15:2 They went up to the temple, 1
the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. 2
Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, 3 Moab wails.
Every head is shaved bare,
every beard is trimmed off. 4
9:3 When I heard this report, I tore my tunic and my robe and ripped out some of the hair from my head and beard. Then I sat down, quite devastated.
1:20 Then Job got up 5 and tore his robe. 6 He shaved his head, 7 and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground. 8
8:10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, 9
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes 10
and cause every head to be shaved bald. 11
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; 12
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. 13
1:16 Shave your heads bald as you mourn for the children you love; 15
shave your foreheads as bald 16 as an eagle, 17
for they are taken from you into exile.
1 tn Heb “house.”
2 tn Heb “even Dibon [to] the high places to weep.” The verb “went up” does double duty in the parallel structure.
3 tn Heb “over [or “for”] Nebo and over [or “for”] Medeba.”
4 sn Shaving the head and beard were outward signs of mourning and grief.
5 tn The verb וַיָּקָם (vayyaqom, “and he arose”) indicates the intentionality and the rapidity of the actions to follow. It signals the beginning of his response to the terrible news. Therefore, the sentence could be translated, “Then Job immediately began to tear his robe.”
6 sn It was the custom to tear the robe in a time of mourning, to indicate that the heart was torn (Joel 2:13). The “garment, mantel” here is the outer garment frequently worn over the basic tunic. See further D. R. Ap-Thomas, “Notes on Some Terms Relating to Prayer,” VT 6 (1956): 220-24.
7 sn In mourning one normally put off every adornment that enhanced or embellished the person, including that which nature provided (Jer 7:29; Mic 1:16).
8 tn This last verb is the Hishtaphel of the word חָוָה (khavah; BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחָה); it means “to prostrate oneself, to cause oneself to be low to the ground.” In the OT it is frequently translated “to worship” because that is usually why the individual would kneel down and then put his or her forehead to the ground at the knees. But the word essentially means “to bow down to the ground.” Here “worship” (although employed by several English translations, cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, CEV) conveys more than what is taking place – although Job’s response is certainly worshipful. See G. I. Davies, “A Note on the Etymology of histahawah,” VT 29 (1979): 493-95; and J. A. Emerton, “The Etymology of histahawah,” OTS (1977): 41-55.
9 tn Heb “mourning.”
10 tn Heb “I will place sackcloth on all waists.”
11 tn Heb “and make every head bald.” This could be understood in a variety of ways, while the ritual act of mourning typically involved shaving the head (although occasionally the hair could be torn out as a sign of mourning).
12 tn Heb “I will make it like the mourning for an only son.”
13 tn Heb “and its end will be like a bitter day.” The Hebrew preposition כְּ (kaf) sometimes carries the force of “in every respect,” indicating identity rather than mere comparison.
14 tn Heb “word” or “matter.”
15 tn Heb “over the sons of your delight.”
16 tn Heb “make wide your baldness.”
17 tn Or “a vulture” (cf. NIV, TEV); CEV “a buzzard.” The Hebrew term נֶשֶׁר (nesher) refers to the griffon vulture or eagle.