5:19 He will deliver you 1 from six calamities;
yes, in seven 2 no evil will touch you.
8:10 Will they not 3 instruct you and 4 speak to you,
and bring forth words 5
from their understanding? 6
10:4 “Do you have eyes of flesh, 7
or do you see 8 as a human being sees? 9
10:9 Remember that you have made me as with 10 the clay;
will 11 you return me to dust?
10:13 “But these things 12 you have concealed in your heart;
I know that this 13 is with you: 14
11:7 “Can you discover 15 the essence 16 of God?
Can you find out 17
the perfection of the Almighty? 18
11:16 For you 19 will forget your trouble; 20
you will remember it
like water that 21 has flowed away.
12:2 “Without a doubt you are the people, 22
and wisdom will die with you. 23
13:2 What you know, 24 I 25 know also;
I am not inferior 26 to you!
13:4 But you, however, are inventors of lies; 27
all of you are worthless physicians! 28
13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! 29
For you, that would be wisdom. 30
13:7 Will you speak wickedly 31 on God’s behalf? 32
Will you speak deceitfully for him?
13:8 Will you show him partiality? 33
Will you argue the case 34 for God?
13:11 Would not his splendor 35 terrify 36 you
and the fear he inspires 37 fall on you?
14:16 “Surely now you count my steps; 39
then you would not mark 40 my sin. 41
15:6 Your own mouth condemns 42 you, not I;
your own lips testify against 43 you.
15:7 “Were you the first man ever born?
Were you brought forth before the hills?
15:8 Do you listen in on God’s secret council? 44
Do you limit 45 wisdom to yourself?
16:3 Will 46 there be an end to your 47 windy words? 48
Or what provokes 49 you that you answer? 50
17:4 Because 51 you have closed their 52 minds to understanding,
therefore you will not exalt them. 53
19:3 These ten times 54 you have been reproaching me; 55
you are not ashamed to attack me! 56
19:22 Why do you pursue me like God does? 57
Will you never be satiated with my flesh? 58
21:27 “Yes, I know what you are thinking, 59
the schemes 60 by which you would wrong me. 61
21:29 Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts 62 –
22:4 Is it because of your piety 63 that he rebukes you
and goes to judgment with you? 64
22:7 You gave the weary 65 no water to drink
and from the hungry you withheld food.
22:9 you sent widows away empty-handed,
and the arms 66 of the orphans you crushed. 67
22:10 That is why snares surround you,
and why sudden fear terrifies you,
22:11 why it is so dark you cannot see, 68
and why a flood 69 of water covers you.
26:2 “How you have helped 70 the powerless! 71
How you have saved the person who has no strength! 72
30:21 You have become cruel to me; 73
with the strength of your hand you attack me. 74
33:7 Therefore no fear of me should terrify you,
nor should my pressure 75 be heavy on you. 76
33:33 If not, you listen to me;
be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”
34:2 “Listen to my words, you wise men;
hear 77 me, you learned men. 78
35:2 “Do you think this to be 79 just:
when 80 you say, ‘My right before God.’ 81
35:3 But you say, ‘What will it profit you,’ 82
and, ‘What do I gain by not sinning?’ 83
35:4 I 84 will reply to you, 85
and to your friends with you.
38:18 Have you considered the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know it all!
38:21 You know, for you were born before them; 86
and the number of your days is great!
38:34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds
so that a flood of water covers you? 87
39:19 “Do you give the horse its strength?
Do you clothe its neck with a mane? 88
40:14 Then I myself will acknowledge 89 to you
that your own right hand can save you. 90
41:3 Will it make numerous supplications to you, 91
will it speak to you with tender words? 92
1 tn The verb is the Hiphil imperfect of נָצַל (natsal, “deliver”). These verbs might have been treated as habitual imperfects if it were not for the use of the numerical images – “six calamities…in seven.” So the nuance is specific future instead.
2 tn The use of a numerical ladder as we have here – “six // seven” is frequent in wisdom literature to show completeness. See Prov 6:16; Amos 1:3, Mic 5:5. A number that seems to be sufficient for the point is increased by one, as if to say there is always one more. By using this Eliphaz simply means “in all troubles” (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 56).
3 tn The sentence begins emphatically: “Is it not they.”
4 tn The “and” is not present in the line. The second clause seems to be in apposition to the first, explaining it more thoroughly: “Is it not they [who] will instruct you, [who] will speak to you.”
5 tn The noun may have been left indeterminate for the sake of emphasis (GKC 401-2 §125.c), meaning “important words.”
6 tn Heb “from their heart.”
7 tn Here “flesh” is the sign of humanity. The expression “eyes of flesh” means essentially “human eyes,” i.e., the outlook and vision of humans.
