29:7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square, 1
29:8 the young men would see me and step aside, 2
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
29:9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
29:10 the voices of the nobles fell silent, 3
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
29:11 “As soon as the ear heard these things, 4 it blessed me, 5
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
29:12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who 6 had no one to assist him;
29:13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me, 7
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice; 8
29:14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me, 9
my just dealing 10 was like a robe and a turban;
29:20 My glory 11 will always be fresh 12 in me,
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
29:21 “People 13 listened to me and waited silently; 14
they kept silent for my advice.
30:1 “But now they mock me, those who are younger 15 than I,
whose fathers I disdained too much 16
to put with my sheep dogs. 17
49:16 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich 18
and his wealth multiplies! 19
49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies;
his wealth will not follow him down into the grave. 20
89:44 You have brought to an end his splendor, 21
and have knocked 22 his throne to the ground.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’ 23
You will enjoy 24 the wealth of nations
and boast about 25 the riches you receive from them. 26
9:11 Ephraim will be like a bird;
what they value 27 will fly away.
They will not bear children –
they will not enjoy pregnancy –
they will not even conceive! 28
1 sn In the public square. The area referred to here should not be thought of in terms of modern western dimensions. The wide space, plaza, or public square mentioned here is the open area in the gate complex where legal and business matters were conducted. The area could be as small as a few hundred square feet.
2 tn The verb means “to hide; to withdraw.” The young men out of respect would withdraw or yield the place of leadership to Job (thus the translation “step aside”). The old men would rise and remain standing until Job took his seat – a sign of respect.
3 tn The verb here is “hidden” as well as in v. 8. But this is a strange expression for voices. Several argue that the word was erroneously inserted from 8a and needs to be emended. But the word “hide” can have extended meanings of “withdraw; be quiet; silent” (see Gen 31:27). A. Guillaume relates the Arabic habi’a, “the fire dies out,” applying the idea of “silent” only to v. 10 (it is a form of repetition of words with different senses, called jinas). The point here is that whatever conversation was going on would become silent or hushed to hear what Job had to say.
4 tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
5 tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.
6 tn The negative introduces a clause that serves as a negative attribute; literally the following clause says, “and had no helper” (see GKC 482 §152.u).
7 tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).
8 tn The verb אַרְנִן (’arnin) is from רָנַן (ranan, “to give a ringing cry”) but here “cause to give a ringing cry,” i.e., shout of joy. The rejoicing envisioned in this word is far greater than what the words “sing” or “rejoice” suggest.
9 tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.
10 tn The word מִשְׁפָּטִי (mishpati) is simply “my justice” or “my judgment.” It refers to the decisions he made in settling issues, how he dealt with other people justly.
11 tn The word is “my glory,” meaning his high respect and his honor. Hoffmann proposed to read כִּידוֹן (kidon) instead, meaning “javelin” (as in 1 Sam 17:6), to match the parallelism (RQ 3 [1961/62]: 388). But the parallelism does not need to be so tight.
12 tn Heb “new.”
13 tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.
14 tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.
15 tn Heb “smaller than I for days.”
16 tn Heb “who I disdained their fathers to set…,” meaning “whose fathers I disdained to set.” The relative clause modifies the young fellows who mock; it explains that Job did not think highly enough of them to put them with the dogs. The next verse will explain why.
17 sn Job is mocked by young fellows who come from low extraction. They mocked their elders and their betters. The scorn is strong here – dogs were despised as scavengers.
18 sn When a man becomes rich. Why would people fear such a development? The acquisition of wealth makes individuals powerful and enables them to oppress others (see vv. 5-6).
19 tn Heb “when the glory of his house grows great.”
20 tn Heb “his glory will not go down after him.”
21 tc The Hebrew text appears to read, “you have brought to an end from his splendor,” but the form מִטְּהָרוֹ (mittÿharo) should be slightly emended (the daghesh should be removed from the tet [ת]) and read simply “his splendor” (the initial mem [מ] is not the preposition, but a nominal prefix).
22 tn The Hebrew verb מָגַר (magar) occurs only here and perhaps in Ezek 21:17.
23 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
24 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
25 tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
26 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
27 tn Heb “their glory” (so NASB); TEV “Israel’s greateness.”
28 tn Heb “no childbearing, no pregnancy, no conception.” The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to the three parallel nouns functions in a privative sense, indicating deprivation (BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7).