Job 33:27-30

33:27 That person sings ¹  to others, ²  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ³ 

33:28 He redeemed my life ⁴ 

from going down to the place of corruption,

and my life sees the light!’

Elihu’s Appeal to Job ⁵ 

33:29 “Indeed, God does all these things,

twice, three times, in his dealings ⁶  with a person,

33:30 to turn back his life from the place of corruption,

that he may be enlightened with the light of life.

[33:27]  ¹ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ² tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ³ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[33:28]  ⁴ sn See note on “him” in v. 24.

[33:29]  ⁵ sn Elihu will repeat these instructions for Job to listen, over and over in painful repetition. See note on the heading to 32:1.

[33:29]  ⁶ tn The phrase “in his dealings” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.