Discovery BoxJob 19:25-27
Context19:25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer 1 lives,
and that as the last 2
he will stand upon the earth. 3
19:26 And after my skin has been destroyed, 4
yet in my flesh 5 I will see God, 6
19:27 whom I will see for myself, 7
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another. 8
My heart 9 grows faint within me. 10
Psalms 102:26
Context102:26 They will perish,
but you will endure. 11
They will wear out like a garment;
like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. 12
Isaiah 51:6
Context51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 13 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 14 is permanent;
the vindication I provide 15 will not disappear. 16
Isaiah 65:17
Context65:17 For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth! 17
The former ones 18 will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore. 19
Isaiah 66:22
Context66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.
Matthew 24:35
Context24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 20
Acts 3:21
Context3:21 This one 21 heaven must 22 receive until the time all things are restored, 23 which God declared 24 from times long ago 25 through his holy prophets.
Romans 8:20
Context8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility – not willingly but because of God 26 who subjected it – in hope
Romans 8:2
Context8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit 27 in Christ Jesus has set you 28 free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 3:7
Context3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances 29 his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?
Romans 3:10-13
Context3:10 just as it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
3:11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God.
3:12 All have turned away,
together they have become worthless;
there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 30
3:13 “Their throats are open graves, 31
they deceive with their tongues,
the poison of asps is under their lips.” 32
Revelation 20:11
Context20:11 Then 33 I saw a large 34 white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven 35 fled 36 from his presence, and no place was found for them.
Revelation 21:1
Context21:1 Then 37 I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, 38 and the sea existed no more.
[19:25] 1 tn Or “my Vindicator.” The word is the active participle from גָּאַל (ga’al, “to redeem, protect, vindicate”). The word is well-known in the OT because of its identification as the kinsman-redeemer (see the Book of Ruth). This is the near kinsman who will pay off one’s debts, defend the family, avenge a killing, marry the widow of the deceased. The word “redeemer” evokes the wrong connotation for people familiar with the NT alone; a translation of “Vindicator” would capture the idea more. The concept might include the description of the mediator already introduced in Job 16:19, but surely here Job is thinking of God as his vindicator. The interesting point to be stressed here is that Job has said clearly that he sees no vindication in this life, that he is going to die. But he knows he will be vindicated, and even though he will die, his vindicator lives. The dilemma remains though: his distress lay in God’s hiding his face from him, and his vindication lay only in beholding God in peace.
[19:25] 2 tn The word אַחֲרוּן (’akharon, “last”) has triggered a good number of interpretations. Here it is an adjectival form and not adverbial; it is an epithet of the vindicator. Some commentators, followed by the RSV, change the form to make it adverbial, and translate it “at last.” T. H. Gaster translates it “even if he were the last person to exist” (“Short notes,” VT 4 [1954]: 78).
[19:25] 3 tn The Hebrew has “and he will rise/stand upon [the] dust.” The verb קוּם (qum) is properly “to rise; to arise,” and certainly also can mean “to stand.” Both English ideas are found in the verb. The concept here is that of God rising up to mete out justice. And so to avoid confusion with the idea of resurrection (which although implicit in these words which are pregnant with theological ideas yet to be revealed, is not explicitly stated or intended in this context) the translation “stand” has been used. The Vulgate had “I will rise,” which introduced the idea of Job’s resurrection. The word “dust” is used as in 41:33. The word “dust” is associated with death and the grave, the very earthly particles. Job assumes that God will descend from heaven to bring justice to the world. The use of the word also hints that this will take place after Job has died and returned to dust. Again, the words of Job come to mean far more than he probably understood.
[19:26] 4 tn This verse on the whole has some serious interpretation problems that have allowed commentators to go in several directions. The verbal clause is “they strike off this,” which is then to be taken as a passive in view of the fact that there is no expressed subject. Some have thought that Job was referring to this life, and that after his disease had done its worst he would see his vindication (see T. J. Meek, “Job 19:25-27,” VT 6 [1956]: 100-103; E. F. Sutcliffe, “Further notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 31 [1950]: 377; and others). But Job has been clear – he does not expect to live and see his vindication in this life. There are a host of other interpretations that differ greatly from the sense expressed in the MT. Duhm, for example, has “and another shall arise as my witness.” E. Dhorme (Job, 284-85) argues that the vindication comes after death; he emends the verb to get a translation: “and that, behind my skin, I shall stand up.” He explains this to mean that it will be Job in person who will be present at the ultimate drama. But the interpretation is forced, and really unnecessary.
