I lay my hand on my mouth.
5I have spoken once, and I will not answer;
twice, but will proceed no further.”
God’s Challenge to Job
6Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:
7“Gird up your loins like a man;
I will question you, and you declare to me.
8Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be justified?
9Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10“Deck yourself with majesty and dignity;
clothe yourself with glory and splendor.
11Pour out the overflowings of your anger,
and look on all who are proud, and abase them.
12Look on all who are proud, and bring them low;
tread down the wicked where they stand.
13Hide them all in the dust together;
bind their faces in the world below.a
14Then I will also acknowledge to you
that your own right hand can give you victory.
15“Look at Behemoth,
which I made just as I made you;
it eats grass like an ox.
16Its strength is in its loins,
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17It makes its tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are knit together.
18Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
19“It is the first of the great acts of God—
only its Maker can approach it with the sword.
20For the mountains yield food for it
where all the wild animals play.
21Under the lotus plants it lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
22The lotus trees cover it for shade;
the willows of the wadi surround it.
23Even if the river is turbulent, it is not frightened;
it is confident though Jordan rushes against its mouth.
24Can one take it with hooksb
or pierce its nose with a snare?
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a Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
b Heb the hidden place
c Cn: Heb in his eyes
40.4–5 Against the background of cosmic wonder, Job recognizes divine silence about human beings and perceives the futility of greatness, even moral excellence. He therefore vows to abandon his challenge of God’s conduct.
40.6 A second divine speech is introduced, although Job has already conceded defeat.
40.15 Behemoth is often identified as a hippopotamus, Leviathan as a crocodile. Egyptian iconography of the god Horus fighting these two creatures, who represent the forces of chaos, is usually thought to confirm this reading of the biblical text. Fantasy plays a role, however, and these animals are largely figments of the imagination. If tail (v. 17) is not a euphemism for the sexual organ, Behemoth seems in this respect to resemble a crocodile.
40.19 Acts, lit. “ways.” According to the creation hymn in Prov 8.22, wisdom was the first of God’s acts. A related root in Ugaritic seems to connote “sovereignty” and thus “powerful deeds” (cf. Prov 31.3).
JOB 41c
1“Can you draw out Leviathand with a fishhook,
or press down its tongue with a cord?
2Can you put a rope in its nose,
or pierce its jaw with a hook?
3Will it make many supplications to you?
Will it speak soft words to you?
4Will it make a covenant with you
to be taken as your servant forever?
5Will you play with it as with a bird,
or will you put it on leash for your girls?
6Will traders bargain over it?
Will they divide it up among the merchants?
7Can you fill its skin with harpoons,
or its head with fishing spears?
8Lay hands on it;
think of the battle; you will not do it again!
9e Any hope of capturing itf will be disappointed;
were not even the godsg overwhelmed at the sight of it?
10No one is so fierce as to dare to stir it up.
Who can stand before it?h
11Who can confront ith and be safe?i
—under the whole heaven, who?j
12“I will not keep silence concerning its limbs,
or its mighty strength, or its splendid frame.
13Who can strip off its outer garment?
Who can penetrate its double coat of mail?a
14Who can open the doors of its face?
There is terror all around its teeth.
15Its backb is made of shields in rows,
shut up closely as with a seal.
16One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17They are joined one to another;
they clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18Its sneezes flash forth light,
and its eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.
19From its mouth go flaming torches;
sparks of fire leap out.
20Out of its nostrils comes smoke,
as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21Its breath kindles coals,
and a flame comes out of its mouth.
22In its neck abides strength,
and terror dances before it.
23The folds of its flesh cling together;
it is firmly cast and immovable.
24Its heart is as hard as stone,
as hard as the lower millstone.
25When it raises itself up the gods are afraid;
at the crashing they are beside themselves.
26Though the sword reaches it, it does not avail,
nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.
27It counts iron as straw,
and bronze as rotten wood.
28The arrow cannot make it flee;
slingstones, for it, are turned to chaff.
