Discovery BoxJob 31:31 
Context31:31 if 1 the members of my household 2 have never said, 3
‘If only there were 4 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 5 meat!’ –
Job 31:35
Context31:35 “If only I had 6 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 7
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 8
that my accuser had written. 9
1 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
2 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
3 sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.
4 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
5 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”
7 tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.
8 tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).
9 tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).
