Job 6:8

A Cry for Death

6:8 “Oh that ¹  my request would be realized, ² 

and that God would grant me what I long for! ³ 

Job 19:23

Job’s Assurance of Vindication

19:23 “O that ⁴  my words were written down,

O that they were written on a scroll, ⁵ 

Job 14:4

14:4 Who can make ⁶  a clean thing come from an unclean? ⁷ 

No one!

Job 36:6

36:6 He does not allow the wicked to live, ⁸ 

but he gives justice to the poor.

Job 3:20

Longing for Death ⁹ 

3:20 “Why does God ¹⁰  give ¹¹  light to one who is in misery, ¹² 

and life to those ¹³  whose soul is bitter,

Job 11:5

11:5 But if only God would speak, ¹⁴ 

if only he would open his lips against you, ¹⁵ 

Job 13:5

13:5 If only you would keep completely silent! ¹⁶ 

For you, that would be wisdom. ¹⁷ 

Job 23:3

23:3 O that I knew ¹⁸  where I might find him, ¹⁹ 

that I could come ²⁰  to his place of residence! ²¹ 

Job 24:23

24:23 God ²²  may let them rest in a feeling of security, ²³ 

but he is constantly watching ²⁴  all their ways. ²⁵ 

Job 28:15

28:15 Fine gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

nor can its price be weighed out in silver.

Job 36:31

36:31 It is by these that he judges ²⁶  the nations

and supplies food in abundance.

Job 37:10

37:10 The breath of God produces ice,

and the breadth of the waters freeze solid.

Job 14:13

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that ²⁷  you would hide me in Sheol, ²⁸ 

and conceal me till your anger has passed! ²⁹ 

O that you would set me a time ³⁰ 

and then remember me! ³¹ 

Job 31:31

31:31 if ³²  the members of my household ³³  have never said, ³⁴ 

‘If only there were ³⁵  someone

who has not been satisfied from Job’s ³⁶  meat!’ –

Job 2:4

2:4 But ³⁷  Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for ³⁸  skin! ³⁹  Indeed, a man will give up ⁴⁰  all that he has to save his life! ⁴¹ 

Job 31:35

Job’s Appeal

31:35 “If only I had ⁴²  someone to hear me!

Here is my signature – ⁴³ 

let the Almighty answer me!

If only I had an indictment ⁴⁴ 

that my accuser had written. ⁴⁵ 

[6:8]  ¹ tn The Hebrew expresses the desire (desiderative clause) with “who will give?” (see GKC 477 §151.d).

[6:8]  ² tn The verb בּוֹא (bo’, “go”) has the sense of “to be realized; to come to pass; to be fulfilled.” The optative “Who will give [that] my request be realized?” is “O that my request would be realized.”

[6:8]  ³ tn The text has תִקְוָתִי (tiqvati, “hope”). There is no reason to change the text to “my desire” (as Driver and others do) if the word is interpreted metonymically – it means “what I hope for.” What Job hopes for and asks for is death.

[19:23]  ⁴ tn The optative is again expressed with the interrogative clause “Who will give that they be written?” Job wishes that his words be preserved long after his death.

[19:23]  ⁵ tn While the sense of this line is clear, there is a small problem and a plausible solution. The last word is indeed סֶפֶר (sefer, “book”), usually understood here to mean “scroll.” But the verb that follows it in the verse is יֻחָקוּ (yukhaqu), from חָקַק (khaqaq, “to engrave; to carve”). While the meaning is clearly that Job wants his words to be retained, the idea of engraving in a book, although not impossible, is unusual. And so many have suggested that the Akkadian word siparru, “copper; brass,” is what is meant here (see Isa 30:8; Judg 5:14). The consonants are the same, and the vowel pattern is close to the original vowel pattern of this segholate noun. Writing on copper or bronze sheets has been attested from the 12th to the 2nd centuries, notably in the copper scroll, which would allow the translation “scroll” in our text (for more bibliography see D. J. A. Clines, Job [WBC], 432). But H. S. Gehman notes that in Phoenician our word can mean “inscription” (“SEÝFER, an inscription, in the book of Job,” JBL 63 [1944]: 303-7), making the proposed substitution unnecessary.

