who fill their houses with silver.
16Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,
like an infant that never sees the light?
17There the wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary are at rest.
18There the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the taskmaster.
19The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are free from their masters.
20“Why is light given to one in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
21who long for death, but it does not come,
and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;
22who rejoice exceedingly,
and are glad when they find the grave?
23Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,
whom God has fenced in?
24For my sighing comes likec my bread,
and my groanings are poured out like water.
25Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me,
and what I dread befalls me.
26I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest; but trouble comse.”
next chapter
* * *
a Heb come
b Cn: Heb day
c Heb before
3.1–42.6 The poetic dialogue. A dispute between Job and three friends begins with his lament. Each of the friends addresses Job, and he responds, for three cycles of speeches. The third is abbreviated by Bildad’s short speech and complete silence on Zophar’s part. Job’s nostalgic glance backward and graphic description of his present woes is interrupted by a hymn on wisdom’s inaccessibility (ch. 28). Then Job pronounces an oath of innocence, demanding that God respond. Instead, a brash Elihu challenges Job; afterward, God speaks to Job from a whirlwind.
3.1 The verb for cursed differs from that used in the prologue. This anticosmic curse in 3.3–10 uses the language of the creation account in Gen 1.1–2.4 (cf. Jer 20.14–18).
3.3 The unusual word for man-child often refers to someone much older than an infant, at times even a soldier. The day of birth and night of conception indicate the end and the beginning of gestation.
3.6 Rejoice, a rare word with connotations of sexual pleasure.
3.8 The Hebrew words for day (see text note b) and sea are similar, differing only in a vowel. Both Sea and Leviathan were thought to represent chaos in ancient myth (cf. Yamm and Lotan in Ugaritic myths). Professional diviners practiced magical cursing (cf. Balaam in Num 22–24).
3.12 An allusion to the practice of placing a newborn infant on a parent’s knees as an expression of acknowledgment (cf. Sir 15.2).
3.23 The verb for fenced in differs from that used in 1.10.
3.26 The threefold use of the same grammatical structure resembles the ticktock of a clock.
JOB 4
Eliphaz Speaks: Job Has Sinned
1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
2“If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?
3See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.
4Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
5But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
6Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7“Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
8As I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap the same.
9By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
11The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
12“Now a word came stealing to me,
my ear received the whisper of it.
13Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
14dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
15A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
16It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
17‘Can mortals be righteous beforea God?
Can human beings be pure beforea their Maker?
18Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
19how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.
20Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
21Their tent-cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.’
next chapter
* * *
a Or more than
b Or more than
4.6 Two of Job’s four attributes from the story (1.1, 8) recur here, although in different form (the Hebrew lacks the word “God” in fear of God, and your ways qualifies integrity).
4.7–8 The logic of Eliphaz’s argument condemns Job’s children, and the language of destruction recalls the blast of wind that demolished their house. Eliphaz appeals here to the notion of divine retribution (cf. Ps 37.25).
4.9 The breath of God animated the first human couple, according to Gen 2.7, but now that life-giving force seeks destruction.
4.10–11 Five different Hebrew words for lion occur here; a similar richness of vocabulary in Joel 1.4 mentions four types of locusts.
4.12–21 A little theophany (self-revelation by God). Its theme, that mortals cannot be purer than their Maker, contrasts with that of the extended theophany, 38.1–42.6, which emphasizes Job’s ignorance and weakness. Eliphaz’s language echoes the theophanies to Abraham (“a deep sleep,” Gen 15.12) and to Elijah (“a sound of sheer silence,” 1 Kings 19.12). The use of the unexpected verb stealing (v. 12) emphasizes Eliphaz’s passive role in the terrifying encounter with God (Eloah, v. 17).
4.14 This description of distress resembles an ancient literary convention, the reaction to a messenger’s anticipated bad news.
JOB 5
Job Is Corrected by God
1“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
3I have seen fools taking root,
but suddenly I cursed their dwelling.
4Their children are far from safety,
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
5The hungry eat their harvest,
and they take it even out of the thorns;b
and the thirstyc pant after their wealth.
6For misery does not come from the earth,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground;
7but human beings are born to trouble
just as sparksd fly upward.
8“As for me, I would seek God,
and to God I would commit my cause.
9He does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number.
10He gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
11he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
&nbs
p; 13He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
14They meet with darkness in the daytime,
and grope at noonday as in the night.
15But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
from the hand of the mighty.
16So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.
17“How happy is the one whom God reproves;
therefore do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.a
18For he wounds, but he binds up;
he strikes, but his hands heal.
19He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no harm shall touch you.
20In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
21You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
22At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth.
23For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.
24You shall know that your tent is safe,
you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
25You shall know that your descendants will be many,
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
as a shock of grain comes up to the threshing floor in its season.
27See, we have searched this out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for yourself.”
next chapter
* * *
a Meaning of Heb uncertain
b Aquila Symmachus Syr Vg: Heb snare
c Or birds; Heb sons of Resheph
d Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
5.4 Eliphaz’s insensitivity erupts in this cruel reference to the death of children, unless 5.3–5 is a standard literary trope.