29Clubs are counted as chaff;
it laughs at the rattle of javelins.
30Its underparts are like sharp potsherds;
it spreads itself like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31It makes the deep boil like a pot;
it makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32It leaves a shining wake behind it;
one would think the deep to be white-haired.
33On earth it has no equal,
a creature without fear.
34It surveys everything that is lofty;
it is king over all that are proud.”
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a Ch 40.25 in Heb
b Or the crocodile
c Ch 41.1 in Heb
d Heb of it
e Cn Compare Symmachus Syr: Heb one is
f Heb me
g Heb me
h Gk: Heb that I shall repay
i Heb to me
j Gk: Heb bridle
k Cn Compare Gk Vg: Heb pride
41.1 Considerable speculation about the ultimate fate of Leviathan occupied the minds of later apocalyptic thinkers, some of whom envisioned this fishlike creature being served as food for the faithful.
41.18–21 Fantasy and poetic license reign in this description of a fire-eating dragon.
JOB 42
Job Is Humbled and Satisfied
1Then Job answered the LORD:
2“I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you declare to me.’
5I had heard
of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job’s Friends Are Humiliated
7After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly; for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done.” 9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer.
Job’s Fortunes Are Restored Twofold
10And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends; and the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11Then there came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they ate bread with him in his house; they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him; and each of them gave him a piece of moneya and a gold ring. 12The LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. 17And Job died, old and full of days.
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a Heb a qesitah
42.5 Hearing was by no means denigrated in ancient pedagogy, which relied heavily on oral presentation (cf. Egyptian instructions). Elevating sight over hearing, Job may say, “I had heard and now I see.” An ancient tradition that none could see God and live (see Ex 33.20) admitted exceptions in the narratives about Israel’s ancestors.
42.6 The translation and meaning of this verse are uncertain. It can be read that Job repented of dust and ashes, i.e., of repentance. Perhaps Job relinquishes his conviction that guilt and innocence are taken into account by the ruler of the universe. Some scholars see irony in Job’s response, a concealing of his continued defiance in the face of divine cruelty.
42.7–17 The epilogue. A prose ending affirms Job’s view of God and condemns that of his friends. God restores Job’s health and doubles his former wealth.
42.7 When did Job speak correctly? In the defiant speeches that denied divine justice? Or in the submission resulting from a new vision of God? The Testament of Job reads that the friends have not spoken correctly about Job.
42.8–10 Job shall pray for you. In rabbinical interpretation Job’s condition changed as a direct consequence of his interceding for the friends, a point that v. 10 seems to make (cf. Gen 20.7). The twofold restitution, that of a convicted criminal, is fully ironic.
42.11 Evil…upon him. The text freely acknowledges God’s responsibility for Job’s misfortunes. The monetary unit mentioned here is appropriate for the patriarchal setting of the tale (cf. Gen 33.19; Josh 24.32). This gift was no insignificant one. The Targum of Job, discovered in the area of the Dead Sea, seems to have concluded with v. 11.
42.13 The Septuagint doubles the number of children. Surprisingly, slaves are missing from the account of Job’s restoration.
42.14 Like Baal’s three daughters, Job’s are named: Jemimah (“Dove”), Keziah (“Cinnamon”), and Keren-happuch (“Horn of Antinomy”). Neither Baal’s nor Job’s sons are named. Perhaps the emphasis on Job’s daughters’ beauty and wealth implies that he will easily find husbands for them (cf. Sir 42.9–11).
42.15 Normally daughters did not inherit unless there were no sons.
42.16 One hundred and forty years. The customary life span, according to Ps 90.10, is doubled in Job’s case, counting from the time that his calamities ended.
42.17 The same language is used of Abraham and Isaac (Gen 25.8; 35.29).
THE PSALMS
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PSALMS, OR THE PSALTER, as it is sometimes called, is a collection of prayers and songs composed throughout Israel’s history. Its title, Psalms, is derived from a Greek term meaning “song.” The Hebrew title of the book, Tehillim, means more specifically “hymns” or “songs of praise.”
