Job 23:13

23:13 But he is unchangeable, ¹  and who can change ²  him?

Whatever he ³  has desired, he does.

Job 31:15

31:15 Did not the one who made me in the womb make them? ⁴ 

Did not the same one form us in the womb?

Job 33:14

Elihu Disagrees With Job’s View of God

33:14 “For God speaks, the first time in one way,

the second time in another,

though a person does not perceive ⁵  it.

Job 40:5

40:5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;

twice, but I will say no more.” ⁶ 

[23:13]  ¹ tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).

[23:13]  ² tn Heb “cause him to return.”

[23:13]  ³ tn Or “his soul.”

[31:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “him,” but the plural pronoun has been used in the translation to indicate that the referent is the servants mentioned in v. 13 (since the previous “him” in v. 14 refers to God).

[33:14]  ⁷ tn The Syriac and the Vulgate have “and he does not repeat it,” a reading of the text as it is, according to E. Dhorme (Job, 403). But his argument is based on another root with this meaning – a root which does not exist (see L. Dennefeld, RB 48 [1939]: 175). The verse is saying that God does speak to man.

[40:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I will not add.”