[14:4]  ⁷ tn The expression is מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”; see GKC 477 §151.b). Some commentators (H. H. Rowley and A. B. Davidson) wish to take this as the optative formula: “O that a clean might come out of an unclean!” But that does not fit the verse very well, and still requires the addition of a verb. The exclamation here simply implies something impossible – man is unable to attain purity.

[14:4]  ⁸ sn The point being made is that the entire human race is contaminated by sin, and therefore cannot produce something pure. In this context, since man is born of woman, it is saying that the woman and the man who is brought forth from her are impure. See Ps 51:5; Isa 6:5; and Gen 6:5.

[36:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “he does not keep the wicked alive.”

[3:20]  ¹³ sn Since he has survived birth, Job wonders why he could not have died a premature death. He wonders why God gives light and life to those who are in misery. His own condition throws gloom over life, and so he poses the question first generally, for many would prefer death to misery (20-22); then he comes to the individual, himself, who would prefer death (23). He closes his initial complaint with some depictions of his suffering that afflicts him and gives him no rest (24-26).

[3:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:20]  ¹⁵ tn The verb is the simple imperfect, expressing the progressive imperfect nuance. But there is no formal subject to the verb, prompting some translations to make it passive in view of the indefinite subject (so, e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Such a passive could be taken as a so-called “divine passive” by which God is the implied agent. Job clearly means God here, but he stops short of naming him (see also the note on “God” earlier in this verse).

[3:20]  ¹⁶ sn In v. 10 the word was used to describe the labor and sorrow that comes from it; here the one in such misery is called the עָמֵל (’amel, “laborer, sufferer”).

[3:20]  ¹⁷ tn The second colon now refers to people in general because of the plural construct מָרֵי נָפֶשׁ (mare nafesh, “those bitter of soul/life”). One may recall the use of מָרָה (marah, “bitter”) by Naomi to describe her pained experience as a poor widow in Ruth 1:20, or the use of the word to describe the bitter oppression inflicted on Israel by the Egyptians (Exod 1:14). Those who are “bitter of soul” are those whose life is overwhelmed with painful experiences and suffering.

[11:5]  ¹⁶ tn The wish formula מִי־יִתֵּן (mi yitten, “who will give”; see GKC 477 §151.b) is followed here by an infinitive (Exod 16:3; 2 Sam 19:1).

[11:5]  ¹⁷ sn Job had expressed his eagerness to challenge God; Zophar here wishes that God would take up that challenge.

[13:5]  ¹⁹ tn The construction is the imperfect verb in the wish formula preceded by the infinitive that intensifies it. The Hiphil is not directly causative here, but internally – “keep silent.”

[13:5]  ²⁰ tn The text literally reads, “and it would be for you for wisdom,” or “that it would become your wisdom.” Job is rather sarcastic here, indicating if they shut up they would prove themselves to be wise (see Prov 17:28).

[23:3]  ²² tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”

[23:3]  ²³ tn The form in Hebrew is וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ (vÿ’emtsa’ehu), simply “and I will find him.” But in the optative clause this verb is subordinated to the preceding verb: “O that I knew where [and] I might find him.” It is not unusual to have the perfect verb followed by the imperfect in such coordinate clauses (see GKC 386 §120.e). This could also be translated making the second verb a complementary infinitive: “knew how to find him.”

[23:3]  ²⁴ tn This verb also depends on מִי־יִתֵּן (mi-yitten, “who will give”) of the first part, forming an additional clause in the wish formula.

