Discovery BoxGenesis 17:1-27
Context17:1 When Abram was 99 years old, 1 the Lord appeared to him and said, 2 “I am the sovereign God. 3 Walk 4 before me 5 and be blameless. 6 17:2 Then I will confirm my covenant 7 between me and you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.” 8
17:3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, 9 and God said to him, 10 17:4 “As for me, 11 this 12 is my covenant with you: You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 17:5 No longer will your name be 13 Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham 14 because I will make you 15 the father of a multitude of nations. 17:6 I will make you 16 extremely 17 fruitful. I will make nations of you, and kings will descend from you. 18 17:7 I will confirm 19 my covenant as a perpetual 20 covenant between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 21 17:8 I will give the whole land of Canaan – the land where you are now residing 22 – to you and your descendants after you as a permanent 23 possession. I will be their God.”
17:9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep 24 the covenantal requirement 25 I am imposing on you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. 17:10 This is my requirement that you and your descendants after you must keep: 26 Every male among you must be circumcised. 27 17:11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskins. This will be a reminder 28 of the covenant between me and you. 17:12 Throughout your generations every male among you who is eight days old 29 must be circumcised, whether born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not one of your descendants. 17:13 They must indeed be circumcised, 30 whether born in your house or bought with money. The sign of my covenant 31 will be visible in your flesh as a permanent 32 reminder. 17:14 Any uncircumcised male 33 who has not been circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin will be cut off 34 from his people – he has failed to carry out my requirement.” 35
17:15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai; 36 Sarah 37 will be her name. 17:16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations. 38 Kings of countries 39 will come from her!”
17:17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed 40 as he said to himself, 41 “Can 42 a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old? 43 Can Sarah 44 bear a child at the age of ninety?” 45 17:18 Abraham said to God, “O that 46 Ishmael might live before you!” 47
17:19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. 48 I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual 49 covenant for his descendants after him. 17:20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you. 50 I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants. 51 He will become the father of twelve princes; 52 I will make him into a great nation. 17:21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 17:22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 53
17:23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money) 54 and circumcised them 55 on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 17:24 Now Abraham was 99 years old 56 when he was circumcised; 57 17:25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old 58 when he was circumcised. 17:26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 17:27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
Genesis 7:3-5
Context7:3 and also seven 59 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, 60 to preserve their offspring 61 on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days 62 I will cause it to rain 63 on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”
7:5 And Noah did all 64 that the Lord commanded him.
Job 31:5-40
Context31:5 If 65 I have walked in falsehood,
and if 66 my foot has hastened 67 to deceit –
31:6 let him 68 weigh me with honest 69 scales;
then God will discover 70 my integrity.
31:7 If my footsteps have strayed from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes, 71
or if anything 72 has defiled my hands,
31:8 then let me sow 73 and let another eat,
and let my crops 74 be uprooted.
31:9 If my heart has been enticed by a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door, 75
31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone 76 for another man,
and may other men have sexual relations with her. 77
31:11 For I would have committed 78 a shameful act, 79
an iniquity to be judged. 80
31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, 81
and it would uproot 82 all my harvest.
31:13 “If I have disregarded the right of my male servants
or my female servants
when they disputed 83 with me,
31:14 then what will I do when God confronts me in judgment; 84
when he intervenes, 85
how will I respond to him?
31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? 86
Did not the same one form us in the womb?
31:16 If I have refused to give the poor what they desired, 87
or caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
31:17 If I ate my morsel of bread myself,
and did not share any of it with orphans 88 –
31:18 but from my youth I raised the orphan 89 like a father,
and from my mother’s womb 90
I guided the widow! 91
31:19 If I have seen anyone about to perish for lack of clothing,
or a poor man without a coat,
31:20 whose heart did not bless me 92
as he warmed himself with the fleece of my sheep, 93
31:21 if I have raised my hand 94 to vote against the orphan,
when I saw my support in the court, 95
31:22 then 96 let my arm fall from the shoulder, 97
let my arm be broken off at the socket. 98
31:23 For the calamity from God was a terror to me, 99
and by reason of his majesty 100 I was powerless.
