Job 5:22

5:22 You will laugh at destruction and famine

and need not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.


tc The repetition of “destruction” and “famine” here has prompted some scholars to delete the whole verse. Others try to emend the text. The LXX renders them as “the unrighteous and the lawless.” But there is no difficulty in having the repetition of the words as found in the MT.

tn The word for “famine” is an Aramaic word found again in 30:3. The book of Job has a number of Aramaisms that are used to form an alternative parallel expression (see notes on “witness” in 16:19).

tn The negated jussive is used here to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen (GKC 322 §109.e).