Job 29:24

If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; ¹  and they did not cause the light of my face to darken. ² 

When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.

"I smiled on them when they did not believe, And the light of my face they did not cast down.

When they were discouraged, I smiled at them. My look of approval was precious to them.

When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it; their faces lit up, their troubles took wing!

I was laughing at them when they had no hope, and the light of my face was never clouded by their fear.

I smiled on them when they had no confidence; and the light of my countenance they did not extinguish.

If I mocked at them, they did not believe it , And the light of my countenance they did not cast down.

If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it; ¹  and they did not cause the light of my face to darken. ² 

¹ tn The connection of this clause with the verse is difficult. The line simply reads: “[if] I would smile at them, they would not believe.” Obviously something has to be supplied to make sense out of this. The view adopted here makes the most sense, namely, that when he smiled at people, they could hardly believe their good fortune. Other interpretations are strained, such as Kissane’s, “If I laughed at them, they believed not,” meaning, people rejected the views that Job laughed at.

² tn The meaning, according to Gordis, is that they did nothing to provoke Job’s displeasure.