12:6 But 1 the tents of robbers are peaceful,
and those who provoke God are confident 2 –
who carry their god in their hands. 3
12:9 Which of all these 4 does not know
that the hand of the Lord 5 has done 6 this,
21:7 “Why do the wicked go on living, 7
grow old, 8 even increase in power?
21:8 Their children 9 are firmly established
in their presence, 10
their offspring before their eyes.
21:9 Their houses are safe 11 and without fear; 12
and no rod of punishment 13 from God is upon them. 14
21:10 Their bulls 15 breed 16 without fail; 17
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
21:11 They allow their children to run 18 like a flock;
their little ones dance about.
21:12 They sing 19 to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
21:13 They live out 20 their years in prosperity
and go down 21 to the grave 22 in peace.
21:14 So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to 23 know your ways. 24
21:15 Who is the Almighty, that 25 we should serve him?
What would we gain
if we were to pray 26 to him?’ 27
22:18 But it was he 28 who filled their houses
with good things –
yet the counsel of the wicked 29
was far from me. 30
1 tn The verse gives the other side of the coin now, the fact that the wicked prosper.
2 tn The plural is used to suggest the supreme degree of arrogant confidence (E. Dhorme, Job, 171).
3 sn The line is perhaps best understood as describing one who thinks he is invested with the power of God.
4 tn This line could also be translated “by all these,” meaning “who is not instructed by nature?” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 93). But D. J. A. Clines points out that the verses have presented the animals as having knowledge and communicating it, so the former reading would be best (Job [WBC], 279).
5 tc Some commentators have trouble with the name “Yahweh” in this verse, which is not the pattern in the poetic section of Job. Three
6 sn The expression “has done this” probably refers to everything that has been discussed, namely, the way that God in his wisdom rules over the world, but specifically it refers to the infliction of suffering in the world.
7 sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”
8 tn The verb עָתַק (’ataq) means “to move; to proceed; to advance.” Here it is “to advance in years” or “to grow old.” This clause could serve as an independent clause, a separate sentence; but it more likely continues the question of the first colon and is parallel to the verb “live.”
9 tn Heb “their seed.”
10 tn The text uses לִפְנֵיהֶם עִמָּם (lifnehem ’immam, “before them, with them”). Many editors think that these were alternative readings, and so omit one or the other. Dhorme moved עִמָּם (’immam) to the second half of the verse and emended it to read עֹמְדִים (’omÿdim, “abide”). Kissane and Gordis changed only the vowels and came up with עַמָּם (’ammam, “their kinfolk”). But Gordis thinks the presence of both of them in the line is evidence of a conflated reading (p. 229).
11 tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace, safety”) is here a substantive after a plural subject (see GKC 452 §141.c, n. 3).
12 tn The form מִפָּחַד (mippakhad) is translated “without fear,” literally “from fear”; the preposition is similar to the alpha privative in Greek. The word “fear, dread” means nothing that causes fear or dread – they are peaceful, secure. See GKC 382 §119.w.
13 tn Heb “no rod of God.” The words “punishment from” have been supplied in the translation to make the metaphor understandable for the modern reader by stating the purpose of the rod.
14 sn In 9:34 Job was complaining that there was no umpire to remove God’s rod from him, but here he observes no such rod is on the wicked.
15 tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.
16 tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).
17 tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).
18 tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.
19 tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”
20 tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).
21 tc The MT has יֵחָתּוּ (yekhattu, “they are frightened [or broken]”), taking the verb from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). But most would slightly repoint it to יֵחָתוּ (yekhatu), an Aramaism, “they go down,” from נָחַת (nakhat, “go down”). See Job 17:16.
22 tn The word רֶגַע (rega’) has been interpreted as “in a moment” or “in peace” (on the basis of Arabic raja`a, “return to rest”). Gordis thinks this is a case of talhin – both meanings present in the mind of the writer.
23 tn The absence of the preposition before the complement adds greater vividness to the statement: “and knowing your ways – we do not desire.”
24 sn Contrast Ps 25:4, which affirms that walking in God’s ways means to obey God’s will – the Torah.
25 tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”
26 tn The verb פָּגַע (paga’) means “to encounter; to meet,” but also “to meet with request; to intercede; to interpose.” The latter meaning is a derived meaning by usage.
27 tn The verse is not present in the LXX. It may be that it was considered too blasphemous and therefore omitted.
28 tn The pronoun is added for this emphasis; it has “but he” before the verb.
29 tn See Job 10:3.
30 tc The LXX has “from him,” and this is followed by several commentators. But the MT is to be retained, for Eliphaz is recalling the words of Job. Verses 17 and 18 are deleted by a number of commentators as a gloss because they have many similarities to 21:14-16. But Eliphaz is recalling what Job said, in order to say that the prosperity to which Job alluded was only the prelude to a disaster he denied (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 156).