¹My spirit is broken,[#tn The verb חָבַל (khaval, “to act badly”) in the Piel means “to ruin.” The Pual translation with “my spirit” as the subject means “broken” in the sense of finished (not in the sense of humbled as in Ps 51).]

my days have faded out,

the grave awaits me.

²Surely mockery is with me;[#tn The noun is the abstract noun, “mockery.” It indicates that he is the object of derision. But many commentators either change the word to “mockers” (Tur-Sinai, NEB), or argue that the form in the text is a form of the participle (Gordis).; #tn E. Dhorme (Job, 243) interprets the preposition to mean “aimed at me.”]

my eyes must dwell on their hostility.

³Make then my pledge with you.[#tn The MT has two imperatives: “Lay down, pledge me, with me.” Most commentators think that the second imperative should be a noun, and take it to say, “Lay my pledge with/beside you.” A. B. Davidson (Job, 126) suggests that the first verb means “give a pledge,” and so the two similar verbs would be emphatic: “Give a pledge, be my surety.” Other than such a change (which would involve changing the vowels) one would have to interpret similarly by seeing the imperatives as a kind of hendiadys, with the main emphasis being on the second imperative, “make a pledge.”]

Who else will put up security for me?

⁴Because you have closed their minds to understanding,[#tn This half-verse gives the reason for the next half-verse.; #sn The pronoun their refers to Job’s friends. They have not pledged security for him because God has hidden or sealed off their understanding.]

therefore you will not exalt them.

⁵If a man denounces his friends for personal gain,[#tn Heb “for a portion.” This verse is rather obscure. The words are not that difficult, but the sense of them in this context is. Some take the idea to mean “he denounces his friends for a portion,” and others have a totally different idea of “he invites his friends to share with him.” The former fits the context better, indicating that Job’s friends speak out against him for some personal gain. The second half of the verse then promises that his children will suffer loss for this attempt at gain. The line is surely proverbial. A number of other interpretations can be found in the commentaries.]

the eyes of his children will fail.

⁶He has made me a byword to people,[#tn The verb is the third person, and so God is likely the subject. The LXX has “you have made me.” So most commentators clarify the verb in some such way. However, without an expressed subject it can also be taken as a passive.; #tn The word “byword” is related to the word translated “proverb” in the Bible (מָשָׁל, mashal). Job’s case is so well known that he is synonymous with afflictions and with abuse by people.]

I am the one in whose face they spit.

⁷My eyes have grown dim with grief;[#tn See the usage of this verb in Gen 27:1 and Deut 34:7. Usually it is age that causes the failing eyesight, but here it is the grief.]

my whole frame is but a shadow.

⁸Upright men are appalled at this;[#tn This verb שָׁמַם (shamam, “appalled”) is the one found in Isa 52:14, translated there “astonished.”]

the innocent man is troubled with the godless.

⁹But the righteous man holds to his way,

and the one with clean hands grows stronger.

Anticipation of Death

¹⁰“But turn, all of you, and come now![#tn The form says “all of them.” Several editors would change it to “all of you,” but the lack of concord is not surprising; the vocative elsewhere uses the third person (see Mic 1:2; see also GKC 441 §135.r).; #tn The first verb, the jussive, means “to return”; the second verb, the imperative, means “to come.” The two could be taken as a hendiadys, the first verb becoming adverbial: “to come again.”; #tn Instead of the exact correspondence between coordinate verbs, other combinations occur – here we have a jussive and an imperative (see GKC 386 §120.e).]

I will not find a wise man among you.

¹¹My days have passed, my plans are shattered,[#tn This term usually means “plans; devices” in a bad sense, although it can be used of God’s plans (see e.g., Zech 8:15).]

even the desires of my heart.

¹²These men change night into day;[#tn The verse simply has the plural, “they change.” But since this verse seems to be a description of his friends, a clarification of the referent in the translation is helpful.; #tn The same verb שִׂים (sim, “set”) is used this way in Isa 5:20: “…who change darkness into light.”]

they say, ‘The light is near

in the face of darkness.’

¹³If I hope for the grave to be my home,[#tn The clause begins with אִם (’im) which here has more of the sense of “since.” E. Dhorme (Job, 253) takes a rather rare use of the word to get “Can I hope again” (see also GKC 475 §150.f for the caveat).]

if I spread out my bed in darkness,

¹⁴If I cry to corruption, ‘You are my father,’[#tn This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.; #tn The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.]

and to the worm, ‘My Mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

¹⁵where then is my hope?[#tn The adverb אֵפוֹ (’efo, “then”) plays an enclitic role here (see Job 4:7).]

And my hope, who sees it?

¹⁶Will it go down to the barred gates of death?[#sn It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.; #tn The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.; #tn The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The LXX has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”]

Will we descend together into the dust?”