8 sn The verb translated “see” could also include the figurative category of perceive as well. The answer to Job’s question is found in 1 Sam 16:7: “The
9 sn In this verse Job asks whether or not God is liable to making mistakes or errors of judgment. He wonders if God has no more insight than his friends have. Of course, the questions are rhetorical, for he knows otherwise. But his point is that God seems to be making a big mistake here.
10 tn The preposition “like” creates a small tension here. So some ignore the preposition and read “clay” as an adverbial accusative of the material (GKC 371 §117.hh but cf. 379 §119.i with reference to beth essentiae: “as it were, by clay”). The NIV gets around the problem with a different meaning for the verb: “you molded me like clay.” Some suggest the meaning was “as [with] clay” (in the same manner that we have “as [in] the day of Midian” [Isa 9:4]).
11 tn The text has a conjunction: “and to dust….”
12 sn “These things” refers to the affliction that God had brought on Job. They were concealed by God from the beginning.
13 sn The meaning of the line is that this was God’s purpose all along. “These things” and “this” refer to the details that will now be given in the next few verses.
14 sn The contradiction between how God had provided for and cared for Job’s life and how he was now dealing with him could only be resolved by Job with the supposition that God had planned this severe treatment from the first as part of his plan.
15 tn The verb is מָצָא (matsa’, “to find; to discover”). Here it should be given the nuance of potential imperfect. And, in the rhetorical question it is affirming that Job cannot find out the essence of God.
16 tn The word means “search; investigation”; but it here means what is discovered in the search (so a metonymy of cause for the effect).
17 tn The same verb is now found in the second half of the verse, with a slightly different sense – “attain, reach.” A. R. Ceresko notes this as an example of antanaclasis (repetition of a word with a lightly different sense – “find/attain”). See “The Function of Antanaclasis in Hebrew Poetry,” CBQ 44 (1982): 560-61.
18 tn The abstract תַּכְלִית (takhlit) from כָּלָה (kalah, “to be complete; to be perfect”) may mean the end or limit of something, perhaps to perfection. So the NIV has “can you probe the limits of the Almighty?” The LXX has: “have you come to the end of that which the Almighty has made?”
19 tn For a second time (see v. 13) Zophar employs the emphatic personal pronoun. Could he be providing a gentle reminder that Job might have forgotten the sin that has brought this trouble? After all, there will come a time when Job will not remember this time of trial.
20 sn It is interesting to note in the book that the resolution of Job’s trouble did not come in the way that Zophar prescribed it.
21 tn The perfect verb forms an abbreviated relative clause (without the pronoun) modifying “water.”
22 tn The expression “you are the people” is a way of saying that the friends hold the popular opinion – they represent it. The line is sarcastic. Commentators do not think the parallelism is served well by this, and so offer changes for “people.” Some have suggested “you are complete” (based on Arabic), “you are the strong one” (based on Ugaritic), etc. J. A. Davies tried to solve the difficulty by making the second clause in the verse a paratactic relative clause: “you are the people with whom wisdom will die” (“Note on Job 12:2,” VT 25 [1975]: 670-71).
23 sn The sarcasm of Job admits their claim to wisdom, as if no one has it besides them. But the rest of his speech will show that they do not have a monopoly on it.
24 tn Heb “Like your knowledge”; in other words Job is saying that his knowledge is like their knowledge.
25 tn The pronoun makes the subject emphatic and stresses the contrast: “I know – I also.”
26 tn The verb “fall” is used here as it was in Job 4:13 to express becoming lower than someone, i.e., inferior.
27 tn The טֹפְלֵי־שָׁקֶר (tofÿle shaqer) are “plasterers of lies” (Ps 119:69). The verb means “to coat, smear, plaster.” The idea is that of imputing something that is not true. Job is saying that his friends are inventors of lies. The LXX was influenced by the next line and came up with “false physicians.”
28 tn The literal rendering of the construct would be “healers of worthlessness.” Ewald and Dillmann translated it “patchers” based on a meaning in Arabic and Ethiopic; this would give the idea “botchers.” But it makes equally good sense to take “healers” as the meaning, for Job’s friends came to minister comfort and restoration to him – but they failed. See P. Humbert, “Maladie et medicine dans l’AT,” RHPR 44 (1964): 1-29.
29 tn The construction is the imperfect verb in the wish formula preceded by the infinitive that intensifies it. The Hiphil is not directly causative here, but internally – “keep silent.”
30 tn The text literally reads, “and it would be for you for wisdom,” or “that it would become your wisdom.” Job is rather sarcastic here, indicating if they shut up they would prove themselves to be wise (see Prov 17:28).
