17:13 If 1 I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
17:14 If I cry 2 to corruption, 3 ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
1 tn The clause begins with אִם (’im) which here has more of the sense of “since.” E. Dhorme (Job, 253) takes a rather rare use of the word to get “Can I hope again” (see also GKC 475 §150.f for the caveat).
2 tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.
3 tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.