Job 13:3

13:3 But I wish to speak ¹  to the Almighty, ² 

and I desire to argue ³  my case ⁴  with God.

Job 17:3

17:3 Make then my pledge ⁵  with you.

Who else will put up security for me? ⁶ 

Job 23:3-7

23:3 O that I knew ⁷  where I might find him, ⁸ 

that I could come ⁹  to his place of residence! ¹⁰ 

23:4 I would lay out my case ¹¹  before him

and fill my mouth with arguments.

23:5 I would know with what words ¹²  he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

23:6 Would he contend ¹³  with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me. ¹⁴ 

23:7 There ¹⁵  an upright person

could present his case ¹⁶  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 33:6

33:6 Look, I am just like you in relation to God;

I too have been molded ¹⁷  from clay.

Job 38:1-3

VI. The Divine Speeches (38:1-42:6)

The Lord’s First Speech ¹⁸ 

38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind: ¹⁹ 

38:2 “Who is this ²⁰  who darkens counsel ²¹ 

with words without knowledge?

38:3 Get ready for a difficult task ²²  like a man;

I will question you

and you will inform me!

Job 40:4-5

40:4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy ²³  – how could I reply to you?

I put ²⁴  my hand over my mouth to silence myself. ²⁵ 

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ²⁶ 

¹ tn The verb is simply the Piel imperfect אֲדַבֵּר (’adabber, “I speak”). It should be classified as a desiderative imperfect, saying, “I desire to speak.” This is reinforced with the verb “to wish, desire” in the second half of the verse.

² tn The Hebrew title for God here is אֶל־שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”).

³ tn The infinitive absolute functions here as the direct object of the verb “desire” (see GKC 340 §113.b).

⁴ tn The infinitive הוֹכֵחַ (hokheakh) is from the verb יָכַח (yakhakh), which means “to argue, plead, debate.” It has the legal sense here of arguing a case (cf. 5:17).

⁵ tn The MT has two imperatives: “Lay down, pledge me, with me.” Most commentators think that the second imperative should be a noun, and take it to say, “Lay my pledge with/beside you.” A. B. Davidson (Job, 126) suggests that the first verb means “give a pledge,” and so the two similar verbs would be emphatic: “Give a pledge, be my surety.” Other than such a change (which would involve changing the vowels) one would have to interpret similarly by seeing the imperatives as a kind of hendiadys, with the main emphasis being on the second imperative, “make a pledge.”

⁶ sn The idiom is “to strike the hand.” Here the wording is a little different, “Who is he that will strike himself into my hand?”

⁷ tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

⁸ tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

⁹ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

¹⁰ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

¹¹ tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.

¹² tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”

¹³ tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?

¹⁴ tn The verbal clause יָשִׂם בִּי (yasim bi) has been translated “he would pay [attention] to me.” Job is saying that God will not need all his power – he will just have pay attention to Job’s complaint. Job does not need the display of power – he just wants a hearing.

¹⁵ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

¹⁶ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”

¹⁷ tn The verb means “nipped off,” as a potter breaks off a piece of clay when molding a vessel.

¹⁸ sn This is the culmination of it all, the revelation of the Lord to Job. Most interpreters see here the style and content of the author of the book, a return to the beginning of the book. Here the Lord speaks to Job and displays his sovereign power and glory. Job has lived through the suffering – without cursing God. He has held to his integrity, and nowhere regretted it. But he was unaware of the real reason for the suffering, and will remain unaware throughout these speeches. God intervenes to resolve the spiritual issues that surfaced. Job was not punished for sin. And Job’s suffering had not cut him off from God. In the end the point is that Job cannot have the knowledge to make the assessments he made. It is wiser to bow in submission and adoration of God than to try to judge him. The first speech of God has these sections: the challenge (38:1-3), the surpassing mysteries of earth and sky beyond Job’s understanding (4-38), and the mysteries of animal and bird life that surpassed his understanding (38:39–39:30).

¹⁹ sn This is not the storm described by Elihu – in fact, the Lord ignores Elihu. The storm is a common accompaniment for a theophany (see Ezek 1:4; Nah 1:3; Zech 9:14).

²⁰ tn The demonstrative pronoun is used here to emphasize the interrogative pronoun (see GKC 442 §136.c).

²¹ sn The referent of “counsel” here is not the debate between Job and the friends, but the purposes of God (see Ps 33:10; Prov 19:21; Isa 19:17). Dhorme translates it “Providence.”

²² tn Heb “Gird up your loins.” This idiom basically describes taking the hem of the long garment or robe and pulling it up between the legs and tucking it into the front of the belt, allowing easier and freer movement of the legs. “Girding the loins” meant the preparation for some difficult task (Jer 1:17), or for battle (Isa 5:27), or for running (1 Kgs 18:46). C. Gordon suggests that it includes belt-wrestling, a form of hand-to-hand mortal combat (“Belt-wrestling in the Bible World,” HUCA 23 [1950/51]: 136).

²³ tn The word קַלֹּתִי (qalloti) means “to be light; to be of small account; to be unimportant.” From this comes the meaning “contemptible,” which in the causative stem would mean “to treat with contempt; to curse.” Dhorme tries to make the sentence a conditional clause and suggests this meaning: “If I have been thoughtless.” There is really no “if” in Job’s mind.

²⁴ tn The perfect verb here should be classified as an instantaneous perfect; the action is simultaneous with the words.

²⁵ tn The words “to silence myself” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

²⁶ tn Heb “I will not add.”