[23:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “his place of judgment.” The word is from כּוּן (kun, “to prepare; to arrange”) in the Polel and the Hiphil conjugations. The noun refers to a prepared place, a throne, a seat, or a sanctuary. A. B. Davidson (Job, 169) and others take the word to mean “judgment seat” or “tribunal” in this context.

[24:23]  ²⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:23]  ²⁶ tn The expression לָבֶטַח (lavetakh, “in security”) precedes the verb that it qualifies – God “allows him to take root in security.” For the meaning of the verb, see Job 8:15.

[24:23]  ²⁷ tn Heb “his eyes are on.”

[24:23]  ²⁸ sn The meaning of the verse is that God may allow the wicked to rest in comfort and security, but all the time he is watching them closely with the idea of bringing judgment on them.

[36:31]  ²⁸ tn The verb is יָדִין (yadin, “he judges”). Houbigant proposedיָזוּן (yazun, “he nourishes”). This has found wide acceptance among commentators (cf. NAB). G. R. Driver retained the MT but gave a meaning “enriches” to the verb (“Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 88ff.).

[14:13]  ³¹ tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”

[14:13]  ³² sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.

[14:13]  ³³ tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.

[14:13]  ³⁴ tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”

[14:13]  ³⁵ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.

[31:31]  ³⁴ tn Now Job picks up the series of clauses serving as the protasis.

[31:31]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the men of my tent.” In context this refers to members of Job’s household.

[31:31]  ³⁶ sn The line is difficult to sort out. Job is saying it is sinful “if his men have never said, ‘O that there was one who has not been satisfied from his food.’” If they never said that, it would mean there were people out there who needed to be satisfied with his food.

[31:31]  ³⁷ tn The optative is again expressed with “who will give?”

[31:31]  ³⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Job) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:4]  ³⁷ tn The form is the simply preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive. However, the speech of Satan is in contrast to what God said, even though in narrative sequence.

[2:4]  ³⁸ tn The preposition בְּעַד (bÿ’ad) designates interest or advantage arising from the idea of protection for (“for the benefit of”); see IBHS 201-2 §11.2.7a.

[2:4]  ³⁹ sn The meaning of the expression is obscure. It may come from the idea of sacrificing an animal or another person in order to go free, suggesting the expression that one type of skin that was worth less was surrendered to save the more important life. Satan would then be saying that Job was willing for others to die for him to go free, but not himself. “Skin” would be a synecdoche of the part for the whole (like the idiomatic use of skin today for a person in a narrow escape). The second clause indicates that God has not even scratched the surface because Job has been protected. His “skin” might have been scratched, but not his flesh and bone! But if his life had been put in danger, he would have responded differently.

[2:4]  ⁴⁰ tc The LXX has “make full payment, pay a full price” (LSJ 522 s.v. ἐκτίνω).

[2:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Indeed, all that a man has he will give for his life.”

[31:35]  ⁴⁰ tn The optative is again introduced with “who will give to me hearing me? – O that someone would listen to me!”

[31:35]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “here is my ‘tav’” (הֵן תָּוִי, hen tavi). The letter ת (tav) is the last letter of the alphabet in Hebrew. In paleo-Hebrew the letter was in the form of a cross or an “X,” and so used for one making a mark or a signature. In this case Job has signed his statement and delivered it to the court – but he has yet to be charged. Kissane thought that this being the last letter of the alphabet, Job was saying, “This is my last word.” Others take the word to mean “desire” – “this is my desire, that God would answer me” (see E. F. Sutcliffe, “Notes on Job, textual and exegetical,” Bib 30 [1949]: 71-72; G. R. Driver, AJSL 3 [1935/36]: 166; P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). R. Gordis (Job, 355) also argues strongly for this view.

[31:35]  ⁴² tn Heb “a scroll,” in the context referring to a scroll containing the accusations of Job’s legal adversary (see the next line).

[31:35]  ⁴³ tn The last line is very difficult; it simply says, “a scroll [that] my [legal] adversary had written.” The simplest way to handle this is to see it as a continuation of the optative (RSV).