Job 22:23-30

Context

22:23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up;¹

if you remove wicked behavior far from your tent,

22:24 and throw² your gold³ in the dust –

your gold⁴ of Ophir

among the rocks in the ravines –

22:25 then the Almighty himself will be your gold,⁵

and the choicest⁶ silver for you.

22:26 Surely then you will delight yourself⁷ in the Almighty,

and will lift up your face toward God.

22:27 You will pray to him and he will hear you,

and you will fulfill your vows to him.⁸

22:28 Whatever you decide⁹ on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

22:29 When people are brought low¹⁰ and you say

‘Lift them up!’¹¹

then he will save the downcast;¹²

22:30 he will deliver even someone who is not innocent,¹³

who will escape¹⁴ through the cleanness of your hands.”

Isaiah 3:10

Context

3:10 Tell the innocent¹⁵ it will go well with them,¹⁶

for they will be rewarded for what they have done.¹⁷

[22:23] ¹tc The MT has “you will be built up” (תִּבָּנֶה, tibbaneh). But the LXX has “humble yourself” (reading תְּעַנֶּה [tÿ’anneh] apparently). Many commentators read this; Dahood has “you will be healed.”

[22:24] ²tc The form is the imperative. Eliphaz is telling Job to get rid of his gold as evidence of his repentance. Many commentators think that this is too improbable for Eliphaz to have said, and that Job has lost everything anyway, and so they make proposals for the text. Most would follow Theodotion and the Syriac to read וְשָׁתָּ (vÿshatta, “and you will esteem….”). This would mean that he is promising Job restoration of his wealth.

[22:24] ³tn The word for “gold” is the rare בֶּצֶר (betser), which may be derived from a cognate of Arabic basara, “to see; to examine.” If this is the case, the word here would refer to refined gold. The word also forms a fine wordplay with בְצוּר (bÿtsur, “in the rock”).

[22:24] ⁴tn The Hebrew text simply has “Ophir,” a metonymy for the gold that comes from there.

[22:25] ⁵tn 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] ⁶tn E. Dhorme (Job, 339) connects this word with an Arabic root meaning “to be elevated, steep.” From that he gets “heaps of silver.”

[22:26] ⁷tc This is the same verb as in Ps 37:4. G. R. Driver suggests the word comes from another root that means “abandon oneself to, depend on” (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 84).

[22:27] ⁸tn The words “to him” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[22:28] ⁹tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[22:29] ¹⁰tn There is no expressed subject here, and so the verb is taken as a passive voice again.

[22:29] ¹¹tn The word גֵּוָה (gevah) means “loftiness; pride.” Here it simply says “up,” or “pride.” The rest is paraphrased. Of the many suggestions, the following provide a sampling: “It is because of pride” (ESV), “he abases pride” (H. H. Rowley); “[he abases] the lofty and the proud” (Beer); “[he abases] the word of pride” [Duhm]; “[he abases] the haughtiness of pride” [Fohrer and others]; “[he abases] the one who speaks proudly” [Weiser]; “[he abases] the one who boasts in pride” [Kissane]; and “God [abases] pride” [Budde, Gray].

[22:29] ¹²tn Or “humble”; Heb “the lowly of eyes.”

[22:30] ¹³tc The Hebrew has אִי־נָקִי (’i naqi), which could be taken as “island of the innocent” (so Ibn-Ezra), or “him that is not innocent” (so Rashi). But some have changed אִי (’i) to אִישׁ (’ish, “the innocent man”). Others differ: A. Guillaume links אִי (’i) to Arabic ‘ayya “whosoever,” and so leaves the text alone. M. Dahood secures the same idea from Ugaritic, but reads it אֵי (’e).

[22:30] ¹⁴tc The MT has “he will escape [or be delivered].” Theodotion has the second person, “you will be delivered.”

[3:10] ¹⁵tn Or “the righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, TEV); NLT “those who are godly.”

[3:10] ¹⁶tn Heb “that it is good.”

[3:10] ¹⁷tn Heb “for the fruit of their deeds they will eat.”