31:24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
31:25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
31:26 if I looked at the sun 101 when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
31:27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth, 102
31:28 then this 103 also would be iniquity to be judged, 104
for I would have been false 105 to God above.
31:29 If 106 I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy 107
or exulted 108 because calamity 109 found him –
31:30 I 110 have not even permitted my mouth 111 to sin
by asking 112 for his life through a curse –
31:31 if 113 the members of my household 114 have never said, 115
‘If only there were 116 someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s 117 meat!’ –
31:32 But 118 no stranger had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler 119 –
31:33 if 120 I have covered my transgressions as men do, 121
by hiding 122 iniquity in my heart, 123
31:34 because I was terrified 124 of the great multitude, 125
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors – 126
31:35 “If only I had 127 someone to hear me!
Here is my signature – 128
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment 129
that my accuser had written. 130
31:36 Surely 131 I would wear it proudly 132 on my shoulder,
I would bind 133 it on me like a crown;
31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would approach him.
31:38 “If my land cried out against me 135
and all its furrows wept together,
31:39 if I have eaten its produce without paying, 136
or caused the death 137 of its owners, 138
31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, weeds!” 139
The words of Job are ended.
[17:1] 1 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:1] 2 tn Heb “appeared to Abram and said to him.” The proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“him”) and the final phrase “to him” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[17:1] 3 tn The name אֵל שַׁדַּי (’el shadday, “El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72. Shaddai/El Shaddai is the sovereign king of the world who grants, blesses, and judges. In the Book of Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness. The patriarchs knew God primarily as El Shaddai (Exod 6:3). While the origin and meaning of this name are uncertain (see discussion below) its significance is clear. The name is used in contexts where God appears as the source of fertility and life. In Gen 17:1-8 he appeared to Abram, introduced himself as El Shaddai, and announced his intention to make the patriarch fruitful. In the role of El Shaddai God repeated these words (now elevated to the status of a decree) to Jacob (35:11). Earlier Isaac had pronounced a blessing on Jacob in which he asked El Shaddai to make Jacob fruitful (28:3). Jacob later prayed that his sons would be treated with mercy when they returned to Egypt with Benjamin (43:14). The fertility theme is not as apparent here, though one must remember that Jacob viewed Benjamin as the sole remaining son of the favored and once-barren Rachel (see 29:31; 30:22-24; 35:16-18). It is quite natural that he would appeal to El Shaddai to preserve Benjamin’s life, for it was El Shaddai’s miraculous power which made it possible for Rachel to give him sons in the first place. In 48:3 Jacob, prior to blessing Joseph’s sons, told him how El Shaddai appeared to him at Bethel (see Gen 28) and promised to make him fruitful. When blessing Joseph on his deathbed Jacob referred to Shaddai (we should probably read “El Shaddai,” along with a few Hebrew
[17:1] 4 tn Or “Live out your life.” The Hebrew verb translated “walk” is the Hitpael; it means “to walk back and forth; to walk about; to live out one’s life.”
[17:1] 5 tn Or “in my presence.”
[17:1] 6 tn There are two imperatives here: “walk…and be blameless [or “perfect”].” The second imperative may be purely sequential (see the translation) or consequential: “walk before me and then you will be blameless.” How one interprets the sequence depends on the meaning of “walk before”: (1) If it simply refers in a neutral way to serving the
[17:2] 7 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative indicates consequence. If Abram is blameless, then the
[17:2] 8 tn Heb “I will multiply you exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:3] 13 tn Heb “And Abram fell on his face.” This expression probably means that Abram sank to his knees and put his forehead to the ground, although it is possible that he completely prostrated himself. In either case the posture indicates humility and reverence.
[17:3] 14 tn Heb “God spoke to him, saying.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:4] 20 tn Heb “is” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
[17:5] 25 tn Heb “will your name be called.”
[17:5] 26 sn Your name will be Abraham. The renaming of Abram was a sign of confirmation to the patriarch. Every time the name was used it would be a reminder of God’s promise. “Abram” means “exalted father,” probably referring to Abram’s father Terah. The name looks to the past; Abram came from noble lineage. The name “Abraham” is a dialectical variant of the name Abram. But its significance is in the wordplay with אַב־הֲמוֹן (’av-hamon, “the father of a multitude,” which sounds like אַבְרָהָם, ’avraham, “Abraham”). The new name would be a reminder of God’s intention to make Abraham the father of a multitude. For a general discussion of renaming, see O. Eissfeldt, “Renaming in the Old Testament,” Words and Meanings, 70-83.
