Job 29:6

29:6 when my steps ¹  were bathed ²  with butter ³ 

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil! ⁴ 

Isaiah 55:12-13

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,

firs will grow in place of nettles;

they will be a monument to the Lord, ⁵ 

a permanent reminder that will remain. ⁶ 

Amos 9:13-14

9:13 “Be sure of this, ⁷  the time is ⁸  coming,” says the Lord,

“when the plowman will catch up to the reaper ⁹ 

and the one who stomps the grapes ¹⁰  will overtake ¹¹  the planter. ¹² 

Juice will run down the slopes, ¹³ 

it will flow down all the hillsides. ¹⁴ 

9:14 I will bring back my people, Israel; ¹⁵ 

they will rebuild the cities lying in rubble ¹⁶  and settle down. ¹⁷ 

They will plant vineyards and drink the wine they produce; ¹⁸ 

they will grow orchards ¹⁹  and eat the fruit they produce. ²⁰ 

[29:6]  ¹ tn The word is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is clear enough. It refers to the walking, the steps, or even the paths where one walks. It is figurative of his course of life.

[29:6]  ² tn The Hebrew word means “to wash; to bathe”; here it is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, “my steps” being the genitive: “in the washing of my steps in butter.”

[29:6]  ³ tn Again, as in Job 21:17, “curds.”

[29:6]  ⁴ tn The MT reads literally, “and the rock was poured out [passive participle] for me as streams of oil.” There are some who delete the word “rock” to shorten the line because it seems out of place. But olive trees thrive in rocky soil, and the oil presses are cut into the rock; it is possible that by metonymy all this is intended here (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 186).

[55:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).

[55:13]  ⁶ tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”

[9:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “behold” or “look.”

[9:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “the days are.”

[9:13]  ⁹ sn The plowman will catch up to the reaper. Plowing occurred in October-November, and harvesting in April-May (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109.) But in the future age of restored divine blessing, there will be so many crops the reapers will take all summer to harvest them, and it will be time for plowing again before the harvest is finished.

[9:13]  ¹⁰ sn When the grapes had been harvested, they were placed in a press where workers would stomp on them with their feet and squeeze out the juice. For a discussion of grape harvesting technique, see O. Borowski, Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 110-12.

[9:13]  ¹¹ tn The verb is omitted here in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation from the parallel line.

[9:13]  ¹² sn The grape harvest occurred in August-September, planting in November-December (see P. King, Amos, Hosea, Micah, 109). But in the future age described here there will be so many grapes the workers who stomp them will still be working when the next planting season arrives.

[9:13]  ¹³ tn Or “hills,” where the vineyards were planted.

[9:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and all the hills will melt.”

[9:14]  ¹⁵ tn This line can also be translated “I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel” and is a common idiom (e.g., Deut 30:3; Jer 30:3; Hos 6:11; Zeph 3:20). This rendering is followed by several modern English versions (e.g., NEB, NRSV, NJPS).

[9:14]  ¹⁶ tn Or “the ruined [or “desolate”] cities.”

[9:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or “and live [in them].”

[9:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “drink their wine.”

[9:14]  ¹⁹ tn Or “gardens.”

[9:14]  ²⁰ tn Heb “eat their fruit.”