Job 2:7-8

Job’s Integrity in Suffering

2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted ¹  Job with a malignant ulcer ²  from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. ³  2:8 Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape ⁴  himself ⁵  with while he was sitting ⁶  among the ashes. ⁷ 

Job 17:14

17:14 If I cry ⁸  to corruption, ⁹  ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

Job 19:26

19:26 And after my skin has been destroyed, ¹⁰ 

yet in my flesh ¹¹  I will see God, ¹² 

Job 24:20

24:20 The womb ¹³  forgets him,

the worm feasts on him,

no longer will he be remembered.

Like a tree, wickedness will be broken down.

Job 30:18-19

30:18 With great power God ¹⁴  grasps my clothing; ¹⁵ 

he binds me like the collar ¹⁶  of my tunic.

30:19 He has flung me into the mud,

and I have come to resemble dust and ashes.

Psalms 38:5-7

38:5 My wounds ¹⁷  are infected and starting to smell, ¹⁸ 

because of my foolish sins. ¹⁹ 

38:6 I am dazed ²⁰  and completely humiliated; ²¹ 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ²² 

and my whole body is sick. ²³ 

Isaiah 1:6

1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,

there is no spot that is unharmed. ²⁴ 

There are only bruises, cuts,

and open wounds.

They have not been cleansed ²⁵  or bandaged,

nor have they been treated ²⁶  with olive oil. ²⁷ 

Isaiah 14:11

14:11 Your splendor ²⁸  has been brought down to Sheol,

as well as the sound of your stringed instruments. ²⁹ 

You lie on a bed of maggots,

with a blanket of worms over you. ³⁰ 

Acts 12:23

12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord ³¹  struck ³²  Herod ³³  down because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died. ³⁴ 

[2:7]  ¹ tn The verb is נָכָה (nakhah, “struck, smote”); it can be rendered in this context as “afflicted.”

[2:7]  ² sn The general consensus is that Job was afflicted with a leprosy known as elephantiasis, named because the rough skin and the swollen limbs are animal-like. The Hebrew word שְׁחִין (shÿkhin, “boil”) can indicate an ulcer as well. Leprosy begins with such, but so do other diseases. Leprosy normally begins in the limbs and spreads, but Job was afflicted everywhere at once. It may be some other disease also characterized by such a malignant ulcer. D. J. A. Clines has a thorough bibliography on all the possible diseases linked to this description (Job [WBC], 48). See also HALOT 1460 s.v. שְׁחִין.

[2:7]  ³ tn Heb “crown.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tn The verb גָּרַד (garad) is a hapax legomenon (only occurring here). Modern Hebrew has retained a meaning “to scrape,” which is what the cognate Syriac and Arabic indicate. In the Hitpael it would mean “scrape himself.”

[2:8]  ⁵ sn The disease required constant attention. The infection and pus had to be scraped away with a piece of broken pottery in order to prevent the spread of the infection. The skin was so disfigured that even his friends did not recognize him (2:12). The book will add that the disease afflicted him inwardly, giving him a foul breath and a loathsome smell (19:17, 20). The sores bred worms; they opened and ran, and closed and tightened (16:8). He was tormented with dreams (7:14). He felt like he was choking (7:14). His bones were racked with burning pain (30:30). And he was not able to rise from his place (19:18). The disease was incurable; but it would last for years, leaving the patient longing for death.

[2:8]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the disjunctive vav (ו) with the independent pronoun with the active participle. The construction connects this clause with what has just been said, making this a circumstantial clause.

[2:8]  ⁷ sn Among the ashes. It is likely that the “ashes” refers to the place outside the city where the rubbish was collected and burnt, i.e., the ash-heap (cf. CEV). This is the understanding of the LXX, which reads “dung-hill outside the city.”

[17:14]  ⁸ tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.

[17:14]  ⁹ tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.

[19:26]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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).

[24:20]  ¹³ tn Here “womb” is synecdoche, representing one’s mother.

[30:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[30:18]  ¹⁵ tc This whole verse is difficult. The first problem is that this verb in the MT means “is disguised [or disfigured],” indicating that Job’s clothes hang loose on him. But many take the view that the verb is a phonetic variant of חָבַשׁ (khavash, “to bind; to seize”) and that the Hitpael form is a conflation of the third and second person because of the interchange between them in the passage (R. Gordis, Job, 335). The commentaries list a number of conjectural emendations, but the image in the verse is probably that God seizes Job by the garment and throws him down.

[30:18]  ¹⁶ tn The phrase “like the collar” is difficult, primarily because their tunics did not have collars. A translation of “neck” would suit better. Some change the preposition to בּ (bet), getting a translation “by the neck of my tunic.”

[38:5]  ¹⁷ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

[38:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

[38:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

[38:6]  ²⁰ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

[38:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ²² tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

[38:7]  ²³ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[1:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb “there is not in it health”; NAB “there is no sound spot.”

[1:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “pressed out.”

[1:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “softened” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “soothed.”

[1:6]  ²⁷ sn This verse describes wounds like those one would receive in battle. These wounds are comprehensive and without remedy.

[14:11]  ²⁸ tn Or “pride” (NCV, CEV); KJV, NIV, NRSV “pomp.”

[14:11]  ²⁹ tn Or “harps” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “under you maggots are spread out, and worms are your cover.”

[12:23]  ³¹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

[12:23]  ³² sn On being struck…down by an angel, see Acts 23:3; 1 Sam 25:28; 2 Sam 12:15; 2 Kgs 19:35; 2 Chr 13:20; 2 Macc 9:5.

[12:23]  ³³ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:23]  ³⁴ sn He was eaten by worms and died. Josephus, Ant. 19.8.2 (19.343-352), states that Herod Agrippa I died at Caesarea in a.d. 44. The account by Josephus, while not identical to Luke’s account, is similar in many respects: On the second day of a festival, Herod Agrippa appeared in the theater with a robe made of silver. When it sparkled in the sun, the people cried out flatteries and declared him to be a god. The king, carried away by the flattery, saw an owl (an omen of death) sitting on a nearby rope, and immediately was struck with severe stomach pains. He was carried off to his house and died five days later. The two accounts can be reconciled without difficulty, since while Luke states that Herod was immediately struck down by an angel, his death could have come several days later. The mention of worms with death adds a humiliating note to the scene. The formerly powerful ruler had been thoroughly reduced to nothing (cf. Jdt 16:17; 2 Macc 9:9; cf. also Josephus, Ant. 17.6.5 [17.168-170], which details the sickness which led to Herod the Great’s death).