Job 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ¹ 

On whom does his light ²  not rise?

Job 19:12

19:12 His troops ³  advance together;

they throw up ⁴  a siege ramp against me,

and they camp around my tent.

Job 29:25

29:25 I chose ⁵  the way for them ⁶ 

and sat as their chief; ⁷ 

I lived like a king among his troops;

I was like one who comforts mourners. ⁸ 

[25:3]  ¹ tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ² tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[19:12]  ³ sn Now the metaphor changes again. Since God thinks of Job as an enemy, he attacks with his troops, builds the siege ramp, and camps around him to besiege him. All the power and all the forces are at God’s disposal in his attack of Job.

[19:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “they throw up their way against me.” The verb סָלַל (salal) means “to build a siege ramp” or “to throw up a ramp”; here the object is “their way.” The latter could be taken as an adverbial accusative, “as their way.” But as the object it fits just as well. Some delete the middle clause; the LXX has “Together his troops fell upon me, they beset my ways with an ambush.”

[29:25]  ⁵ tn All of these imperfects describe what Job used to do, and so they all fit the category of customary imperfect.

[29:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “their way.”

[29:25]  ⁷ tn The text simply has “and I sat [as their] head.” The adverbial accusative explains his role, especially under the image of being seated. He directed the deliberations as a king directs an army.

[29:25]  ⁸ tc Most commentators think this last phrase is odd here, and so they either delete it altogether, or emend it to fit the idea of the verse. Ewald, however, thought it appropriate as a transition to the next section, reminding his friends that unlike him, they were miserable comforters. Herz made the few changes in the text to get the reading “where I led them, they were willing to go” (ZAW 20 [1900]: 163). The two key words in the MT are אֲבֵלִים יְנַחֵם (’avelim yÿnakhem, “he [one who] comforts mourners”). Following Herz, E. Dhorme (Job, 422) has these changed to אוֹבִילֵם יִנַּחוּ (’ovilem yinnakhu). R. Gordis has “like one leading a camel train” (Job, 324). But Kissane also retains the line as a summary of the chapter, noting its presence in the versions.