42:4 You said, 1
‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you. 2
42:6 Therefore I despise myself, 3
and I repent in dust and ashes!
1 tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.
2 sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.
3 tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).