5.6–7 The pun between the Hebrew words for ground and human beings (or “mortal”) recalls Gen 3.17. The allusion to sparks employs the name of a Canaanite deity, Resheph, who was responsible for plague and pestilence.
5.8 The general names for God, El and Elohim, appear here. The last word in this verse is the only one that does not begin with the Hebrew letter aleph.
5.17–18 These verses resemble Deut 32.39; Pss 94.12; 107.42; Prov 3.11; Hos 6.1.
5.17 The meaning of Almighty, or Shaddai, remains uncertain; it may relate to an Akkadian word for “mountain” or to the verb “to destroy.”
5.18 An ancient tradition refers to Yahweh as Israel’s healer (Ex 15.26).
5.19–20 Six…seven. Ascending numerals sometimes refer to a totality (all of them; cf. Am 1.3–2.16), but at other times specify an actual number, with emphasis falling on the higher of the two (cf. Prov 6.16–19; 30.15–16, 18–19, 21–31).
5.21–22 Does the allusion to destruction conceal a play on the divine epithet Shaddai (v. 17)?
5.23 Peaceful residence with wild animals achieves classic expression in Isa 11.6–9, but a pact with stones is found only here.
5.25 Like the grass. The usual phrase is “like the stars” or “like the sands of the sea” (cf. Gen 15.5).
5.26 Eliphaz’s view of old age and death contrasts with the dismal portrait in Eccl 11.7–12.7.
JOB 6
Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just
1Then Job answered:
2“Othat my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4For the arrows of the Almightya are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
5Does the wild ass bray over its grass,
or the ox low over its fodder?
6Can that which is tasteless be eaten without salt,
or is there any flavor in the juice of mallows?b
7My appetite refuses to touch them;
they are like food that is loathsome to me.b
8“O that I might have my request,
and that God would grant my desire;
9that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10This would be my consolation;
I would even exulta in unrelenting pain;
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?
12Is my strength the strength of stones,
or is my flesh bronze?
13In truth I have no help in me,
and any resource is driven from me.
14“Those who withholdb kindness from a friend
forsake the fear of the Almighty.c
15My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed,
like freshets that pass away,
16that run dark with ice,
turbid with melting snow.
17In time of heat they disappear;
when it is hot, they vanish from their place.
18The caravans turn aside from their course;
they go up into the waste, and perish.
19The caravans of Tema look,
the travelers of Sheba hope.
20They are disappointed because they were confident;
they come there and are confounded.
21Such you have now become to me;d
you see my calamity, and are afraid.
22Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23Or, ‘Save me from an opponent’s hand’?
Or, ‘Ransom me from the hand of oppressors’?
24“Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone wrong.
25How forceful are honest words!
But your reproof, what does it reprove?
26Do you think that you can reprove words,
as if the speech of the desperate were wind?
27You would even cast lots over the orphan,
and bargain over your friend.
28“But now, be pleased to look at me;
for I will not lie to your face.
29Turn, I pray, let no wrong be done.
Turn now, my vindication is at stake.
30Is there any wrong on my tongue?
Cannot my taste discern calamity?
next chapter
* * *
a Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
b Meaning of Heb uncertain
c Meaning of Heb uncertain
d Meaning of Heb uncertain
e Syr Vg Compare Tg: Meaning of Heb uncertain
f Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
g Cn Compare Gk Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
6.4 No evidence exists for the use of poison arrows in the ancient Near East.
6.5–6 Just as Eliphaz cited traditional maxims (4.8; 5.2, 17), Job relies on impossible questions to command assent.
6.10 In 5.1 Eliphaz asked if Job could find protection in one of God’s holy ones. Now Job goes beyond them to deny offense before the Holy One.
6.19 Tema was located in northern Arabia.
6.21 The similarity between the words for see and be afraid constitutes a pun in Hebrew.
6.26 Perhaps the choice of desperate plays on the word for humankind in Hebrew (cf. 7.17).
6.29 A bit of dramatic acting. The friends appear to be walking away and must be called back (cf. 17.10).
JOB 7
Job: My Suffering Is without End
1“Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,
and are not their days like the days of a laborer?
2Like a slave who longs for the
shadow,
and like laborers who look for their wages,
3so I am allotted months of emptiness,
and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’
But the night is long,
and I am full of tossing until dawn.
5My flesh is clothed with worms and dirt;
my skin hardens, then breaks out again.
6My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,
and come to their end without hope.e
7“Remember that my life is a breath;
my eye will never again see good.
8The eye that beholds me will see me no more;
while your eyes are upon me, I shall be gone.
9As the cloud fades and vanishes,
so those who go down to Sheol do not come up;
10they return no more to their houses,
nor do their places know them any more.
11“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12Am I the Sea, or the Dragon,
that you set a guard over me?
13When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than this body.
16I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Let me alone, for my days are a breath.
17What are human beings, that you make so much of them,
that you set your mind on them,
18visit them every morning,
test them every moment?
19Will you not look away from me for a while,
let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
20If I sin, what do I do to you, you watcher of humanity?
Why have you made me your target?
Why have I become a burden to you?
21Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now I shall lie in the earth;
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 196
