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1Then Job answered:
2“Listen carefully to my words;[#tn The intensity of the appeal is again expressed by the imperative followed by the infinitive absolute for emphasis. See note on “listen carefully” in 13:17.]
let this be the consolation you offer me.
3Bear with me and I will speak,[#tn The verb נָשָׂא (nasa’) means “to lift up; to raise up”; but in this context it means “to endure; to tolerate” (see Job 7:21).; #tn The conjunction and the independent personal pronoun draw emphatic attention to the subject of the verb: “and I on my part will speak.”]
and after I have spoken you may mock.
4Is my complaint against a man?[#tn The addition of the independent pronoun at the beginning of the sentence (“Is it I / against a man / my complaint”) strengthens the pronominal suffix on “complaint” (see GKC 438 §135.f).; #sn The point seems to be that if his complaint were merely against men he might expect sympathy from other men; but no one dares offer him sympathy when his complaint is against God. So he will give free expression to his spirit (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 147).]
If so, why should I not be impatient?
5Look at me and be appalled;[#tn The verb פְּנוּ (pÿnu) is from the verb “to turn,” related to the word for “face.” In calling for them to turn toward him, he is calling for them to look at him. But here it may be more in the sense of their attention rather than just a looking at him.]
put your hands over your mouths.
6For, when I think about this, I am terrified[#tn The verb is זָכַר (zakhar, “to remember”). Here it has the sense of “to keep in memory; to meditate; to think upon.”; #tn The main clause is introduced here by the conjunction, following the adverbial clause of time.]
and my body feels a shudder.
7“Why do the wicked go on living,[#sn A. B. Davidson (Job, 154) clarifies that Job’s question is of a universal scope. In the government of God, why do the wicked exist at all? The verb could be translated “continue to live.”]
grow old, even increase in power?
8Their children are firmly established[#tn Heb “their seed.”]
in their presence,
their offspring before their eyes.
9Their houses are safe and without fear;[#tn The word שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace, safety”) is here a substantive after a plural subject (see GKC 452 §141.c, n. 3).; #tn The form מִפָּחַד (mippakhad) is translated “without fear,” literally “from fear”; the preposition is similar to the alpha privative in Greek. The word “fear, dread” means nothing that causes fear or dread – they are peaceful, secure. See GKC 382 §119.w.]
and no rod of punishment from God is upon them.
10Their bulls breed without fail;[#tn Heb “his bull,” but it is meant to signify the bulls of the wicked.; #tn The verb used here means “to impregnate,” and not to be confused with the verb עָבַר (’avar, “to pass over”).; #tn The use of the verb גָּעַר (ga’ar) in this place is interesting. It means “to rebuke; to abhor; to loathe.” In the causative stem it means “to occasion impurity” or “to reject as loathsome.” The rabbinic interpretation is that it does not emit semen in vain, and so the meaning is it does not fail to breed (see E. Dhorme, Job, 311; R. Gordis, Job, 229).]
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11They allow their children to run like a flock;[#tn The verb שָׁלַח (shalakh) means “to send forth,” but in the Piel “to release; to allow to run free.” The picture of children frolicking in the fields and singing and dancing is symbolic of peaceful, prosperous times.]
their little ones dance about.
12They sing to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,[#tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”]
and make merry to the sound of the flute.
13They live out their years in prosperity[#tc The Kethib has “they wear out” but the Qere and the versions have יְכַלּוּ (yÿkhallu, “bring to an end”). The verb כָּלָה (kalah) means “to finish; to complete,” and here with the object “their days,” it means that they bring their life to a (successful) conclusion. Both readings are acceptable in the context, with very little difference in the overall meaning (which according to Gordis is proof the Qere does not always correct the Kethib).]
and go down to the grave in peace.
14So they say to God, ‘Turn away from us!
We do not want to know your ways.
15Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?[#tn The interrogative clause is followed by ki, similar to Exod 5:2, “Who is Yahweh, that I should obey him?”]
What would we gain
if we were to pray to him?’
