Job 5:23

For you will have a pact with the stones ¹  of the field, and the wild animals ²  will be at peace ³  with you.

For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.

"For you will be in league with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

You will be at peace with the stones of the field, and its wild animals will be at peace with you.

You'll be on good terms with rocks and mountains; wild animals will become your good friends.

For you will be in agreement with the stones of the earth, and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.

For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.

For you shall have a covenant with the stones of the field, And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.

For you will have a pact with the stones ¹  of the field, and the wild animals ²  will be at peace ³  with you.

¹ tn Heb “your covenant is with the stones of the field.” The line has been variously interpreted and translated. It is omitted in the LXX. It seems to mean there is a deep sympathy between man and nature. Some think it means that the boundaries will not be violated by enemies; Rashi thought it represented some species of beings, like genii of the field, and so read אֲדֹנֵי (’adone, “lords”) for אַבְנֵי (’avne, “stones”). Ball takes the word as בְּנֵי (bÿne, “sons”), as in “sons of the field,” to get the idea that the reference is to the beasts. E. Dhorme (Job, 71) rejects these ideas as too contrived; he says to have a pact with the stones of the field simply means the stones will not come and spoil the ground, making it less fertile.

² tn Heb “the beasts of the field.”

³ tn This is the only occurrence of the Hophal of the verb שָׁלֵם (shalem, “to make or have peace” with someone). Compare Isa 11:6-9 and Ps 91:13. The verb form is the perfect; here it is the perfect consecutive following a noun clause (see GKC 494 §159.g).