31 tn The construction literally reads “speak iniquity.” The form functions adverbially. The noun עַוְלָה (’avlah) means “perversion; injustice; iniquity; falsehood.” Here it is parallel to רְמִיָּה (rÿmiyyah, “fraud; deceit; treachery”).
32 tn The expression “for God” means “in favor of God” or “on God’s behalf.” Job is amazed that they will say false things on God’s behalf.
33 sn The idiom used here is “Will you lift up his face?” Here Job is being very sarcastic, for this expression usually means that a judge is taking a bribe. Job is accusing them of taking God’s side.
34 tn The same root is used here (רִיב, riv, “dispute, contention”) as in v. 6b (see note).
35 sn The word translated “his majesty” or “his splendor” (שְׂאֵתוֹ, sÿ’eto) forms a play on the word “show partiality” (תִּשָּׂאוּן, tissa’un) in the last verse. They are both from the verb נָשַׂא (nasa’, “to lift up”).
36 tn On this verb in the Piel, see 7:14.
37 tn Heb “His dread”; the suffix is a subjective genitive.
38 sn The hope for life after death is supported now by a description of the severity with which God deals with people in this life.
39 tn If v. 16a continues the previous series, the translation here would be “then” (as in RSV). Others take it as a new beginning to express God’s present watch over Job, and interpret the second half of the verse as a question, or emend it to say God does not pass over his sins.
40 sn Compare Ps 130:3-4, which says, “If you should mark iniquity O
41 tn The second colon of the verse can be contrasted with the first, the first being the present reality and the second the hope looked for in the future. This seems to fit the context well without making any changes at all.
42 tn The Hiphil of this root means “declare wicked, guilty” (a declarative Hiphil), and so “condemns.”
43 tn The verb עָנָה (’anah) with the ל (lamed) preposition following it means “to testify against.” For Eliphaz, it is enough to listen to Job to condemn him.
44 tn The meaning of סוֹד (sod) is “confidence.” In the context the implication is “secret counsel” of the
45 tn In v. 4 the word meant “limit”; here it has a slightly different sense, namely, “to reserve for oneself.”
46 tn Disjunctive questions are introduced with the sign of the interrogative; the second part is introduced with אוֹ (’o, see GKC 475 §150.g).
47 tn In v. 3 the second person singular is employed rather than the plural as in vv. 2 and 4. The singular might be an indication that the words of v. 3 were directed at Eliphaz specifically.
48 tn Heb “words of wind.”
49 tn The Hiphil of מָרַץ (marats) does not occur anywhere else. The word means “to compel; to force” (see 6:25).
50 tn The LXX seems to have gone a different way: “What, is there any reason in vain words, or what will hinder you from answering?”
51 tn This half-verse gives the reason for the next half-verse.
52 sn The pronoun their refers to Job’s friends. They have not pledged security for him because God has hidden or sealed off their understanding.
53 tn The object “them” is supplied. This is the simplest reading of the line, taking the verb is an active Polel. Some suggest that the subject is “their hand” and the verb is to be translated “is not raised.” This would carry through the thought of the last verse, but it is not necessary to the point.
54 sn The number “ten” is a general expression to convey that this has been done often (see Gen 31:7; Num 14:22).
55 tn The Hiphil of the verb כָּלַם (kalam) means “outrage; insult; shame.” The verbs in this verse are prefixed conjugations, and may be interpreted as preterites if the reference is to the past time. But since the action is still going on, progressive imperfects work well.
56 tn The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (see GKC 385-86 §120.c), or “you attack me shamelessly.” The verb חָכַר (hakhar) poses some difficulties for both the ancient versions and the modern commentators. The verb seems to be cognate to Arabic hakara, “to oppress; to ill-treat.” This would mean that there has been a transformation of ח (khet) to ה (he). Three Hebrew
57 sn Strahan comments, “The whole tragedy of the book is packed into these extraordinary words.”
58 sn The idiom of eating the pieces of someone means “slander” in Aramaic (see Dan 3:8), Arabic and Akkadian.
59 tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.
60 tn For the meaning of this word, and its root זָמַם (zamam), see Job 17:11. It usually means the “plans” or “schemes” that are concocted against someone.
61 tn E. Dhorme (Job, 321) distinguishes the verb חָמַס (khamas) from the noun for “violence.” He proposes a meaning of “think, imagine”: “and the ideas you imagined about me.”
62 tc The LXX reads, “Ask those who go by the way, and do not disown their signs.”
tn The idea is that the merchants who travel widely will talk about what they have seen and heard. These travelers give a different account of the wicked; they tell how he is spared. E. Dhorme (Job, 322) interprets “signs” concretely: “Their custom was to write their names and their thoughts somewhere at the main cross-roads. The main roads of Sinai are dotted with these scribblings made by such passers of a day.”
