31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 1 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 2
when he intervenes, 3
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 4
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 5
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans 6 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 7 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 8
I guided the widow! 9
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 10
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 11
31:21 if I have raised my hand 12 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 13
31:22 then 14 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 15
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 16
31:38 “If my land cried out against me 18
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 19
or caused the death 20 of its owners, 21
1 tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.
2 tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”
3 tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”
4 tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).
5 tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”
6 tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”
7 tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.
8 tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”
9 tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.
10 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.).
11 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…?”
12 tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.
13 tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.
14 sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.
15 tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”
16 tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.
17 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.
18 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.
19 tn Heb “without silver.”
20 tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.
21 tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).