22:24 and throw 1 your gold 2 in the dust –
your gold 3 of Ophir
among the rocks in the ravines –
32:34 “Is this not stored up with me?” says the Lord, 4
“Is it not sealed up in my storehouses?
6:19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth 5 and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 6:20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.
1 tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.
2 tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).
3 tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.
4 tn Verses 34-35 appear to be a quotation of the
5 tn The term σής (shs) refers to moths in general. It is specifically the larvae of moths that destroy clothing by eating holes in it (L&N 4.49; BDAG 922 s.v.). See Jas 5:2, which mentions “moth-eaten” clothing.
6 tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.
7 tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”