[17:5] 27 tn The perfect verbal form is used here in a rhetorical manner to emphasize God’s intention.
[17:6] 31 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
[17:6] 32 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:6] 33 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
[17:7] 37 tn The verb קוּם (qum, “to arise, to stand up”) in the Hiphil verbal stem means “to confirm, to give effect to, to carry out” (i.e., a covenant or oath; see BDB 878-79 s.v. קוּם).
[17:7] 38 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:7] 39 tn Heb “to be to you for God and to your descendants after you.”
[17:8] 43 tn The verbal root is גּוּר (gur, “to sojourn, to reside temporarily,” i.e., as a resident alien). It is the land in which Abram resides, but does not yet possess as his very own.
[17:8] 44 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:9] 49 tn The imperfect tense could be translated “you shall keep” as a binding command; but the obligatory nuance (“must”) captures the binding sense better.
[17:9] 50 tn Heb “my covenant.” The Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) can refer to (1) the agreement itself between two parties (see v. 7), (2) the promise made by one party to another (see vv. 2-3, 7), (3) an obligation placed by one party on another, or (4) a reminder of the agreement. In vv. 9-10 the word refers to a covenantal obligation which God gives to Abraham and his descendants.
[17:10] 55 tn Heb “This is my covenant that you must keep between me and you and your descendants after you.”
[17:10] 56 sn For a discussion of male circumcision as the sign of the covenant in this passage see M. V. Fox, “The Sign of the Covenant: Circumcision in the Light of the Priestly ‘ot Etiologies,” RB 81 (1974): 557-96.
[17:12] 67 tn Heb “the son of eight days.”
[17:13] 73 tn The emphatic construction employs the Niphal imperfect tense (collective singular) and the Niphal infinitive.
[17:13] 74 tn Heb “my covenant.” Here in v. 13 the Hebrew word בְּרִית (bÿrit) refers to the outward, visible sign, or reminder, of the covenant. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:13] 75 tn Or “an eternal.”
[17:14] 79 tn The disjunctive clause calls attention to the “uncircumcised male” and what will happen to him.
[17:14] 80 tn Heb “that person will be cut off.” The words “that person” have not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:14] 81 tn Heb “he has broken my covenant.” The noun בְּרִית (bÿrit) here refers to the obligation required by God in conjunction with the covenantal agreement. For the range of meaning of the term, see the note on the word “requirement” in v. 9.
[17:15] 85 tn Heb “[As for] Sarai your wife, you must not call her name Sarai, for Sarah [will be] her name.”
[17:15] 86 sn Sarah. The name change seems to be a dialectical variation, both spellings meaning “princess” or “queen.” Like the name Abram, the name Sarai symbolized the past. The new name Sarah, like the name Abraham, would be a reminder of what God intended to do for Sarah in the future.
[17:16] 91 tn Heb “she will become nations.”
[17:17] 97 sn Laughed. The Hebrew verb used here provides the basis for the naming of Isaac: “And he laughed” is וַיִּצְחָק (vayyitskhaq); the name “Isaac” is יִצְחָק (yitskhaq), “he laughs.” Abraham’s (and Sarah’s, see 18:12) laughter signals disbelief, but when the boy is born, the laughter signals surprise and joy.
[17:17] 98 tn Heb “And he fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart.”
[17:17] 99 tn The imperfect verbal form here carries a potential nuance, as it expresses the disbelief of Abraham.
[17:17] 100 tn Heb “to the son of a hundred years.”
[17:17] 101 sn It is important to note that even though Abraham staggers at the announcement of the birth of a son, finding it almost too incredible, he nonetheless calls his wife Sarah, the new name given to remind him of the promise of God (v. 15).
[17:17] 102 tn Heb “the daughter of ninety years.”
[17:18] 103 tn The wish is introduced with the Hebrew particle לוּ (lu), “O that.”
