31:22 then 1 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 2
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 3
31:36 Surely 4 I would wear it proudly 5 on my shoulder,
I would bind 6 it on me like a crown;
1 sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.
2 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)].”
3 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.
4 tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).
5 tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).
6 tn This verb is only found in Prov 6:21. But E. Dhorme (Job, 470) suggests that (with metathesis) we have a derivative מַעֲדַנּוֹת (ma’adannot, “bonds; ties”) in 38:31.