Job 13:4

But you, however, are inventors of lies; ¹  all of you are worthless physicians! ² 

You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!

"But you smear with lies; You are all worthless physicians.

For you are smearing me with lies. As doctors, you are worthless quacks.

You graffiti my life with lies. You're a bunch of pompous quacks!

But you put a false face on things; all your attempts to put things right are of no value.

As for you, you whitewash with lies; all of you are worthless physicians.

But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians.

But you, however, are inventors of lies; ¹  all of you are worthless physicians! ² 

¹ tn The טֹפְלֵי־שָׁקֶר (tofÿle shaqer) are “plasterers of lies” (Ps 119:69). The verb means “to coat, smear, plaster.” The idea is that of imputing something that is not true. Job is saying that his friends are inventors of lies. The LXX was influenced by the next line and came up with “false physicians.”

² tn The literal rendering of the construct would be “healers of worthlessness.” Ewald and Dillmann translated it “patchers” based on a meaning in Arabic and Ethiopic; this would give the idea “botchers.” But it makes equally good sense to take “healers” as the meaning, for Job’s friends came to minister comfort and restoration to him – but they failed. See P. Humbert, “Maladie et medicine dans l’AT,” RHPR 44 (1964): 1-29.