[17:18] 104 tn Or “live with your blessing.”
[17:19] 109 tn Heb “will call his name Isaac.” The name means “he laughs,” or perhaps “may he laugh” (see the note on the word “laughed” in v. 17).
[17:19] 110 tn Or “as an eternal.”
[17:20] 115 sn The Hebrew verb translated “I have heard you” forms a wordplay with the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.” See the note on the name “Ishmael” in 16:11.
[17:20] 116 tn Heb “And I will multiply him exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
[17:20] 117 tn For a discussion of the Hebrew word translated “princes,” see E. A. Speiser, “Background and Function of the Biblical Nasi’,” CBQ 25 (1963): 111-17.
[17:22] 121 tn Heb “And when he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.” The sequence of pronouns and proper names has been modified in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[17:23] 127 tn Heb “Ishmael his son and all born in his house and all bought with money, every male among the men of the house of Abraham.”
[17:23] 128 tn Heb “circumcised the flesh of their foreskin.” The Hebrew expression is somewhat pleonastic and has been simplified in the translation.
[17:24] 133 tn Heb “the son of ninety-nine years.”
[17:24] 134 tn Heb “circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin” (also in v. 25).
[17:25] 139 tn Heb “the son of thirteen years.”
[7:3] 145 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
[7:3] 146 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
[7:3] 147 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
[7:4] 151 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
[7:4] 152 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
[7:5] 157 tn Heb “according to all.”
[31:5] 163 tn The normal approach is to take this as the protasis, and then have it resumed in v. 7 after a parenthesis in v. 6. But some take v. 6 as the apodosis and a new protasis in v. 7.
[31:5] 164 tn The “if” is understood by the use of the consecutive verb.
[31:5] 165 sn The verbs “walk” and “hasten” (referring in the verse to the foot) are used metaphorically for the manner of life Job lived.
[31:6] 169 tn “God” is undoubtedly the understood subject of this jussive. However, “him” is retained in the translation at this point to avoid redundancy since “God” occurs in the second half of the verse.
[31:6] 170 tn The word צֶדֶךְ (tsedeq, “righteousness”) forms a fitting genitive for the scales used in trade or justice. The “scales of righteousness” are scales that conform to the standard (see the illustration in Deut 25:13-15). They must be honest scales to make just decisions.
[31:6] 171 tn The verb is וְיֵדַע (vÿyeda’, “and [then] he [God] will know”). The verb could also be subordinated to the preceding jussive, “so that God may know.” The meaning of “to know” here has more the idea of “to come to know; to discover.”
[31:7] 175 sn The meaning is “been led by what my eyes see.”
[31:7] 176 tc The word מֻאוּם (mu’um) could be taken in one of two ways. One reading is to represent מוּם (mum, “blemish,” see the Masorah); the other is for מְאוּמָה (mÿ’umah, “anything,” see the versions and the Kethib). Either reading fits the passage.
[31:8] 181 tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).
[31:8] 182 tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.
[31:9] 187 tn Gordis notes that the word פֶּתַח (petakh, “door”) has sexual connotations in rabbinic literature, based on Prov 7:6ff. (see b. Ketubbot 9b). See also the use in Song 4:12 using a synonym.
[31:10] 193 tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).
[31:10] 194 tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.
[31:11] 199 tn Heb “for that [would be].” In order to clarify the referent of “that,” which refers to v. 9 rather than v. 10, the words “I have committed” have been supplied in the translation.
[31:11] 200 tn The word for “shameful act” is used especially for sexual offenses (cf. Lev 18:27).
[31:11] 201 tc Some have deleted this verse as being short and irrelevant, not to mention problematic. But the difficulties are not insurmountable, and there is no reason to delete it. There is a Kethib-Qere reading in each half verse; in the first the Kethib is masculine for the subject but the Qere is feminine going with “shameless deed.” In the second colon the Kethib is the feminine agreeing with the preceding noun, but the Qere is masculine agreeing with “iniquity.”
[31:12] 205 tn Heb “to Abaddon.”
[31:12] 206 tn The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”
[31:13] 211 tn This construction is an adverbial clause using the temporal preposition, the infinitive from רִיב (riv, “contend”), and the suffix which is the subjective genitive.
