Job 5:6

5:6 For evil does not come up from the dust, ¹ 

nor does trouble spring up from the ground,

Job 24:5

24:5 Like ²  wild donkeys in the desert

they ³  go out to their labor, ⁴ 

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides ⁵  food for them

and for their children.

Job 31:34

31:34 because I was terrified ⁶  of the great multitude, ⁷ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ⁸ 

Job 31:40

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

and in place of barley, weeds!” ⁹ 

The words of Job are ended.

[5:6]  ¹ sn The previous discussion shows how trouble rises, namely, from the rebelliousness of the fool. Here Eliphaz simply summarizes the points made with this general principle – trouble does not come from outside man, nor does it come as a part of the natural order, but rather it comes from the evil nature of man.

[24:5]  ² tc The verse begins with הֵן (hen); but the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac all have “like.” R. Gordis (Job, 265) takes הֵן (hen) as a pronoun “they” and supplies the comparative. The sense of the verse is clear in either case.

[24:5]  ³ tn That is, “the poor.”

[24:5]  ⁴ tc The MT has “in the working/labor of them,” or “when they labor.” Some commentators simply omit these words. Dhorme retains them and moves them to go with עֲרָבָה (’aravah), which he takes to mean “evening”; this gives a clause, “although they work until the evening.” Then, with many others, he takes לוֹ (lo) to be a negative and finishes the verse with “no food for the children.” Others make fewer changes in the text, and as a result do not come out with such a hopeless picture – there is some food found. The point is that they spend their time foraging for food, and they find just enough to survive, but it is a day-long activity. For Job, this shows how unrighteous the administration of the world actually is.

[24:5]  ⁵ tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.

[31:34]  ³ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ⁴ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ⁵ sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

[31:40]  ⁴ tn The word בָּאְשָׁה (bo’shah, from בָּאַשׁ [ba’as, “to have a foul smell”]) must refer to foul smelling weeds.