Job 19:7

Job’s Abandonment and Affliction

19:7 “If ¹  I cry out, ²  ‘Violence!’ ³ 

I receive no answer; ⁴ 

I cry for help,

but there is no justice.

Job 30:20

30:20 I cry out to you, ⁵  but you do not answer me;

I stand up, ⁶  and you only look at me. ⁷ 

Job 30:28

30:28 I go about blackened, ⁸  but not by the sun;

in the assembly I stand up and cry for help.

[19:7]  ¹ tn The particle is used here as in 9:11 (see GKC 497 §159.w).

[19:7]  ² tc The LXX has “I laugh at reproach.”

[19:7]  ³ tn The same idea is expressed in Jer 20:8 and Hab 1:2. The cry is a cry for help, that he has been wronged, that there is no justice.

[19:7]  ⁴ tn The Niphal is simply “I am not answered.” See Prov 21:13b.

[30:20]  ⁵ sn The implication from the sentence is that this is a cry to God for help. The sudden change from third person (v. 19) to second person (v. 20) is indicative of the intense emotion of the sufferer.

[30:20]  ⁶ sn The verb is simple, but the interpretation difficult. In this verse it probably means he stands up in prayer (Jer 15:1), but it could mean that he makes his case to God. Others suggest a more figurative sense, like the English expression “stand pat,” meaning “remain silent” (see Job 29:8).

[30:20]  ⁷ tn If the idea of prayer is meant, then a pejorative sense to the verb is required. Some supply a negative and translate “you do not pay heed to me.” This is supported by one Hebrew ms and the Vulgate. The Syriac has the whole colon read with God as the subject, “you stand and look at me.”

[30:28]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the word קֹדֵר (qoder) followed by the Piel perfect of הָלַךְ (halakh, “I go about”). The adjective “blackened” refers to Job’s skin that has been marred by the disease. Adjectives are often used before verbs to describe some bodily condition (see GKC 374-75 §118.n).