Job 32:15-16

Job’s Friends Failed to Answer ¹ 

32:15 “They are dismayed ²  and cannot answer any more;

they have nothing left to say. ³ 

32:16 And I have waited. ⁴  But because they do not speak,

because they stand there and answer no more,

Job 33:31-33

33:31 Pay attention, Job – listen to me;

be silent, and I will speak.

33:32 If you have any words, ⁵  reply to me;

speak, for I want to justify you. ⁶ 

33:33 If not, you listen to me;

be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.”

Isaiah 52:15

52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human ⁷  –

so now ⁸  he will startle ⁹  many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, ¹⁰ 

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

Matthew 22:46

22:46 No one ¹¹  was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

[32:15]  ¹ sn Elihu now will give another reason why he will speak – the arguments of these friends failed miserably. But before he gets to his argument, he will first qualify his authority.

[32:15]  ² tn The verb חַתּוּ (khattu) is from חָתַת (khatat) which means “to be terrified.” But here it stresses the resulting dilemma. R. Gordis (Job, 369) renders it, “they are shattered, beaten in an argument.”

[32:15]  ³ tn Heb “words have moved away from them,” meaning words are gone from them, they have nothing left to say.

[32:16]  ⁴ tn Some commentators take this as a question: “And shall [or must] I wait because they do not speak?” (A. B. Davidson, R. Gordis). But this is not convincing because the silence of the friends is the reason for him to speak, not to wait.

[33:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “if there are words.”

[33:32]  ⁶ tn The infinitive construct serves as the complement or object of “I desire.” It could be rendered “to justify you” or “your justification, “namely, “that you be justified.”

[52:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”

[52:15]  ⁸ tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.

[52:15]  ⁹ tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.

[52:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.

[22:46]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.