Job 9:24

If a land ¹  has been given into the hand of a wicked man, ²  he covers ³  the faces of its judges; ⁴  if it is not he, then who is it? ⁵ 

When a land falls into the hands of the wicked, he blindfolds its judges. If it is not he, then who is it?

"The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

The whole earth is in the hands of the wicked, and God blinds the eyes of the judges and lets them be unfair. If not he, then who?

He lets the wicked take over running the world, he installs judges who can't tell right from wrong. If he's not responsible, who is?

The land is given into the power of the evil-doer; the faces of its judges are covered; if not by him, then who has done it?

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; he covers the eyes of its judges—if it is not he, who then is it?

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If it is not He , who else could it be?

If a land ¹  has been given into the hand of a wicked man, ²  he covers ³  the faces of its judges; ⁴  if it is not he, then who is it? ⁵ 

¹ tn Some would render this “earth,” meaning the whole earth, and having the verse be a general principle for all mankind. But Job may have in mind the more specific issue of individual land.

² sn The details of the verse are not easy to explain, but the meaning of the whole verse seems to be about the miscarriage of justice in the courts and the failure of God to do anything about it.

³ tn The subject of the verb is God. The reasoning goes this way: it is the duty of judges to make sure that justice prevails, that restitution and restoration are carried through; but when the wicked gain control of the land of other people, and the judges are ineffective to stop it, then God must be veiling their eyes.

⁴ sn That these words are strong, if not wild, is undeniable. But Job is only taking the implications of his friends’ speeches to their logical conclusion – if God dispenses justice in the world, and there is no justice, then God is behind it all. The LXX omitted these words, perhaps out of reverence for God.

⁵ tn This seems to be a broken-off sentence (anacoluthon), and so is rather striking. The scribes transposed the words אֵפוֹא (’efo’) and הוּא (hu’) to make the smoother reading: “If it is not he, who then is it?”