Job 10:1

An Appeal for Revelation

10:1 “I ¹  am weary ²  of my life;

I will complain without restraint; ³ 

I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 1:13

Job’s Integrity in Adversity ⁴ 

1:13 Now the day ⁵  came when Job’s ⁶  sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,

[10:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew has נַפְשִׁי (nafshi), usually rendered “my soul.”

[10:1]  ² tn The verb is pointed like a Qal form but is originally a Niphal from קוּט (qut). Some wish to connect the word to Akkadian cognates for a meaning “I am in anguish”; but the meaning “I am weary” fits the passage well.

[10:1]  ³ tn The verb עָזַב (’azav) means “to abandon.” It may have an extended meaning of “to let go” or “to let slip.” But the expression “abandon to myself” means to abandon all restraint and give free course to the complaint.

[1:13]  ⁴ sn The series of catastrophes and the piety of Job is displayed now in comprehensive terms. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and yet Job, the pious servant of Yahweh, continues to worship him in the midst of the rubble. This section, and the next, will lay the foundation for the great dialogues in the book.

[1:13]  ⁵ tn The Targum to Job clarifies that it was the first day of the week. The fact that it was in the house of the firstborn is the reason.

[1:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.