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1Then Job answered:
2“Even today my complaint is still bitter;[#tc The MT reads here מְרִי (mÿri, “rebellious”). The word is related to the verb מָרָה (marah, “to revolt”). Many commentators follow the Vulgate, Targum Job, and the Syriac to read מַר (mar, “bitter”). The LXX offers no help here.]
his hand is heavy despite my groaning.
3O that I knew where I might find him,[#tn The optative here is again expressed with the verbal clause, “who will give [that] I knew….”; #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.”sn H. H. Rowley (Job [NCBC], 159) quotes Strahan without reference: “It is the chief distinction between Job and his friends that he desires to meet God and they do not.”]
that I could come to his place of residence!
4I would lay out my case before him[#tn The word מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) is normally “judgment; decision.” But in these contexts it refers to the legal case that Job will bring before God. With the verb עָרַךְ (’arakh, “to set in order; to lay out”) the whole image of drawing up a lawsuit is complete.]
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5I would know with what words he would answer me,[#tn Heb “the words he would answer me.”]
and understand what he would say to me.
6Would he contend with me with great power?[#tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?]
No, he would only pay attention to me.
7There an upright person[#tn The adverb “there” has the sense of “then” – there in the future.]
could present his case before him,
and I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8“If I go to the east, he is not there,
and to the west, yet I do not perceive him.
9In the north when he is at work,[#sn The text has “the left hand,” the Semitic idiom for directions. One faces the rising sun, and so left is north, right is south.; #tc The form בַּעֲשֹׂתוֹ (ba’asoto) would be the temporal clause using the infinitive construct with a pronoun (subject genitive). This would be “when he works.” Several follow the Syriac with “I seek him.” The LXX has “[when] he turns.” R. Gordis (Job, 261) notes that there is no need to emend the text; he shows a link to the Arabic cognate ghasa, “to cover.” To him this is a perfect parallel to יַעְטֹף (ya’tof, “covers himself”).]
I do not see him;
when he turns to the south,
I see no trace of him.
10But he knows the pathway that I take;[#tn The expression דֶּרֶךְ עִמָּדִי (derekh ’immadi) means “the way with me,” i.e., “the way that I take.” The Syriac has “my way and my standing.” Several commentators prefer “the way of my standing,” meaning where to look for me. J. Reider offers “the way of my life” (“Some notes to the text of the scriptures,” HUCA 3 [1926]: 115). Whatever the precise wording, Job knows that God can always find him.]
if he tested me, I would come forth like gold.
11My feet have followed his steps closely;[#tn Heb “my foot.”; #tn Heb “held fast.”]
I have kept to his way and have not turned aside.
12I have not departed from the commands of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion.
13But he is unchangeable, and who can change him?[#tc The MT has “But he [is] in one.” Many add the word “mind” to capture the point that God is resolute and unchanging. Some commentators find this too difficult, and so change the text from בְאֶחָד (bÿ’ekhad, here “unchangeable”) to בָחָר (bakhar, “he has chosen”). The wording in the text is idiomatic and should be retained. R. Gordis (Job, 262) translates it “he is one, i.e., unchangeable, fixed, determined.” The preposition בּ (bet) is a bet essentiae – “and he [is] as one,” or “he is one” (see GKC 379 §119.i).; #tn Heb “cause him to return.”]
Whatever he has desired, he does.
14For he fulfills his decree against me,[#tn The text has “my decree,” which means “the decree [plan] for/against me.” The suffix is objective, equivalent to a dative of disadvantage. The Syriac and the Vulgate actually have “his decree.” R. Gordis (Job, 262) suggests taking it in the same sense as in Job 14:5: “my limit.”.]
and many such things are his plans.
15That is why I am terrified in his presence;
when I consider, I am afraid because of him.
16Indeed, God has made my heart faint;[#tn The verb הֵרַךְ (kherakh) means “to be tender”; in the Piel it would have the meaning “to soften.” The word is used in parallel constructions with the verbs for “fear.” The implication is that God has made Job fearful.]
the Almighty has terrified me.
17Yet I have not been silent because of the darkness,
because of the thick darkness
that covered my face.