[31:14] 217 tn Heb “arises.” The LXX reads “takes vengeance,” an interpretation that is somewhat correct but unnecessary. The verb “to rise” would mean “to confront in judgment.”
[31:14] 218 tn The verb פָקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” but with God as the subject it means any divine intervention for blessing or cursing, anything God does that changes a person’s life. Here it is “visit to judge.”
[31:15] 223 tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).
[31:16] 229 tn Heb “kept the poor from [their] desire.”
[31:17] 235 tn Heb “and an orphan did not eat from it.”
[31:18] 241 tn Heb “he grew up with me.” Several commentators have decided to change the pronoun to “I,” and make it causative.
[31:18] 242 tn The expression “from my mother’s womb” is obviously hyperbolic. It is a way of saying “all his life.”
[31:18] 243 tn Heb “I guided her,” referring to the widow mentioned in v. 16.
[31:20] 247 tn The MT has simply “if his loins did not bless me.” In the conditional clause this is another protasis. It means, “if I saw someone dying and if he did not thank me for clothing them.” It is Job’s way of saying that whenever he saw a need he met it, and he received his share of thanks – which prove his kindness. G. R. Driver has it “without his loins having blessed me,” taking “If…not” as an Aramaism, meaning “except” (AJSL 52 [1935/36]: 164f.).
[31:20] 248 tn This clause is interpreted here as a subordinate clause to the first half of the verse. It could also be a separate clause: “was he not warmed…?”
[31:21] 253 tn The expression “raised my hand” refers to a threatening manner or gesture in the court rather than a threat of physical violence in the street. Thus the words “to vote” are supplied in the translation to indicate the setting.
[31:21] 254 tn Heb “gate,” referring to the city gate where judicial decisions were rendered in the culture of the time. The translation uses the word “court” to indicate this to the modern reader, who might not associate a city gate complex with judicial functions.
[31:22] 259 sn Here is the apodosis, the imprecation Job pronounces on himself if he has done any of these things just listed.
[31:22] 260 tn The point is that if he has raised his arm against the oppressed it should be ripped off at the joint. The MT has “let fall my shoulder [כְּתֵפִי, kÿtefi] from the nape of the neck [or shoulder blade (מִשִּׁכְמָה, mishikhmah)].”
[31:22] 261 tn The word קָנֶה (qaneh) is “reed; shaft; beam,” and here “shoulder joint.” All the commentaries try to explain how “reed” became “socket; joint.” This is the only place that it is used in such a sense. Whatever the exact explanation – and there seems to be no convincing view – the point of the verse is nonetheless clear.
[31:23] 265 tc The LXX has “For the terror of God restrained me.” Several commentators changed it to “came upon me.” Driver had “The fear of God was burdensome.” I. Eitan suggested “The terror of God was mighty upon me” (“Two unknown verbs: etymological studies,” JBL 42 [1923]: 22-28). But the MT makes clear sense as it stands.
[31:23] 266 tn The form is וּמִשְּׂאֵתוֹ (umissÿ’eto); the preposition is causal. The form, from the verb נָשָׂא (nasa’, “to raise; to lift high”), refers to God’s exalted person, his majesty (see Job 13:11).
[31:26] 271 tn Heb “light”; but parallel to the moon it is the sun. This section speaks of false worship of the sun and the moon.
[31:27] 277 tn Heb “and my hand kissed my mouth.” The idea should be that of “my mouth kissed my hand.” H. H. Rowley suggests that the hand was important in waving or throwing the kisses of homage to the sun and the moon, and so it receives the focus. This is the only place in the OT that refers to such a custom. Outside the Bible it was known, however.
[31:28] 284 tn See v. 11 for the construction. In Deut 17:2ff. false worship of heavenly bodies is a capital offense. In this passage, Job is talking about just a momentary glance at the sun or moon and the brief lapse into a pagan thought. But it is still sin.
[31:28] 285 tn The verb כָּחַשׁ (kakhash) in the Piel means “to deny.” The root meaning is “to deceive; to disappoint; to grow lean.” Here it means that he would have failed or proven unfaithful because his act would have been a denial of God.