16But their prosperity is not their own doing.[#tn Heb “is not in their hand.”sn The implication of this statement is that their well-being is from God, which is the problem Job is raising in the chapter. A number of commentators make it a question, interpreting it to mean that the wicked enjoy prosperity as if it is their right. Some emend the text to say “his hands” – Gordis reads it, “Indeed, our prosperity is not in his hands.”]
The counsel of the wicked is far from me!
17“How often is the lamp of the wicked extinguished?[#tn The interrogative “How often” occurs only with the first colon; it is supplied for smoother reading in the next two.]
How often does their misfortune come upon them?
How often does God apportion pain to them in his anger?
18How often are they like straw before the wind,[#tn To retain the sense that the wicked do not suffer as others, this verse must either be taken as a question or a continuation of the question in v. 17.]
and like chaff swept away by a whirlwind?
19You may say, ‘God stores up a man’s punishment for his children!’[#tn These words are supplied. The verse records an idea that Job suspected they might have, namely, that if the wicked die well God will make their children pay for the sins (see Job 5:4; 20:10; as well as Exod 20:5).; #tn The text simply has אוֹנוֹ (’ono, “his iniquity”), but by usage, “the punishment for the iniquity.”; #tn Heb “his sons.”]
Instead let him repay the man himself
so that he may know it!
20Let his own eyes see his destruction;[#tc This word occurs only here. The word כִּיד (kid) was connected to Arabic kaid, “fraud, trickery,” or “warfare.” The word is emended by the commentators to other ideas, such as פִּיד (pid, “[his] calamity”). Dahood and others alter it to “cup”; Wright to “weapons.” A. F. L. Beeston argues for a meaning “condemnation” for the MT form, and so makes no change in the text (Mus 67 [1954]: 315-16). If the connection to Arabic “warfare” is sustained, or if such explanations of the existing MT can be sustained, then the text need not be emended. In any case, the sense of the line is clear.]
let him drink of the anger of the Almighty.
21For what is his interest in his home[#tn Heb “his desire.” The meaning is that after he is gone he does not care about what happens to his household (“house” meaning “family” here).]
after his death,
when the number of his months
has been broken off?
22Can anyone teach God knowledge,[#tn The imperfect verb in this question should be given the modal nuance of potential imperfect. The question is rhetorical – it is affirming that no one can teach God.]
since he judges those that are on high?
23“One man dies in his full vigor,[#tn The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see GKC 449 §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.]
completely secure and prosperous,
24his body well nourished,[#tn The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs – but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev) – “his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by NASB. However, this weakens the parallelism.; #tn This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. NAB, NIV), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.]
and the marrow of his bones moist.
25And another man dies in bitterness of soul,[#tn The expression “this (v. 23)…and this” (v. 25) means “one…the other.”; #tn The text literally has “and this [man] dies in soul of bitterness.” Some simply reverse it and translate “in the bitterness of soul.” The genitive “bitterness” may be an attribute adjective, “with a bitter soul.”]
never having tasted anything good.
26Together they lie down in the dust,
and worms cover over them both.
27“Yes, I know what you are thinking,[#tn The word is “your thoughts.” The word for “thoughts” (from חָצַב [khatsav, “to think; to reckon; to plan”]) has more to do with their intent than their general thoughts. He knows that when they talked about the fate of the wicked they really were talking about him.]
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
28For you say,
‘Where now is the nobleman’s house,
and where are the tents in which the wicked lived?’
29Have you never questioned those who travel the roads?
Do you not recognize their accounts –
30that the evil man is spared
from the day of his misfortune,
that he is delivered
from the day of God’s wrath?
31No one denounces his conduct to his face;
no one repays him for what he has done.
32And when he is carried to the tombs,
and watch is kept over the funeral mound,
33The clods of the torrent valley are sweet to him;[#tn The clods are those that are used to make a mound over the body. And, for a burial in the valley, see Deut 34:6. The verse here sees him as participating in his funeral and enjoying it. Nothing seems to go wrong with the wicked.]
behind him everybody follows in procession,
and before him goes a countless throng.
34So how can you console me with your futile words?
Nothing is left of your answers but deception!”