Job 6:22

Friends’ Fears

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

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

Job 6:26

6:26 Do you intend to criticize mere words,

and treat ⁵  the words of a despairing man as wind?

Job 13:19

13:19 Who ⁶  will contend with me?

If anyone can, I will be silent and die. ⁷ 

Job 16:10

16:10 People ⁸  have opened their mouths against me,

they have struck my cheek in scorn; ⁹ 

they unite ¹⁰  together against me.

Job 31:2

31:2 What then would be one’s lot from God above,

one’s heritage from the Almighty ¹¹  on high?

[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.

[6:26]  ⁵ tn This, in the context, is probably the meaning, although the Hebrew simply has the line after the first half of the verse read: “and as/to wind the words of a despairing man.” The line could be translated “and the words of a despairing man, [which are] as wind.” But this translation follows the same approach as RSV, NIV, and NAB, which take the idiom of the verb (“think, imagine”) with the preposition on “wind” to mean “reckon as wind” – “and treat the words of a despairing man as wind.”

[13:19]  ⁹ tn The interrogative is joined with the emphatic pronoun, stressing “who is he [who] will contend,” or more emphatically, “who in the world will contend.” Job is confident that no one can bring charges against him. He is certain of success.

[13:19]  ¹⁰ sn Job is confident that he will be vindicated. But if someone were to show up and have proof of sin against him, he would be silent and die (literally “keep silent and expire”).

[16:10]  ¹³ tn “People” is supplied; the Hebrew verb is third plural. The colon reads, “they have opened against me with [the preposition is instrumental] their mouth.” The gestures here follow the animal imagery; they reflect destructive opposition and attack (see Ps 22:13 among others).

[16:10]  ¹⁴ tn This is an “insult” or a “reproach.”

[16:10]  ¹⁵ tn The verb יִתְמַלָּאוּן (yitmalla’un) is taken from מָלֵא (male’), “to be full,” and in this stem, “to pile up; to press together.” The term has a military connotation, such as “to mobilize” (see D. W. Thomas, “ml'w in Jeremiah 4:5 : a military term,” JJS 3 [1952]: 47-52). Job sees himself surrounded by enemies who persecute him and mock him.

[31:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “lot of Shaddai,” which must mean “the lot from Shaddai,” a genitive of source.