Job 9:34

9:34 who ¹  would take his ²  rod ³  away from me

so that his terror ⁴  would not make me afraid.

Job 9:1

Job’s Reply to Bildad ⁵ 

9:1 Then Job answered:

Job 1:3

1:3 His possessions ⁶  included ⁷  7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household. ⁸  Thus he ⁹  was the greatest of all the people in the east. ¹⁰ 

[9:34]  ¹ tn The verse probably continues the description from the last verse, and so a relative pronoun may be supplied here as well.

[9:34]  ² tn According to some, the reference of this suffix would be to God. The arbiter would remove the rod of God from Job. But others take it as a separate sentence with God removing his rod.

[9:34]  ³ sn The “rod” is a symbol of the power of God to decree whatever judgments and afflictions fall upon people.

[9:34]  ⁴ tn “His terror” is metonymical; it refers to the awesome majesty of God that overwhelms Job and causes him to be afraid.

[9:1]  ⁵ sn This speech of Job in response to Bildad falls into two large sections, chs. 9 and 10. In ch. 9 he argues that God’s power and majesty prevent him from establishing his integrity in his complaint to God. And in ch. 10 Job tries to discover in God’s plan the secret of his afflictions. The speech seems to continue what Job was saying to Eliphaz more than it addresses Bildad. See K. Fullerton, “On Job 9 and 10,” JBL 53 (1934): 321-49.

[1:3]  ⁹ tn The word means “cattle, livestock, possessions” (see also Gen 26:14). Here it includes the livestock, but also the entire substance of his household.

[1:3]  ¹⁰ tn Or “amounted to,” “totaled.” The preterite of הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) is sometimes employed to introduce a total amount or an inventory (see Exod 1:5; Num 3:43).

[1:3]  ¹¹ tn The word עֲבֻדָּה (’avuddah, “service of household servants”) indicates that he had a very large body of servants, meaning a very large household.

[1:3]  ¹² tn Heb “and that man.”

[1:3]  ¹³ tn The expression is literally “sons of the east.” The use of the genitive after “sons” in this construction may emphasize their nature (like “sons of belial”); it would refer to them as easterners (like “sons of the south” in contemporary American English). BDB 869 s.v. קֶדֶם says “dwellers in the east.”