23:9 In the north 1 when he is at work, 2
I do not see him; 3
when he turns 4 to the south,
I see no trace of him.
24:18 5 “You say, 6 ‘He is foam 7 on the face of the waters; 8
their portion of the land is cursed
so that no one goes to their vineyard. 9
1 sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.
2 tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (ba’asoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (ya’tof, “covers himself”).
3 tn The verb is the apocopated form of the imperfect. The object is supplied.
4 tn The MT has “he turns,” but the Syriac and Vulgate have “I turn.”
5 tc Many commentators find vv. 18-24 difficult on the lips of Job, and so identify this unit as a misplaced part of the speech of Zophar. They describe the enormities of the wicked. But a case can also be made for retaining it in this section. Gordis thinks it could be taken as a quotation by Job of his friends’ ideas.
6 tn The verb “say” is not in the text; it is supplied here to indicate that this is a different section.
7 tn Or “is swift.”
8 sn The wicked person is described here as a spray or foam upon the waters, built up in the agitation of the waters but dying away swiftly.
9 tn The text reads, “he does not turn by the way of the vineyards.” This means that since the land is cursed, he/one does not go there. Bickell emended “the way of the vineyards” to “the treader of the vineyard” (see RSV, NRSV). This would mean that “no wine-presser would turn towards” their vineyards.