Ayub 24:1--26:14
Konteks24:1 “Why are times not appointed by 1 the Almighty? 2
Why do those who know him not see his days?
24:2 Men 3 move boundary stones;
they seize the flock and pasture them. 4
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. 5
24:5 Like 6 wild donkeys in the desert
they 7 go out to their labor, 8
seeking diligently for food;
the wasteland provides 9 food for them
and for their children.
24:6 They reap fodder 10 in the field,
and glean 11 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 12 in the rocks because they lack shelter.
24:9 The fatherless child is snatched 13 from the breast, 14
the infant of the poor is taken as a pledge. 15
24:10 They go about naked, without clothing,
and go hungry while they carry the sheaves. 16
24:11 They press out the olive oil between the rows of olive trees; 17
they tread the winepresses while they are thirsty. 18
24:12 From the city the dying 19 groan,
and the wounded 20 cry out for help,
but God charges no one with wrongdoing. 21
24:13 There are those 22 who rebel against the light;
they do not know its ways
and they do not stay on its paths.
24:14 Before daybreak 23 the murderer rises up;
he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is 24 like a thief. 25
24:15 And the eye of the adulterer watches for the twilight,
thinking, 26 ‘No eye can see me,’
and covers his face with a mask.
24:16 In the dark the robber 27 breaks into houses, 28
but by day they shut themselves in; 29
they do not know the light. 30
24:17 For all of them, 31 the morning is to them
like deep darkness;
they are friends with the terrors of darkness.
24:18 32 “You say, 33 ‘He is foam 34 on the face of the waters; 35
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard. 36
24:19 The drought as well as the heat carry away
the melted snow; 37
so the grave 38 takes away those who have sinned. 39
24:20 The womb 40 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 41 the barren and childless woman, 42
and does not treat the widow well.
24:22 But God 43 drags off the mighty by his power;
when God 44 rises up against him, he has no faith in his life. 45
24:23 God 46 may let them rest in a feeling of security, 47
but he is constantly watching 48 all their ways. 49
24:24 They are exalted for a little while,
and then they are gone, 50
they are brought low 51 like all others,
and gathered in, 52
and like a head of grain they are cut off.’ 53
24:25 “If this is not so, who can prove me a liar
and reduce my words to nothing?” 54
25:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
25:2 “Dominion 56 and awesome might 57 belong to 58 God;
he establishes peace in his heights. 59
25:3 Can his armies be numbered? 60
On whom does his light 61 not rise?
25:4 How then can a human being be righteous before God?
How can one born of a woman be pure? 62
25:5 If even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure as far as he is concerned, 63
25:6 how much less a mortal man, who is but a maggot 64 –
a son of man, who is only a worm!”
26:1 Then Job replied:
26:2 “How you have helped 66 the powerless! 67
How you have saved the person who has no strength! 68
26:3 How you have advised the one without wisdom,
and abundantly 69 revealed your insight!
26:4 To whom 70 did you utter these words?
And whose spirit has come forth from your mouth? 71
26:5 “The dead 73 tremble 74 –
those beneath the waters
and all that live in them. 75
26:6 The underworld 76 is naked before God; 77
the place of destruction lies uncovered. 78
26:7 He spreads out the northern skies 79 over empty space; 80
he suspends the earth on nothing. 81
26:8 He locks the waters in his clouds,
and the clouds do not burst with the weight of them.
26:9 He conceals 82 the face of the full moon, 83
shrouding it with his clouds.
26:10 He marks out the horizon 84 on the surface of the waters
as a boundary between light and darkness.
26:11 The pillars 85 of the heavens tremble
and are amazed at his rebuke. 86
26:12 By his power he stills 87 the sea;
by his wisdom he cut Rahab the great sea monster 88 to pieces. 89
26:13 By his breath 90 the skies became fair;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent. 91
26:14 Indeed, these are but the outer fringes of his ways! 92
How faint is the whisper 93 we hear of him!
But who can understand the thunder of his power?”
[24:1] 1 tn The preposition מִן (min) is used to express the cause (see GKC 389 §121.f).
[24:1] 2 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] 3 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] 4 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] 5 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] 6 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] 7 tn That is, “the poor.”
[24:5] 8 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] 9 tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.
[24:6] 10 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] 11 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] 12 tn Heb “embrace” or “hug.”
[24:9] 13 tn The verb with no expressed subject is here again taken in the passive: “they snatch” becomes “[child] is snatched.”
[24:9] 14 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] 15 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] 16 sn The point should not be missed – amidst abundant harvests, carrying sheaves about, they are still going hungry.
[24:11] 17 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] 18 tn The final verb, a preterite with the ו (vav) consecutive, is here interpreted as a circumstantial clause.
[24:12] 19 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] 20 tn Heb “the souls of the wounded,” which here refers to the wounded themselves.
[24:12] 21 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] 22 tn Heb “They are among those who.”
[24:14] 23 tn The text simply has לָאוֹר (la’or, “at light” or “at daylight”), probably meaning just at the time of dawn.
[24:14] 24 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] 25 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] 27 tn The phrase “the robber” has been supplied in the English translation for clarification.
[24:16] 28 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] 29 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] 30 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.”
[24:18] 32 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] 33 tn The verb “say” is not in the text; it is supplied here to indicate that this is a different section.
[24:18] 35 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] 36 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] 37 tn Heb “the waters of the snow.”
[24:19] 39 tn This is the meaning of the verse, which in Hebrew only has “The grave / they have sinned.”
[24:20] 40 tn Here “womb” is synecdoche, representing one’s mother.
[24:21] 41 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] 42 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] 43 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] 44 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] 45 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] 46 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:23] 47 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] 48 tn Heb “his eyes are on.”
[24:23] 49 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] 50 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] 51 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] 52 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] 53 sn This marks the end of the disputed section, taken here to be a quotation by Job of their sentiments.
[24:25] 54 tn The word אַל (’al, “not”) is used here substantivally (“nothing”).
[25:1] 55 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] 56 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] 57 tn The word פָּחַד (pakhad) literally means “fear; dread,” but in the sense of what causes the fear or the dread.
[25:2] 58 tn Heb “[are] with him.”
[25:2] 59 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] 60 tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!
[25:3] 61 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] 62 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] 63 tn Heb “not pure in his eyes.”
[25:6] 64 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] 65 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] 66 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] 67 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] 68 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] 69 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] 70 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] 71 tn Heb “has gone out from you.”
[26:5] 72 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] 73 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] 74 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] 75 tc Most commentators wish to lengthen the verse and make it more parallel, but nothing is gained by doing this.
[26:6] 77 tn Heb “before him.”
[26:6] 78 tn The line has “and there is no covering for destruction.” “Destruction” here is another name for Sheol: אֲבַדּוֹן (’avaddon, “Abaddon”).
[26:7] 79 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] 80 sn There is an allusion to the creation account, for this word is תֹּהוּ (tohu), translated “without form” in Gen 1:2.
[26:7] 81 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] 82 tn The verb means “to hold; to seize,” here in the sense of shutting up, enshrouding, or concealing.
[26:9] 83 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] 84 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] 85 sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 173) says these are the great mountains, perceived to hold up the sky.
[26:11] 86 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] 87 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] 88 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] 89 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] 90 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] 91 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] 92 tn Heb “the ends of his ways,” meaning “the fringes.”
[26:14] 93 tn Heb “how little is the word.” Here “little” means a “fraction” or an “echo.”
