Job 13:18-23

13:18 See now, ¹  I have prepared ²  my ³  case; ⁴ 

I know that I am right. ⁵ 

13:19 Who ⁶  will contend with me?

If anyone can, I will be silent and die. ⁷ 

13:20 Only in two things spare me, ⁸  O God, ⁹ 

and then I will not hide from your face:

13:21 Remove ¹⁰  your hand ¹¹  far from me

and stop making me afraid with your terror. ¹² 

13:22 Then call, ¹³  and I will answer,

or I will speak, and you respond to me.

13:23 How many are my ¹⁴  iniquities and sins?

Show me my transgression and my sin. ¹⁵ 

[13:18]  ¹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) functions almost as an imperative here, calling attention to what follows: “look” (archaic: behold).

[13:18]  ² tn The verb עָרַךְ (’arakh) means “to set in order, set in array [as a battle], prepare” in the sense here of arrange and organize a lawsuit.

[13:18]  ³ tn The pronoun is added because this is what the verse means.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) usually means “judgment; decision.” Here it means “lawsuit” (and so a metonymy of effect gave rise to this usage; see Num 27:5; 2 Sam 15:4).

[13:18]  ⁵ tn The pronoun is emphatic before the verb: “I know that it is I who am right.” The verb means “to be right; to be righteous.” Some have translated it “vindicated,” looking at the outcome of the suit.

[13:19]  ⁶ tn The interrogative is joined with the emphatic pronoun, stressing “who is he [who] will contend,” or more emphatically, “who in the world will contend.” Job is confident that no one can bring charges against him. He is certain of success.

[13:19]  ⁷ sn Job is confident that he will be vindicated. But if someone were to show up and have proof of sin against him, he would be silent and die (literally “keep silent and expire”).

[13:20]  ⁸ tn The line reads “do not do two things.”

[13:20]  ⁹ tn “God” is supplied to the verse, for the address is now to him. Job wishes to enter into dispute with God, but he first appeals that God not take advantage of him with his awesome power.

[13:21]  ¹⁰ tn The imperative הַרְחַק (harkhaq, “remove”; GKC 98 §29.q), from רָחַק (rakhaq, “far, be far”) means “take away [far away]; to remove.”

[13:21]  ¹¹ sn This is a common, but bold, anthropomorphism. The fact that the word used is כַּף (kaf, properly “palm”) rather than יָד (yad, “hand,” with the sense of power) may stress Job’s feeling of being trapped or confined (see also Ps 139:5, 7).

[13:21]  ¹² tn See Job 9:34.

[13:22]  ¹³ tn The imperatives in the verse function like the future tense in view of their use for instruction or advice. The chiastic arrangement of the verb forms is interesting: imperative + imperfect, imperfect + imperative. The imperative is used for God, but the imperfect is used when Job is the subject. Job is calling for the court to convene – he will be either the defendant or the prosecutor.

[13:23]  ¹⁴ tn The pronoun “my” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied here in the translation.

[13:23]  ¹⁵ sn Job uses three words for sin here: “iniquities,” which means going astray, erring; “sins,” which means missing the mark or the way; and “transgressions,” which are open rebellions. They all emphasize different kinds of sins and different degrees of willfulness. Job is demanding that any sins be brought up. Both Job and his friends agree that great afflictions would have to indicate great offenses – he wants to know what they are.