Job 6:28

Other Explanation

6:28 “Now then, be good enough to look ¹  at me; ² 

and I will not ³  lie to your face!

Job 8:16

8:16 He is a well-watered plant ⁴  in ⁵  the sun,

its shoots spread ⁶  over its garden. ⁷ 

Job 16:11

16:11 God abandons me to evil ⁸  men, ⁹ 

and throws ¹⁰  me into the hands of wicked men.

Job 16:16

16:16 my face is reddened ¹¹  because of weeping, ¹² 

and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness, ¹³ 

Job 18:8

18:8 For he has been thrown into a net by his feet ¹⁴ 

and he wanders into a mesh. ¹⁵ 

Job 19:8

19:8 He has blocked ¹⁶  my way so I cannot pass,

and has set darkness ¹⁷  over my paths.

Job 22:28

22:28 Whatever you decide ¹⁸  on a matter,

it will be established for you,

and light will shine on your ways.

Job 25:3

25:3 Can his armies be numbered? ¹⁹ 

On whom does his light ²⁰  not rise?

Job 39:14

39:14 For she leaves ²¹  her eggs on the ground,

and lets them be warmed on the soil.

[6:28]  ¹ tn The second verb, the imperative “turn,” is subordinated to the first imperative even though there is no vav present (see GKC 385-87 §120.a, g).

[6:28]  ² tn The line has “and now, be pleased, turn to me [i.e., face me].” The LXX reverses the idea, “And now, having looked upon your countenances, I will not lie.” The expression “turn to me” means essentially to turn the eyes toward someone to look at him.

[6:28]  ³ tn The construction uses אִם (’im) as in a negative oath to mark the strong negative. He is underscoring his sincerity here. See M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92.

[8:16]  ⁴ tn The figure now changes to a plant that is flourishing and spreading and then suddenly cut off. The word רָטַב (ratav) means “to be moist; to be watered.” The word occurs in Arabic, Aramaic, and Akkadian, but only twice in the Bible: here as the adjective and in 24:8 as the verb.

[8:16]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew is לִפְנֵי (lifne, “before”). Does this mean “in the presence of the sun,” i.e., under a sweltering sun, or “before” the sun rises? It seems more natural to take לִפְנֵי (lifne) as “in the presence of” or “under.”

[8:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “its shoot goes out.”

[8:16]  ⁷ tc Some have emended this phrase to obtain “over the roofs.” The LXX has “out of his corruption.” H. M. Orlinsky has shown that this reading arose from an internal LXX change, saprias having replaced prasias, “garden” (JQR 26 [1935/36]: 134-35).

[16:11]  ⁷ tn The word עֲוִיל (’avil) means “child,” and this cannot be right here. If it is read as עַוָּל (’avval) as in Job 27:7 it would be the unrighteous.

[16:11]  ⁸ sn Job does not refer here to his friends, but more likely to the wicked men who set about to destroy him and his possessions, or to the rabble in ch. 30.

[16:11]  ⁹ tn The word יִרְטֵנִי (yirteni) does not derive from the root רָטָה (ratah) as would fit the pointing in the MT, but from יָרַט (yarat), cognate to Arabic warrata, “to throw; to hurl.” E. Dhorme (Job, 236) thinks that since the normal form would have been יִירְטֵנִי (yirÿteni), it is probable that one of the yods (י) would have affected the word עֲוִיל (’avil) – but that does not make much sense.

[16:16]  ¹⁰ tn An intensive form, a Qetaltal form of the root חָמַר (khamar, “red”) is used here. This word has as probable derivatives חֹמֶר (khomer, “[red] clay”) and חֲמוֹר (khamor, “[red] ass”) and the like. Because of the weeping, his whole complexion has been reddened (the LXX reads “my belly”).

[16:16]  ¹¹ sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 122) notes that spontaneous and repeated weeping is one of the symptoms of elephantiasis.

[16:16]  ¹² sn See Job 3:5. Just as joy brings light and life to the eyes, sorrow and suffering bring darkness. The “eyelids” here would be synecdoche, reflecting the whole facial expression as sad and sullen.

[18:8]  ¹³ tn See Ps 25:15.

[18:8]  ¹⁴ tn The word שְׂבָכָה (sÿvakhah) is used in scripture for the lattice window (2 Kgs 1:2). The Arabic cognate means “to be intertwined.” So the term could describe a net, matting, grating, or lattice. Here it would be the netting stretched over a pit.

[19:8]  ¹⁶ tn The verb גָּדַר (gadar) means “to wall up; to fence up; to block.” God has blocked Job’s way so that he cannot get through. See the note on 3:23. Cf. Lam 3:7.

[19:8]  ¹⁷ tn Some commentators take the word to be חָשַׁךְ (hasak), related to an Arabic word for “thorn hedge.”

[22:28]  ¹⁹ tn The word is גָּזַר (gazar, “to cut”), in the sense of deciding a matter.

[25:3]  ²² tn Heb “Is there a number to his troops?” The question is rhetorical: there is no number to them!

[25:3]  ²³ tc In place of “light” here the LXX has “his ambush,” perhaps reading אֹרְבוֹ (’orÿvo) instead of אוֹרֵהוּ (’orehu, “his light”). But while that captures the idea of troops and warfare, the change should be rejected because the armies are linked with stars and light. The expression is poetic; the LXX interpretation tried to make it concrete.

[39:14]  ²⁵ tn The meaning may have the connotation of “lays; places,” rather than simply abandoning (see M. Dahood, “The Root ’zb II in Job,” JBL 78 [1959]: 307f.).