Job 31:10

31:10 then let my wife turn the millstone ¹  for another man,

and may other men have sexual relations with her. ² 

Job 31:40

31:40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,

and in place of barley, weeds!” ³ 

The words of Job are ended.

[31:10]  ¹ tn Targum Job interpreted the verb טָחַן (takhan, “grind”) in a sexual sense, and this has influenced other versions and commentaries. But the literal sense fits well in this line. The idea is that she would be a slave for someone else. The second line of the verse then might build on this to explain what kind of a slave – a concubine (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 215).

[31:10]  ² tn Heb “bow down over her,” an idiom for sexual relations.

[31:40]  ³ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.