Job 27:1-2

Context

A Protest of Innocence

27:1 And Job took up his discourse again:¹

27:2 “As surely as God lives,² who has denied me justice,³

the Almighty, who has made my life bitter⁴ –

[27:1] ¹tn The Hebrew word מָשָׁל (mashal) is characteristically “proverb; by-word.” It normally refers to a brief saying, but can be used for a discourse (see A. R. Johnson, “MasŒal,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 162ff.).

[27:2] ²tn The expression חַי־אֵל (khay-’el) is the oath formula: “as God lives.” In other words, the speaker is staking God’s life on the credibility of the words. It is like saying, “As truly as God is alive.”

[27:2] ³tn “My judgment” would here, as before, be “my right.” God has taken this away by afflicting Job unjustly (A. B. Davidson, Job, 187).

[27:2] ⁴tn The verb הֵמַר (hemar) is the Hiphil perfect from מָרַר (marar, “to be bitter”) and hence, “to make bitter.” The object of the verb is “my soul,” which is better translated as “me” or “my life.”