Job 21:24

his body ¹  well nourished, ²  and the marrow of his bones moist. ³ 

his body well nourished, his bones rich with marrow.

His sides are filled out with fat, And the marrow of his bones is moist,

the very picture of good health.

fat and sassy.

His buckets are full of milk, and there is no loss of strength in his bones.

his loins full of milk and the marrow of his bones moist.

His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moist.

his body ¹  well nourished, ²  and the marrow of his bones moist. ³ 

¹ tn The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs – but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev) – “his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.

² tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.

³ tn The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.