Job 6:22-23

Friends’ Fears

6:22 “Have I ¹  ever said, ²  ‘Give me something,

and from your fortune ³  make gifts ⁴  in my favor’?

6:23 Or ‘Deliver me ⁵  from the enemy’s power, ⁶ 

and from the hand of tyrants ⁷  ransom ⁸  me’?

Genesis 24:22

24:22 After the camels had finished drinking, the man took out a gold nose ring weighing a beka ⁹  and two gold bracelets weighing ten shekels ¹⁰  and gave them to her. ¹¹ 

Genesis 24:53

24:53 Then he ¹²  brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.

Genesis 24:1

The Wife for Isaac

24:1 Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, ¹³  and the Lord had blessed him ¹⁴  in everything.

Genesis 10:27

10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, ¹⁵  Diklah, ¹⁶ 

[6:22]  ¹ tn The Hebrew הֲכִי (hakhi) literally says “Is it because….”

[6:22]  ² sn For the next two verses Job lashes out in sarcasm against his friends. If he had asked for charity, for their wealth, he might have expected their cold response. But all he wanted was sympathy and understanding (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 63).

[6:22]  ³ tn The word כֹּחַ (koakh) basically means “strength, force”; but like the synonym חַיִל (khayil), it can also mean “wealth, fortune.” E. Dhorme notes that to the Semitic mind, riches bring power (Job, 90).

[6:22]  ⁴ tn Or “bribes.” The verb שִׁחֲדוּ (shikhadu) means “give a שֹׁחַד (shokhad, “bribe”).” The significance is simply “make a gift” (especially in the sense of corrupting an official [Ezek 16:33]). For the spelling of the form in view of the guttural, see GKC 169 §64.a.

[6:23]  ⁵ tn The verse now gives the ultimate reason why Job might have urged his friends to make a gift – if it were possible. The LXX, avoiding the direct speech in the preceding verse and this, does make this verse the purpose statement – “to deliver from enemies….”

[6:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand,” as in the second half of the verse.

[6:23]  ⁷ tn The עָרִיצִים (’aritsim) are tyrants, the people who inspire fear (Job 15:20; 27:13); the root verb עָרַץ (’arats) means “to terrify” (Job 13:25).

[6:23]  ⁸ tn The verb now is the imperfect; since it is parallel to the imperative in the first half of the verse it is imperfect of instruction, much like English uses the future for instruction. The verb פָּדָה (padah) means “to ransom, redeem,” often in contexts where payment is made.

[24:22]  ⁹ sn A beka weighed about 5-6 grams (0.2 ounce).

[24:22]  ¹⁰ sn A shekel weighed about 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce) although weights varied locally, so these bracelets weighed about 4 ounces (115 grams).

[24:22]  ¹¹ tn The words “and gave them to her” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[24:53]  ¹² tn Heb “the servant”; the noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[24:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “days.”

[24:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Abraham.” The proper name has been replaced in the translation by the pronoun (“he”) for stylistic reasons.

[10:27]  ¹⁵ sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

[10:27]  ¹⁶ sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”