[19:26] 5 tn The Hebrew phrase is “and from my flesh.” This could mean “without my flesh,” i.e., separated from my flesh, or “from my flesh,” i.e., in or with my flesh. The former view is taken by those who think Job’s vindication will come in this life, and who find the idea of a resurrection unlikely to be in Job’s mind. The latter view is taken by those who interpret the preceding line as meaning death and the next verse underscoring that it will be his eye that will see. This would indicate that Job’s faith rises to an unparalleled level at this point.
[19:26] 6 tn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 140) says, “The text of this verse is so difficult, and any convincing reconstruction is so unlikely, that it seems best not to attempt it.” His words have gone unheeded, even by himself, and rightly so. There seem to be two general interpretations, the details of some words notwithstanding. An honest assessment of the evidence would have to provide both interpretations, albeit still arguing for one. Here Job says he will see God. This at the least means that he will witness his vindication, which it seems clear from the other complaints of Job will occur after his death (it is his blood that must be vindicated). But in what way, exactly, Job will see God is not clarified. In this verse the verb that is used is often used of prophetic visions; but in the next verse the plain word for seeing – with his eye – is used. The fulfillment will be more precise than Job may have understood. Rowley does conclude: “Though there is no full grasping of a belief in a worthwhile Afterlife with God, this passage is a notable landmark in the program toward such a belief.” The difficulty is that Job expects to die – he would like to be vindicated in this life, but is resolved that he will die. (1) Some commentators think that vv. 25 and 26 follow the wish for vindication now; (2) others (traditionally) see it as in the next life. Some of the other interpretations that take a different line are less impressive, such as Kissane’s, “did I but see God…were I to behold God”; or L. Waterman’s translation in the English present, making it a mystic vision in which Job already sees that God is his vindicator (“Note on Job 19:23-27: Job’s Triumph of Faith,” JBL 69 [1950]: 379-80).
[19:27] 7 tn The emphasis is on “I” and “for myself.” No other will be seeing this vindication, but Job himself will see it. Of that he is confident. Some take לִי (li, “for myself”) to mean favorable to me, or on my side (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 143). But Job is expecting (not just wishing for) a face-to-face encounter in the vindication.
[19:27] 8 tn Hitzig offered another interpretation that is somewhat forced. The “other” (זָר, zar) or “stranger” would refer to Job. He would see God, not as an enemy, but in peace.
[19:27] 9 tn Heb “kidneys,” a poetic expression for the seat of emotions.
[19:27] 10 tn Heb “fail/grow faint in my breast.” Job is saying that he has expended all his energy with his longing for vindication.
[102:26] 12 tn The Hebrew verb חָלַף (khalaf) occurs twice in this line, once in the Hiphil (“you will remove them”) and once in the Qal (“they will disappear”). The repetition draws attention to the statement.
[51:6] 13 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
[51:6] 14 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
[51:6] 15 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
[51:6] 16 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
[65:17] 17 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.
[65:17] 18 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”
[65:17] 19 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”
[24:35] 20 sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.
[3:21] 21 tn Grk “whom,” continuing the sentence from v. 20.
[3:21] 22 sn The term must used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) is a key Lukan term to point to the plan of God and what must occur.
[3:21] 23 tn Grk “until the times of the restoration of all things.” Because of the awkward English style of the extended genitive construction, and because the following relative clause has as its referent the “time of restoration” rather than “all things,” the phrase was translated “until the time all things are restored.”
[3:21] 25 tn Or “from all ages past.”
[8:20] 26 tn Grk “because of the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[8:2] 27 tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”
[8:2] 28 tc Most
[3:7] 29 tn Grk “abounded unto.”
[3:12] 30 sn Verses 10-12 are a quotation from Ps 14:1-3.
[3:13] 31 tn Grk “their throat is an opened grave.”
[3:13] 32 sn A quotation from Pss 5:9; 140:3.
[20:11] 33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[20:11] 34 tn Traditionally, “great,” but μέγας (megas) here refers to size rather than importance.
[20:11] 35 tn Or “and the sky.” The same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky,” and context usually determines which is meant. In this apocalyptic scene, however, it is difficult to be sure what referent to assign the term.
[21:1] 37 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
[21:1] 38 tn For the translation of ἀπέρχομαι (apercomai; here ἀπῆλθαν [aphlqan]) L&N 13.93 has “to go out of existence – ‘to cease to exist, to pass away, to cease.’”
