1:13 Now the day 2 came when Job’s 3 sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
1:18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
16:4 I also could speak 4 like you,
if 5 you were in my place;
I could pile up 6 words against you
and I could shake my head at you. 7
31:31 if 8 the members of my household 9 have never said, 10
‘If only there were 11 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 12 meat!’ –
32:11 Look, I waited for you to speak; 13
I listened closely to your wise thoughts, 14 while you were searching for words.
39:16 She is harsh 15 with her young,
as if they were not hers;
she is unconcerned
about the uselessness of her labor.
1 sn The series of catastrophes and the piety of Job is displayed now in comprehensive terms. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and yet Job, the pious servant of Yahweh, continues to worship him in the midst of the rubble. This section, and the next, will lay the foundation for the great dialogues in the book.
2 tn The Targum to Job clarifies that it was the first day of the week. The fact that it was in the house of the firstborn is the reason.
3 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.
5 tn The conjunction לוּ (lu) is used to introduce the optative, a condition that is incapable of fulfillment (see GKC 494-95 §159.l).
6 tn This verb אַחְבִּירָה (’akhbirah) is usually connected to חָבַר (khavar, “to bind”). There are several suggestions for this word. J. J. Finkelstein proposed a second root, a homonym, meaning “to make a sound,” and so here “to harangue” (“Hebrew habar and Semitic HBR,” JBL 75 [1956]: 328-31; see also O. Loretz, “HBR in Job 16:4,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 293-94, who renders it “I could make noisy speeches”). Other suggestions have been for new meanings based on cognate studies, such as “to make beautiful” (i.e., make polished speeches).
7 sn The action is a sign of mockery (see Ps 22:7[8]; Isa 37:22; Matt 27:39).
8 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
9 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
10 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.
11 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
12 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 tn Heb “for your words.”
14 tn The word means “understanding.” It refers to the faculty of perception and comprehension; but it also can refer to what that produces, especially when it is in the plural (see Ps 49:4). See R. Gordis, Job, 368. Others translate it “reasonings,” “arguments,” etc.
15 sn This verb, “to deal harshly; to harden; to treat cruelly,” is used for hardening the heart elsewhere (see Isa 63:17).