Job 6:7

6:7 I ¹  have refused ²  to touch such things; ³ 

they are like loathsome food to me. ⁴ 

Job 20:14

20:14 his food is turned sour ⁵  in his stomach; ⁶ 

it becomes the venom of serpents ⁷  within him.

Job 33:20

33:20 so that his life loathes food,

and his soul rejects appetizing fare. ⁸ 

Job 3:24

3:24 For my sighing comes in place of ⁹  my food, ¹⁰ 

and my groanings ¹¹  flow forth like water. ¹² 

Job 22:7

22:7 You gave the weary ¹³  no water to drink

and from the hungry you withheld food.

Job 28:5

28:5 The earth, from which food comes,

is overturned below as though by fire; ¹⁴ 

Job 30:4

30:4 By the brush ¹⁵  they would gather ¹⁶  herbs from the salt marshes, ¹⁷ 

and the root of the broom tree was their food.

Job 15:23

15:23 he wanders about – food for vultures; ¹⁸ 

he knows that the day of darkness is at hand. ¹⁹ 

Job 24:5

24:5 Like ²⁰  wild donkeys in the desert

they ²¹  go out to their labor, ²² 

seeking diligently for food;

the wasteland provides ²³  food for them

and for their children.

Job 27:14

27:14 If his children increase – it is for the sword! ²⁴ 

His offspring never have enough to eat. ²⁵ 

Job 42:11

42:11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined ²⁶  with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver ²⁷  and a gold ring. ²⁸ 

[6:7]  ¹ tn The traditional rendering of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi) is “my soul.” But since נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) means the whole person, body and soul, it is best to translate it with its suffix simply as an emphatic pronoun.

[6:7]  ² tn For the explanation of the perfect verb with its completed action in the past and its remaining effects, see GKC 311 §106.g.

[6:7]  ³ tn The phrase “such things” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied.

[6:7]  ⁴ tn The second colon of the verse is difficult. The word דְּוֵי (dÿve) means “sickness of” and yields a meaning “like the sickness of my food.” This could take the derived sense of דָּוָה (davah) and mean “impure” or “corrupt” food. The LXX has “for I loathe my food as the smell of a lion” and so some commentators emend “they” (which has no clear antecedent) to mean “I loathe it [like the sickness of my food].” Others have more freely emended the text to “my palate loathes my food” (McNeile) or “my bowels resound with suffering” (I. Eitan, “An unknown meaning of RAHAMIÝM,” JBL 53 [1934]: 271). Pope has “they are putrid as my flesh [= my meat].” D. J. A. Clines (Job [WBC], 159) prefers the suggestion in BHS, “it [my soul] loathes them as my food.” E. Dhorme (Job, 80) repoints the second word of the colon to get כְּבֹדִי (kÿvodi, “my glory”): “my heart [glory] loathes/is sickened by my bread.”

[20:14]  ⁵ tn The perfect verb in the apodosis might express the suddenness of the change (see S. R. Driver, Tenses in Hebrew, 204), or it might be a constative perfect looking at the action as a whole without reference to inception, progress, or completion (see IBHS 480-81 §30.1d). The Niphal perfect simply means “is turned” or “turns”; “sour is supplied in the translation to clarify what is meant.

[20:14]  ⁶ tn The word is “in his loins” or “within him.” Some translate more specifically “bowels.”

[20:14]  ⁷ sn Some commentators suggest that the ancients believed that serpents secreted poison in the gall bladder, or that the poison came from the gall bladder of serpents. In any case, there is poison (from the root “bitter”) in the system of the wicked person; it may simply be saying it is that type of poison.

[33:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “food of desire.” The word “rejects” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity.

[3:24]  ¹³ tn For the prepositional לִפְנֵי (lifne), the temporal meaning “before” (“my sighing comes before I eat”) makes very little sense here (as the versions have it). The meaning “in place of, for” fits better (see 1 Sam 1:16, “count not your handmaid for a daughter of Belial”).

[3:24]  ¹⁴ sn The line means that Job’s sighing, which results from the suffering (metonymy of effect) is his constant, daily food. Parallels like Ps 42:3 which says “my tears have been my bread/food” shows a similar figure.

[3:24]  ¹⁵ tn The word normally describes the “roaring” of a lion (Job 4:10); but it is used for the loud groaning or cries of those in distress (Pss 22:1; 32:3).

[3:24]  ¹⁶ tn This second colon is paraphrased in the LXX to say, “I weep being beset with terror.” The idea of “pouring forth water” while groaning can be represented by “I weep.” The word “fear, terror” anticipates the next verse.

[22:7]  ¹⁷ tn The term עָיֵף (’ayef) can be translated “weary,” “faint,” “exhausted,” or “tired.” Here it may refer to the fainting because of thirst – that would make a good parallel to the second part.

[28:5]  ²¹ sn The verse has been properly understood, on the whole, as comparing the earth above and all its produce with the upheaval down below.

[30:4]  ²⁵ tn Or “the leaves of bushes” (ESV), a possibility dating back to Saadia and discussed by G. R. Driver and G. B. Gray (Job [ICC], 2:209) in their philological notes.

[30:4]  ²⁶ tn Here too the form is the participle with the article.

[30:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “gather mallow,” a plant which grows in salt marshes.

[15:23]  ²⁹ tn The MT has “he wanders about for food – where is it?” The LXX has “he has been appointed for food for vultures,” reading אַיָּה (’ayyah, “vulture”) for אַיֵּה (’ayyeh, “where is it?”). This would carry on the thought of the passage – he sees himself destined for the sword and food for vultures. Many commentators follow this reading while making a number of smaller changes in נֹדֵד (noded, “wandering”) such as נִתַּן (nittan, “is given”), נוֹעַד (no’ad, “is appointed”), נוֹדַע (noda’, “is known”), or something similar. The latter involves no major change in consonants. While the MT “wandering” may not be as elegant as some of the other suggestions, it is not impossible. But there is no reading of this verse that does not involve some change. The LXX has “and he has been appointed for food for vultures.”

[15:23]  ³⁰ tn This line is fraught with difficulties (perceived or real), which prompt numerous suggestions. The reading of the MT is “he knows that a day of darkness is fixed in his hand,” i.e., is certain. Many commentators move “day of darkness” to the next verse, following the LXX. Then, suggestions have been offered for נָכוֹן (nakhon, “ready”), such as נֵכֶר (nekher, “disaster”); and for בְּיָדוֹ (bÿyado, “in his hand”) a number of ideas – לְאֵיד (lÿ’ed, “calamity”) or פִּידוֹ (pido, “his disaster”). Wright takes this last view and renders it “he knows that misfortune is imminent,” leaving the “day of darkness” to the next verse.

[24:5]  ³³ 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]  ³⁴ tn That is, “the poor.”

[24:5]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ tn The verb is not included in the Hebrew text but is supplied in the translation.

[27:14]  ³⁷ tn R. Gordis (Job, 294) identifies this as a breviloquence. Compare Ps 92:8 where the last two words also constitute the apodosis.

[27:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “will not be satisfied with bread/food.”

[42:11]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “ate bread.”

[42:11]  ⁴² tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.

[42:11]  ⁴³ sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.