.
[1:11] sn The two imperatives (“stretch out” and “strike”) and the word “hand” all form a bold anthropomorphic sentence. It is as if God would deliver a blow to Job with his fist. But the intended meaning is that God would intervene to destroy Job’s material and physical prosperity.
[1:11] 9 sn The formula used in the expression is the oath formula: “if not to your face he will curse you” meaning “he will surely curse you to your face.” Satan is so sure that the piety is insincere that he can use an oath formula.
[1:11] 10 tn See the comments on Job 1:5. Here too the idea of “renounce” may fit well enough; but the idea of actually cursing God may not be out of the picture if everything Job has is removed. Satan thinks he will denounce God.
[2:4] 11 tn The form is the simply preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive. However, the speech of Satan is in contrast to what God said, even though in narrative sequence.
[2:4] 12 tn The preposition בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) designates interest or advantage arising from the idea of protection for (“for the benefit of”); see IBHS 201-2 §11.2.7a.
[2:4] 13 sn The meaning of the expression is obscure. It may come from the idea of sacrificing an animal or another person in order to go free, suggesting the expression that one type of skin that was worth less was surrendered to save the more important life. Satan would then be saying that Job was willing for others to die for him to go free, but not himself. “Skin” would be a synecdoche of the part for the whole (like the idiomatic use of skin today for a person in a narrow escape). The second clause indicates that God has not even scratched the surface because Job has been protected. His “skin” might have been scratched, but not his flesh and bone! But if his life had been put in danger, he would have responded differently.
[2:4] 14 tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).
[2:4] 15 tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”
[2:5] 16 sn The “bones and flesh” are idiomatic for the whole person, his physical and his psychical/spiritual being (see further H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old Testament, 26-28).
[2:5] 17 sn This is the same oath formula found in 1:11; see the note there.
[2:6] 18 tn The particle הִנּוֹ (hinno) is literally, “here he is!” God presents Job to Satan, with the restriction on preserving Job’s life.
[2:6] 19 tn The LXX has “I deliver him up to you.”
[2:6] 21 sn The irony of the passage comes through with this choice of words. The verb שָׁמַר (shamar) means “to keep; to guard; to preserve.” The exceptive clause casts Satan in the role of a savior – he cannot destroy this life but must protect it.
[22:6] 22 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] 23 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] 24 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] 25 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] 26 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] 27 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] 28 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] 29 tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.
[22:9] 30 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] 31 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] 32 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] 33 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] 34 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] 35 tn Heb “head of the stars.”
[22:13] 36 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] 37 tn Heb “and he does not see.” The implied object is “us.”
[22:14] 38 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] 39 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] 40 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] 41 tn The word “men” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied to clarify the relative pronoun “who.”
[22:16] 42 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] 43 tn The clause has “and [it was] not the time.” It may be used adverbially here.
[22:16] 44 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] 45 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] 46 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] 47 tn The form in the text is “to them.” The LXX and the Syriac versions have “to us.”
[22:18] 48 tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.
[22:18] 50 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] 51 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] 52 sn In Ps 2:4 it was God who mocked the wicked by judging them.
[22:20] 53 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] 54 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] 55 tn Heb “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[22:21] 56 tn The two imperatives in this verse imply a relationship of succession and not consequence.
[22:22] 57 tn The Hebrew word here is תּוֹרָה (torah), its only occurrence in the book of Job.
[22:22] 58 tc M. Dahood has “write his words” (“Metaphor in Job 22:22,” Bib 47 [1966]: 108-9).
[22:23] 59 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] 60 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] 61 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] 62 tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
[22:25] 63 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] 64 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] 65 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] 66 tn The words “to him” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[22:28] 67 tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.
[22:29] 68 tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.
[22:29] 69 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] 70 tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”
[22:30] 71 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] 72 tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”
[34:8] 73 tn The perfect verb with the vav (ו) consecutive carries the sequence forward from the last description.
[34:8] 74 tn The word חֶבְרַה (khevrah, “company”) is a hapax legomenon. But its meaning is clear enough from the connections to related words and this context as well.
[34:8] 75 tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition may continue the clause with the finite verb (see GKC 351 §114.p).
[34:8] 76 tn Heb “men of wickedness”; the genitive is attributive (= “wicked men”).
[34:9] 77 tn Gordis, however, takes this expression in the sense of “being in favor with God.”
[42:7] 78 tn Heb “the
[42:7] 79 tn Heb “is kindled.”
[42:7] 80 tn The form נְכוֹנָה (nÿkhonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian word kenu (from כּוּן, kun) connotes justice and truth.
[42:8] 81 tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.
[42:8] 82 tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”
[42:8] 83 tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”
[42:8] 84 tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.
[42:8] 85 tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.
[42:8] 86 sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.
[42:9] 87 tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.
