13:16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him. 1
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 2
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 3
1 sn The fact that Job will dare to come before God and make his case is evidence – to Job at least – that he is innocent.
2 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.).
3 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…?”