Job 30:30-31

30:30 My skin has turned dark on me;

my body is hot with fever.

30:31 My harp is used for mourning

and my flute for the sound of weeping.


tn The MT has “become dark from upon me,” prompting some editions to supply the verb “falls from me” (RSV, NRSV), or “peels” (NIV).

tn The word “my bones” may be taken as a metonymy of subject, the bony framework indicating the whole body.

tn The word חֹרֶב (khorev) also means “heat.” The heat in this line is not that of the sun, but obviously a fever.

tn The verb הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to serve the purpose of” (see Gen 1:14ff., 17:7, etc.).