The chat will start when you send the first message.
1Then Job replied:
2“I have heard many things like these before.
What miserable comforters are you all!
3Will there be an end to your windy words?[#tn Disjunctive questions are introduced with the sign of the interrogative; the second part is introduced with אוֹ (’o, see GKC 475 §150.g).; #tn In v. 3 the second person singular is employed rather than the plural as in vv. 2 and 4. The singular might be an indication that the words of v. 3 were directed at Eliphaz specifically.; #tn Heb “words of wind.”]
Or what provokes you that you answer?
4I also could speak like you,[#tn For the use of the cohortative in the apodosis of conditional sentences, see GKC 322 §109.f.]
if you were in my place;
I could pile up words against you
and I could shake my head at you.
5But I would strengthen you with my words;[#tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.; #tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”; #tn Heb “my mouth.”]
comfort from my lips would bring you relief.
6“But if I speak, my pain is not relieved,[#tn “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.; #tn The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”]
and if I refrain from speaking
– how much of it goes away?
7Surely now he has worn me out,[#tn In poetic discourse there is often an abrupt change from person to another. See GKC 462 §144.p. Some take the subject of this verb to be God, others the pain (“surely now it has worn me out”).]
you have devastated my entire household.
8You have seized me,[#tn The verb is קָמַט (qamat) which is used only here and in 22:16; it means “to seize; to grasp.” By God’s seizing him, Job means his afflictions.]
and it has become a witness;
my leanness has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
9His anger has torn me and persecuted me;[#tn The referent of these pronouns in v. 9 (“his anger…he has gnashed…his teeth…his eyes”) is best taken as God.; #sn The figure used now is that of a wild beast. God’s affliction of Job is compared to the attack of such an animal. Cf. Amos 1:11.; #tn The verb שָׂטַם (satam) is translated “hate” in the RSV, but this is not accepted by very many. Many emend it to שָׁמט (shamat), reading “and he dropped me” (from his mouth). But that suggests escape. D. J. A. Clines notes that usage shows it reflects ongoing hatred represented by an action such as persecution or attack (Job [WBC], 370).]
he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks his eyes on me.
10People have opened their mouths against me,[#tn “People” is supplied; the Hebrew verb is third plural. The colon reads, “they have opened against me with [the preposition is instrumental] their mouth.” The gestures here follow the animal imagery; they reflect destructive opposition and attack (see Ps 22:13 among others).]
they have struck my cheek in scorn;
they unite together against me.
11God abandons me to evil men,[#tn The word עֲוִיל (’avil) means “child,” and this cannot be right here. If it is read as עַוָּל (’avval) as in Job 27:7 it would be the unrighteous.; #sn Job does not refer here to his friends, but more likely to the wicked men who set about to destroy him and his possessions, or to the rabble in ch. 30.]
and throws me into the hands of wicked men.
12I was in peace, and he has shattered me.[#tn The verb פָּרַר (parar) means “to shake.” In the Hiphil it means “to break; to shatter” (5:12; 15:4). The Pilpel means “to break in pieces,” and in the Poel in Jer 23:29 “to smash up.” So Job was living at ease, and God shattered his life.]
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me.
He has made me his target;
13his archers surround me.[#tn The meaning of “his archers” is supported for רַבָּיו (rabbayv) in view of Jer 50:29. The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum Job, followed by several translations and commentators prefer “arrows.” They see this as a more appropriate figure without raising the question of who the archers might be (see 6:4). The point is an unnecessary distinction, for the figure is an illustration of the affliction that God has brought on him.]
Without pity he pierces my kidneys
and pours out my gall on the ground.
14He breaks through against me, time and time again;[#tn The word פָּרַץ (parats) means “to make a breach” in a wall (Isa 5:5; Ps 80:13). It is used figuratively in the birth and naming of Peres in Gen 38:29. Here the image is now of a military attack that breaks through a wall. The text uses the cognate accusative, and then with the addition of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “in addition”) it repeats the cognate noun. A smooth translation that reflects the three words is difficult. E. Dhorme (Job, 237) has “he batters me down, breach upon breach.”]
he rushes against me like a warrior.
15I have sewed sackcloth on my skin,[#sn The language is hyperbolic; Job is saying that the sackcloth he has put on in his lamentable state is now stuck to his skin as if he had stitched it into the skin. It is now a habitual garment that he never takes off.]
and buried my horn in the dust;
16my face is reddened because of weeping,[#tn An intensive form, a Qetaltal form of the root חָמַר (khamar, “red”) is used here. This word has as probable derivatives חֹמֶר (khomer, “[red] clay”) and חֲמוֹר (khamor, “[red] ass”) and the like. Because of the weeping, his whole complexion has been reddened (the LXX reads “my belly”).; #sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 122) notes that spontaneous and repeated weeping is one of the symptoms of elephantiasis.]
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,
17although there is no violence in my hands[#tn For the use of the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce concessive clauses, see GKC 499 §160.c.]
and my prayer is pure.
18“O earth, do not cover my blood,[#sn Job knows that he will die, and that his death, signified here by blood on the ground, will cry out for vindication.]
nor let there be a secret place for my cry.
19Even now my witness is in heaven;[#sn The witness in heaven must be God, to whom the cries and prayers come. Job’s dilemma is serious, but common to the human experience: the hostility of God toward him is baffling, but he is conscious of his innocence and can call on God to be his witness.]
my advocate is on high.
20My intercessor is my friend[#tn The first two words of this verse are problematic: מְלִיצַי רֵעָי (mÿlitsay re’ay, “my scorners are my friends”). The word מֵלִיץ (melits), from or related to the word for “scorner” (לִיץ, lits) in wisdom literature especially, can also mean “mediator” (Job 33:23), “interpreter” (Gen 42:23). This gives the idea that “scorn” has to do with the way words are used. It may be that the word here should have the singular suffix and be taken as “my spokesman.” This may not be from the same root as “scorn” (see N. H. Richardson, “Some Notes on lis and Its Derivatives,” VT 5 [1955]: 434-36). This is the view of the NIV, NJPS, JB, NAB, as well as a number of commentators. The idea of “my friends are scorners” is out of place in this section, unless taken as a parenthesis. Other suggestions are not convincing. The LXX has “May my prayer come to the Lord, and before him may my eye shed tears.” Some have tried to change the Hebrew to fit this. The word “my friends” also calls for some attention. Instead of a plural noun suffix, most would see it as a singular, a slight vocalic change. But others think it is not the word “friend.” D. J. A. Clines accepts the view that it is not “friends” but “thoughts” (רֵעַ, rea’). E. Dhorme takes it as “clamor,” from רוּעַ (rua’) and so interprets “my claimant word has reached God.” J. B. Curtis tries “My intercessor is my shepherd,” from רֹעִי (ro’i). See “On Job’s Witness in Heaven,” JBL 102 [1983]: 549-62.]
as my eyes pour out tears to God;
21and he contends with God on behalf of man[#tn E. Dhorme (Job, 240) alters this slightly to read “Would that” or “Ah! if only.”]
as a man pleads for his friend.
22For the years that lie ahead are few,[#tn The expression is “years of number,” meaning that they can be counted, and so “the years are few.” The verb simply means “comes” or “lie ahead.”]
and then I will go on the way of no return.