Job 8:20

8:20 “Surely, God does not reject a blameless man, ¹ 

nor does he grasp the hand ² 

of the evildoers.

Job 9:22

Accusation of God’s Justice

9:22 “It is all one! ³  That is why I say, ⁴ 

‘He destroys the blameless and the guilty.’

[8:20]  ¹ sn This is the description that the book gave to Job at the outset, a description that he deserved according to God’s revelation. The theme “God will not reject the blameless man” becomes Job’s main point (see 9:20,21; 10:3).

[8:20]  ² sn The idiom “to grasp the hand” of someone means to support or help the person.

[9:22]  ³ tc The LXX omits the phrase “It is all one.” Modern scholars either omit it or transpose it for clarity.

[9:22]  ⁴ tn The relationships of these clauses is in some question. Some think that the poet has inverted the first two, and so they should read, “That is why I have said: ‘It is all one.’” Others would take the third clause to be what was said.