Job 21:21-23

21:21 For what is his interest ¹  in his home

after his death, ² 

when the number of his months

has been broken off? ³ 

21:22 Can anyone teach ⁴  God knowledge,

since ⁵  he judges those that are on high? ⁶ 

Death Levels Everything

21:23 “One man dies in his full vigor, ⁷ 

completely secure and prosperous,

Job 21:31-34

21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;

no one repays him for what ⁸  he has done. ⁹ 

21:32 And when he is carried to the tombs,

and watch is kept ¹⁰  over the funeral mound, ¹¹ 

21:33 The clods of the torrent valley ¹²  are sweet to him;

behind him everybody follows in procession,

and before him goes a countless throng.

21:34 So how can you console me with your futile words?

Nothing is left of your answers but deception!” ¹³ 

[21:21]  ¹ tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).

[21:21]  ² tn Heb “after him,” but clearly the meaning is “after he is gone.”

[21:21]  ³ tc The rare word חֻצָּצוּ (khutsatsu) is probably a cognate of hassa in Arabic, meaning “to cut off.” There is also an Akkadian word “to cut in two” and “to break.” These fit the context here rather well. The other Hebrew words that are connected to the root חָצַצ (khatsats) do not offer any help.

[21:22]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical – it is affirming that no one can teach God.

[21:22]  ⁵ tn The clause begins with the disjunctive vav (ו) and the pronoun, “and he.” This is to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause. See GKC 456 §142.d.

[21:22]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew has רָמִים (ramim), a plural masculine participle of רוּם (rum, “to be high; to be exalted”). This is probably a reference to the angels. But M. Dahood restores an older interpretation that it refers to “the Most High” (“Some Northwest Semitic words in Job,”Bib 38 [1957]: 316-17). He would take the word as a singular form with an enclitic mem (ם). He reads the verse, “will he judge the Most High?”

[21:23]  ⁷ tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.

[21:31]  ⁸ tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”

[21:31]  ⁹ tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.

[21:32]  ¹⁰ tn The verb says “he will watch.” The subject is unspecified, so the translation is passive.

[21:32]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word refers to the tumulus, the burial mound that is erected on the spot where the person is buried.

[21:33]  ¹² tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.

[21:34]  ¹³ tn The word מָעַל (ma’al) is used for “treachery; deception; fraud.” Here Job is saying that their way of interpreting reality is dangerously unfaithful.