Job 23:5-7

23:5 I would know with what words ¹  he would answer me,

and understand what he would say to me.

23:6 Would he contend ²  with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me. ³ 

23:7 There ⁴  an upright person

could present his case ⁵  before him,

and I would be delivered forever from my judge.

Job 31:35

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ⁶  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ⁷ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ⁸ 

that my accuser had written. ⁹ 

Job 31:37

31:37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 Lord, you have always been fair

whenever I have complained to you. ¹⁰ 

However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice. ¹¹ 

Why are wicked people successful? ¹² 

Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?

[23:5]  ¹ tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”

[23:6]  ² tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?

[23:6]  ³ tn The verbal clause יָשִׂם בִּי (yasim bi) has been translated “he would pay [attention] to me.” Job is saying that God will not need all his power – he will just have pay attention to Job’s complaint. Job does not need the display of power – he just wants a hearing.

[23:7]  ⁴ tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.

[23:7]  ⁵ tn The form of the verb is the Niphal נוֹכָח (nokkakh, “argue, present a case”). E. Dhorme (Job, 346) is troubled by this verbal form and so changes it and other things in the line to say, “he would observe the upright man who argues with him.” The Niphal is used for “engaging discussion,” “arguing a case,” and “settling a dispute.”

[31:35]  ⁶ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.

[31:35]  ⁸ tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).

[31:35]  ⁹ tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).

[12:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “Lord, you are fair when I present my case before you.”

[12:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “judgments” or “matters of justice.” For the nuance of “complain to,” “fair,” “disposition of justice” assumed here, see BDB 936 s.v. רִיב Qal.4 (cf. Judg 21:22); BDB 843 s.v. צַדִּיק 1.d (cf. Ps 7:12; 11:7); BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 1.f (cf. Isa 26:8; Ps 10:5; Ezek 7:27).

[12:1]  ¹² tn Heb “Why does the way [= course of life] of the wicked prosper?”