Poetry and Music
THE POETIC CHARACTER OF THE PSALMS is manifest in the balance or symmetry of each line. A line of poetry, which is often identical with a numbered verse, is composed of two or three parts, usually sentences or clauses, called cola (singular, colon). The balance between or among the cola is evident in three ways, often more approximate than precise: sound or rhythm (accented or stressed syllables), length of line (the number of syllables), and especially parallelism of meaning, in which members or words in one colon are seconded or paralleled in some fashion in another. The forms of such parallelism are many and may involve contrasting elements as well as synonymous ones. The highly poetic form of the psalms is evident also in the use of figures of thought and speech, word pairs, rhyme, and other common poetic devices. The musical character of the psalms is reflected in the title to the book, in many of the superscriptions, or headings, which often contain what seem to be technical music terms, and the long tradition of the musical use of Psalms that continues to the present day.
Psalm Types
THE PSALMS FALL GENERALLY INTO CERTAIN TYPES or genres that reflect usage in various contexts, especially in the worship life of ancient Israel. The title of the book characterizes the psalms as hymns and thus identifies the praise of God in worship as their purpose. The conclusion to the first half of the Psalter (Pss 1–72), “the prayers of David…are ended,” indicates, however, that much of this biblical book was understood as prayer, often that of an individual in distress and needing help. In a number of cases one can see that prayers and hymns that may have been originally intended for a setting in worship have become more like instruction in character. The reverse may have happened as well. A didactic function for the psalms is confirmed by the introduction to the Psalter, Ps 1, with its focus upon the law, or instruction of the Lord, and its study (cf. Ps 119, which, it has been suggested, may have been the conclusion to an earlier form of the Psalter). Thus, prayers for help, songs of praise, and instruction for life were all joined in this book as different and changing intentions shaped its formation.
PRAYERS FOR HELP (LAMENTS)
THE LARGEST CATEGORY OF PSALMS is composed of prayers for help—usually called laments—either on the part of an individual (e.g., Pss 3–7) or the community as a whole (e.g., Pss 83; 85). In some cases individual prayers have been transformed into community prayers, and in some community prayers one can hear individual and representative voices. These psalms were prayed in situations of severe distress, although the particular circumstances out of which they originated are no longer discernible except in the broadest sense. Sickness and adversity, betrayal and abandonment, sin and guilt, and slander and false accusation as well as other acts of persecution and o
ppression by those called “enemies” and “wicked” are aspects of suffering reflected in the individual prayers. For the community prayers, situations of national disaster and defeat are indicated, and in some instances it appears as if the Babylonian destruction of Judah (587 BCE) and the exile that followed are in view (e.g., Pss 74; 79; 137). In all of these prayers the circumstances and the effects of the distress on the ones who prayed are set forth in generalized, stylized, and metaphorical ways that have served to loosen these prayers from whatever original setting they may have had and made them more broadly applicable in the life of the community over long periods and for different situations.
The focus of the prayers is on petitions or pleas for help that incorporate lamenting descriptions of the psalmist’s distress, including references to physical and emotional suffering, divine affliction, or persecution by other persons. Such prayers, however, also express the petitioner’s confidence or trust in God’s power and willingness to help and often give reasons why the deity should do so. These usually have to do with the character of the deity, the plight of the psalmist, or the sufferer’s trust in God. Frequently the one who prays vows to sacrifice and offer praise to God when deliverance comes. One also may discern indications that the prayer has been heard and God has responded.
SONGS OF THANKSGIVING
THE PROMISE OF PRAISE in the prayer for help is what evokes the song of thanksgiving (e.g., Ps 30). Here the psalmist sings praise to God in gratitude for the help that was given, frequently giving some account of the distress and God’s deliverance. Sacrifices may have accompanied these songs. They were, at least, sung in the sanctuary and before the congregation. The song of the psalmist is a testimony inviting others to praise the Lord because of the help God has shown. A few psalms may be communal songs of thanksgiving.
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 204
