Job 31:8

31:8 then let me sow ¹  and let another eat,

and let my crops ²  be uprooted.

Job 5:3

5:3 I myself ³  have seen the fool ⁴  taking root,

but suddenly I cursed his place of residence. ⁵ 

Job 31:12

31:12 For it is a fire that devours even to Destruction, ⁶ 

and it would uproot ⁷  all my harvest.

[31:8]  ¹ tn The cohortative is often found in the apodosis of the conditional clause (see GKC 320 §108.f).

[31:8]  ² tn The word means “what sprouts up” (from יָצָא [yatsa’] with the sense of “sprout forth”). It could refer metaphorically to children (and so Kissane and Pope), as well as in its literal sense of crops. The latter fits here perfectly.

[5:3]  ³ tn The use of the pronoun here adds emphasis to the subject of the sentence (see GKC 437 §135.a).

[5:3]  ⁴ tn This word is אֱוִיל (’evil), the same word for the “senseless man” in the preceding verse. Eliphaz is citing an example of his principle just given – he saw such a fool for a brief while appearing to prosper (i.e., taking root).

[5:3]  ⁵ tn A. B. Davidson argues that the verse does not mean that Eliphaz cursed his place during his prosperity. This line is metonymical (giving the effect). God judged the fool and his place was ruined; consequently, Eliphaz pronounced it accursed of God (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 36). Many emend the verb slightly to read “and it was suddenly cursed” (וַיֻּכַב [vayyukhav] instead of וָאֶקּוֹב [va’eqqov]; see H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 51).

[31:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “to Abaddon.”

[31:12]  ⁶ tn The verb means “to root out,” but this does not fit the parallelism with fire. Wright changed two letters and the vowels in the verb to get the root צָרַף (tsaraf, “to burn”). The NRSV has “burn to the root.”