33:8 “Indeed, you have said in my hearing 1
(I heard the sound of the words!):
33:9 2 ‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am clean 3 and have no iniquity.
33:10 4 Yet God 5 finds occasions 6 with me;
he regards me as his enemy!
33:11 7 He puts my feet in shackles;
he watches closely all my paths.’
33:12 Now in this, you are not right – I answer you, 8
for God is greater than a human being. 9
42:3 you asked, 10
‘Who is this who darkens counsel
without knowledge?’
But 11 I have declared without understanding 12
things too wonderful for me to know. 13
42:4 You said, 14
‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you. 15
42:6 Therefore I despise myself, 16
and I repent in dust and ashes!
1 tn Heb “in my ears.”
2 sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.
3 tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”
4 sn See Job 10:13ff.; 19:6ff.; and 13:24.
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn The Hebrew means “frustrations” or “oppositions.” The RSV has “displeasure,” NIV “faults,” and NRSV “occasions.” Rashi chose the word found in Judg 14:4 – with metathesis – meaning “pretexts” (תֹּאֲנוֹת, to’anot); this is followed by NAB, NASB.
7 sn See Job 13:27.
8 tn The meaning of this verb is “this is my answer to you.”
9 tc The LXX has “he that is above men is eternal.” Elihu is saying that God is far above Job’s petty problems.
10 tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.
11 tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37.
12 tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”
13 tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.
14 tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.
15 sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.
16 tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).