Ayub 31:36-38
Konteks31:36 Surely 1 I would wear it proudly 2 on my shoulder,
I would bind 3 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 5
and all its furrows wept together,
[31:36] 1 tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).
[31:36] 2 tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).
[31:36] 3 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] 4 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] 5 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.
