Job 23:9

23:9 In the north ¹  when he is at work, ² 

I do not see him; ³ 

when he turns ⁴  to the south,

I see no trace of him.

Job 24:18

24:18 ⁵ “You say, ⁶  ‘He is foam ⁷  on the face of the waters; ⁸ 

their portion of the land is cursed

so that no one goes to their vineyard. ⁹ 

[23:9]  ¹ sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.

[23:9]  ² tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (ba’asoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (ya’tof, “covers himself”).

[23:9]  ³ tn The verb is the apocopated form of the imperfect. The object is supplied.

[23:9]  ⁴ tn The MT has “he turns,” but the Syriac and Vulgate have “I turn.”

[24:18]  ⁵ tc Many commentators find vv. 18-24 difficult on the lips of Job, and so identify this unit as a misplaced part of the speech of Zophar. They describe the enormities of the wicked. But a case can also be made for retaining it in this section. Gordis thinks it could be taken as a quotation by Job of his friends’ ideas.

[24:18]  ⁶ tn The verb “say” is not in the text; it is supplied here to indicate that this is a different section.

[24:18]  ⁷ tn Or “is swift.”

[24:18]  ⁸ sn The wicked person is described here as a spray or foam upon the waters, built up in the agitation of the waters but dying away swiftly.

[24:18]  ⁹ tn The text reads, “he does not turn by the way of the vineyards.” This means that since the land is cursed, he/one does not go there. Bickell emended “the way of the vineyards” to “the treader of the vineyard” (see RSV, NRSV). This would mean that “no wine-presser would turn towards” their vineyards.