Job 17:6

17:6 He has made me ¹  a byword ²  to people,

I am the one in whose face they spit. ³ 

Job 42:11

42:11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined ⁴  with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ⁵  and a gold ring. ⁶ 

[17:6]  ¹ tn The verb is the third person, and so God is likely the subject. The LXX has “you have made me.” So most commentators clarify the verb in some such way. However, without an expressed subject it can also be taken as a passive.

[17:6]  ² tn The word “byword” is related to the word translated “proverb” in the Bible (מָשָׁל, mashal). Job’s case is so well known that he is synonymous with afflictions and with abuse by people.

[17:6]  ³ tn The word תֹפֶת (tofet) is a hapax legomenon. The expression is “and a spitting in/to the face I have become,” i.e., “I have become one in whose face people spit.” Various suggestions have been made, including a link to Tophet, but they are weak. The verse as it exists in the MT is fine, and fits the context well.

[42:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “ate bread.”

[42:11]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

[42:11]  ⁶ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.