Job 21:2-3

Context

21:2 “Listen carefully¹ to my words;

let this be² the consolation you offer me.³

21:3 Bear with me⁴ and I⁵ will speak,

and after I have spoken⁶ you may mock.⁷

Job 22:25

Context

22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,⁸

and the choicest⁹ silver for you.

Job 36:24

Context

36:24 Remember to extol¹⁰ his work,

which people have praised in song.

[21:2] ¹tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.

[21:2] ²tc The LXX negates the sentence, “that I may not have this consolation from you.”

[21:2] ³tn The word תַּנְחוּמֹתֵיכֶם (tankhumotekhem) is literally “your consolations,” the suffix being a subjective genitive. The friends had thought they were offering Job consolation (Job 14:11), but the consolation he wants from them is that they listen to him and respond accordingly.

[21:3] ⁴tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).

[21:3] ⁵tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”

[21:3] ⁶tn The adverbial clauses are constructed of the preposition “after” and the Piel infinitive construct with the subjective genitive suffix: “my speaking,” or “I speak.”

[21:3] ⁷tn The verb is the imperfect of לָעַג (la’ag). The Hiphil has the same basic sense as the Qal, “to mock; to deride.” The imperfect here would be modal, expressing permission. The verb is in the singular, suggesting that Job is addressing Zophar; however, most of the versions put it into the plural. Note the singular in 16:3 between the plural in 16:1 and 16:4.

[22:25] ⁷tn The form for “gold” here is plural, which could be a plural of extension. The LXX and Latin versions have “The Almighty will be your helper against your enemies.”

[22:25] ⁸tn E. Dhorme (Job, 339) connects this word with an Arabic root meaning “to be elevated, steep.” From that he gets “heaps of silver.”

[36:24] ¹⁰tn The expression is “that you extol,” serving as an object of the verb.