Job 36:18-26

36:18 Be careful that ¹  no one entices you with riches;

do not let a large bribe ²  turn you aside.

36:19 Would your wealth ³  sustain you,

so that you would not be in distress, ⁴ 

even all your mighty efforts? ⁵ 

36:20 Do not long for the cover of night

to drag people away from their homes. ⁶ 

36:21 Take heed, do not turn to evil,

for because of this you have been tested ⁷  by affliction.

36:22 Indeed, God is exalted in his power;

who is a teacher ⁸  like him?

36:23 Who has prescribed his ways for him?

Or said to him, ‘You have done what is wicked’?

36:24 Remember to extol ⁹  his work,

which people have praised in song.

36:25 All humanity has seen it;

people gaze on it from afar.

The Work and Wisdom of God

36:26 “Yes, God is great – beyond our knowledge! ¹⁰ 

The number of his years is unsearchable.

[36:18]  ¹ tn The first expression is idiomatic: the text says, “because wrath lest it entice you” – thus, beware.

[36:18]  ² tn The word is כֹּפֶר (kofer), often translated “ransom,” but frequently in the sense of a bribe.

[36:19]  ³ tn The form in the MT is “your cry (for help).” See J. E. Hartley (Job [NICOT], 472-73) and E. Dhorme (Job, 547-48) on the difficulties.

[36:19]  ⁴ tn This part has only two words לֹא בְצָר (lo’ bÿtsar, “not in distress”). The negated phrase serves to explain the first colon.

[36:19]  ⁵ tc For the many suggestions and the reasoning here, see the commentaries.

[36:20]  ⁵ tn The meaning of this line is difficult. There are numerous suggestions for emending the text. Kissane takes the first verb in the sense of “oppress,” and for “the night” he has “belonging to you,” meaning “your people.” This reads: “Oppress not them that belong not to you, that your kinsmen may mount up in their place.”

[36:21]  ⁷ tn Normally “tested” would be the translation for the Niphal of בָּחַר (bakhar). Although the Qal is employed here, the context favors “tested” rather than “chose.”

[36:22]  ⁹ tn The word מוֹרֶה (moreh) is the Hiphil participle from יָרַה (yarah). It is related to the noun תּוֹרָה (torah, “what is taught” i.e., the law).

[36:24]  ¹¹ tn The expression is “that you extol,” serving as an object of the verb.

[36:26]  ¹³ tn The last part has the verbal construction, “and we do not know.” This clause is to be used adverbially: “beyond our understanding.”