63 tn The word “your fear” or “your piety” refers to Job’s reverence – it is his fear of God (thus a subjective genitive). When “fear” is used of religion, it includes faith and adoration on the positive side, fear and obedience on the negative.
64 sn Of course the point is that God does not charge Job because he is righteous; the point is he must be unrighteous.
65 tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.
66 tn The “arms of the orphans” are their helps or rights on which they depended for support.
67 tn The verb in the text is Pual: יְדֻכָּא (yÿdukka’, “was [were] crushed”). GKC 388 §121.b would explain “arms” as the complement of a passive imperfect. But if that is too difficult, then a change to Piel imperfect, second person, will solve the difficulty. In its favor is the parallelism, the use of the second person all throughout the section, and the reading in all the versions. The versions may have simply assumed the easier reading, however.
68 tn Heb “or dark you cannot see.” Some commentators and the RSV follow the LXX in reading אוֹ (’o, “or”) as אוֹר (’or, “light”) and translate it “The light has become dark” or “Your light has become dark.” A. B. Davidson suggests the reading “Or seest thou not the darkness.” This would mean Job does not understand the true meaning of the darkness and the calamities.
69 tn The word שִׁפְעַת (shif’at) means “multitude of.” It is used of men, camels, horses, and here of waters in the heavens.
70 tn The interrogative clause is used here as an exclamation, and sarcastic at that. Job is saying “you have in no way helped the powerless.” The verb uses the singular form, for Job is replying to Bildad.
71 tn The “powerless” is expressed here by the negative before the word for “strength; power” – “him who has no power” (see GKC 482 §152.u, v).
72 tn Heb “the arm [with] no strength.” Here too the negative expression is serving as a relative clause to modify “arm,” the symbol of strength and power, which by metonymy stands for the whole person. “Man of arm” denoted the strong in 22:8.
73 tn The idiom uses the Niphal verb “you are turned” with “to cruelty.” See Job 41:20b, as well as Isa 63:10.
74 tc The LXX reads this verb as “you scourged/whipped me.” But there is no reason to adopt this change.
75 tc The noun means “my pressure; my burden” in the light of the verb אָכֲף (’akhaf, “to press on; to grip tightly”). In the parallel passages the text used “hand” and “rod” in the hand to terrify. The LXX has “hand” here for this word. But simply changing it to “hand” is ruled out because the verb is masculine.
76 tn See Job 9:34 and 13:21.
77 tn Heb “give ear to me.”
78 tn The Hebrew word means “the men who know,” and without a complement it means “to possess knowledge.”
79 tn The line could be read as “do you reckon this for justice? Here “to be” is understood.
80 tn The word “when” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
81 tn The brief line could be interpreted in a number of ways. The MT simply has “my right from God.” It could be “I am right before God,” “I am more just/right than God” (identifying the preposition as a comparative min (מִן); cf. J. E. Hartley, Job [NICOT], 463), “I will be right before God,” or “My just cause against God.”
82 tn The referent of “you” is usually understood to be God.
83 tn The Hebrew text merely says, “What do I gain from my sin?” But Job has claimed that he has not sinned, and so this has to be elliptical: “more than if I had sinned” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 224). It could also be, “What do I gain without sin?”
84 tn The emphatic pronoun calls attention to Elihu who will answer these questions.
85 tn The Hebrew text adds, “with words,” but since this is obvious, for stylistic reasons it has not been included in the translation.
86 tn The imperfect verb after the adverb אָז (’az, “then”) functions as a preterite: “you were born.” The line is sarcastic.
87 tc The LXX has “answer you,” and some editors have adopted this. However, the reading of the MT makes better sense in the verse.
88 tn The second half of the verse contains this hapax legomenon, which is usually connected with the word רַעְמָה (ra’mah, “thunder”). A. B. Davidson thought it referred to the quivering of the neck rather than the mane. Gray thought the sound and not the movement was the point. But without better evidence, a reading that has “quivering mane” may not be far off the mark. But it may be simplest to translate it “mane” and assume that the idea of “quivering” is part of the meaning.
89 tn The verb is usually translated “praise,” but with the sense of a public declaration or acknowledgment. It is from יָדָה (yadah, in the Hiphil, as here, “give thanks, laud”).
90 tn The imperfect verb has the nuance of potential imperfect: “can save; is able to save.”
91 tn The line asks if the animal, when caught and tied and under control, would keep on begging for mercy. Absolutely not. It is not in the nature of the beast. The construction uses יַרְבֶּה (yarbeh, “[will] he multiply” [= “make numerous”]), with the object, “supplications” i.e., prayers for mercy.
92 tn The rhetorical question again affirms the opposite. The poem is portraying the creature as powerful and insensitive.