[31:29] 289 tn The problem with taking this as “if,” introducing a conditional clause, is finding the apodosis, if there is one. It may be that the apodosis is understood, or summed up at the end. This is the view taken here. But R. Gordis (Job, 352) wishes to take this word as the indication of the interrogative, forming the rhetorical question to affirm he has never done this. However, in that case the parenthetical verses inserted become redundant.
[31:29] 290 sn The law required people to help their enemies if they could (Exod 23:4; also Prov 20:22). But often in the difficulties that ensued, they did exult over their enemies’ misfortune (Pss 54:7; 59:10 [11], etc.). But Job lived on a level of purity that few ever reach. Duhm said, “If chapter 31 is the crown of all ethical developments of the O.T., verse 29 is the jewel in that crown.”
[31:29] 291 tn The Hitpael of עוּר (’ur) has the idea of “exult.”
[31:29] 292 tn The word is רָע (ra’, “evil”) in the sense of anything that harms, interrupts, or destroys life.
[31:30] 295 tn This verse would then be a parenthesis in which he stops to claim his innocence.
[31:30] 296 tn Heb “I have not given my palate.”
[31:30] 297 tn The infinitive construct with the ל (lamed) preposition (“by asking”) serves in an epexegetical capacity here, explaining the verb of the first colon (“permitted…to sin”). To seek a curse on anyone would be a sin.
[31:31] 301 tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.
[31:31] 302 tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.
[31:31] 303 sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.
[31:31] 304 tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”
[31:31] 305 tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[31:32] 307 tn This verse forms another parenthesis. Job stops almost at every point now in the conditional clauses to affirm his purity and integrity.
[31:32] 308 tn The word in the MT, אֹרחַ (’orakh, “way”), is a contraction from אֹרֵחַ (’oreakh, “wayfarer”); thus, “traveler.” The same parallelism is found in Jer 14:8. The reading here “on/to the road” is meaningless otherwise.
[31:33] 313 tn Now the protasis continues again.
[31:33] 314 sn Some commentators suggest taking the meaning here to be “as Adam,” referring to the Paradise story of the sin and denial.
[31:33] 315 tn The infinitive is epexegetical, explaining the first line.
[31:33] 316 tn The MT has “in my bosom.” This is the only place in the OT where this word is found. But its meaning is well attested from Aramaic.
[31:34] 319 tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.
[31:34] 320 tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).
[31:34] 321 sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.
[31:35] 325 tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”
[31:35] 326 tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.
[31:35] 327 tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).
[31:35] 328 tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).
[31:36] 331 tn The clause begins with the positive oath formula, אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’).
[31:36] 332 tn The word “proudly” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied (note the following line).
[31:36] 333 tn This verb is only found in Prov 6:21. But E. Dhorme (Job, 470) suggests that (with metathesis) we have a derivative מַעֲדַנּוֹת (ma’adannot, “bonds; ties”) in 38:31.
[31:38] 337 sn Many commentators place vv. 38-40b at the end of v. 34, so that there is no return to these conditional clauses after his final appeal.
[31:38] 338 sn Some commentators have suggested that the meaning behind this is that Job might not have kept the year of release (Deut 15:1), and the law against mixing seed (Lev 19:19). But the context will make clear that the case considered is obtaining the land without paying for it and causing the death of its lawful owner (see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 206). Similar to this would be the case of Naboth’s vineyard.
[31:39] 343 tn Heb “without silver.”
[31:39] 344 tc The versions have the verb “grieved” here. The Hebrew verb means “to breathe,” but the form is Hiphil. This verb in that stem could mean something of a contemptuous gesture, like “sniff” in Mal 1:13. But with נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) in Job 11:20 it means “to cause death,” i.e., “to cause to breathe out; to expire.” This is likely the meaning here, although it is possible that it only meant “to cause suffering” to the people.
[31:39] 345 tn There is some debate over the meaning of בְּעָלֶיהָ (bÿ’aleyha), usually translated “its owners.” Dahood, following others (although without their emendations), thought it referred to “laborers” (see M. Dahood, Bib 41 [1960]: 303; idem, Bib 43 [1962]: 362).
[31:40] 349 tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.
