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1Then Job continued his speech:[#tn The verse uses a verbal hendiadys: “and he added (וַיֹּסֶף, vayyosef)…to raise (שְׂאֵת, sÿ’et) his speech.” The expression means that he continued, or he spoke again.]
2“O that I could be as I was[#tn The optative is here expressed with מִי־יִתְּנֵנִי (mi-yittÿneni, “who will give me”), meaning, “O that I [could be]…” (see GKC 477 §151.b).; #tn The preposition כּ (kaf) is used here in an expression describing the state desired, especially in the former time (see GKC 376 §118.u).]
in the months now gone,
in the days when God watched over me,
3when he caused his lamp[#tn This clause is in apposition to the preceding (see GKC 426 §131.o). It offers a clarification.; #tn The form בְּהִלּוֹ (bÿhillo) is unusual; it should be parsed as a Hiphil infinitive construct with the elision of the ה (he). The proper spelling would have been with a ַ (patakh) under the preposition, reflecting הַהִלּוֹ (hahillo). If it were Qal, it would just mean “when his light shone.”; #sn Lamp and light are symbols of God’s blessings of life and all the prosperous and good things it includes.]
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked through darkness;
4just as I was in my most productive time,[#tn Heb “in the days of my ripeness.” The word חֹרֶף (khoref) denotes the time when the harvest is gathered in because the fruit is ripe. Since this is the autumn, many translate that way here – but “autumn” has a different connotation now. The text is pointing to a time when the righteous reaps what he has sown, and can enjoy the benefits. The translation “most productive time” seems to capture the point better than “autumn” or even “prime.”]
when God’s intimate friendship was experienced in my tent,
5when the Almighty was still with me[#tn Heb “Shaddai.”]
and my children were around me;
6when my steps were bathed with butter[#tn The word is a hapax legomenon, but the meaning is clear enough. It refers to the walking, the steps, or even the paths where one walks. It is figurative of his course of life.; #tn The Hebrew word means “to wash; to bathe”; here it is the infinitive construct in a temporal clause, “my steps” being the genitive: “in the washing of my steps in butter.”; #tn Again, as in Job 21:17, “curds.”]
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil!
7When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,
8the young men would see me and step aside,[#tn The verb means “to hide; to withdraw.” The young men out of respect would withdraw or yield the place of leadership to Job (thus the translation “step aside”). The old men would rise and remain standing until Job took his seat – a sign of respect.]
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
9the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10the voices of the nobles fell silent,[#tn The verb here is “hidden” as well as in v. 8. But this is a strange expression for voices. Several argue that the word was erroneously inserted from 8a and needs to be emended. But the word “hide” can have extended meanings of “withdraw; be quiet; silent” (see Gen 31:27). A. Guillaume relates the Arabic habi’a, “the fire dies out,” applying the idea of “silent” only to v. 10 (it is a form of repetition of words with different senses, called jinas). The point here is that whatever conversation was going on would become silent or hushed to hear what Job had to say.]
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11“As soon as the ear heard these things, it blessed me,[#tn The words “these things” and “them” in the next colon are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for clarity.; #tn The main clause is introduced by the preterite with the vav (ו) consecutive (see GKC 327 §111.h); the clause before it is therefore temporal and circumstantial to the main clause.]
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
12for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who had no one to assist him;
13the blessing of the dying man descended on me,[#tn The verb is simply בּוֹא (bo’, “to come; to enter”). With the preposition עַל (’al, “upon”) it could mean “came to me,” or “came upon me,” i.e., descended (see R. Gordis, Job, 320).]
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;
14I put on righteousness and it clothed me,[#tn Both verbs in this first half-verse are from לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe; to put on clothing”). P. Joüon changed the vowels to get a verb “it adorned me” instead of “it clothed me” (Bib 11 [1930]: 324). The figure of clothing is used for the character of the person: to wear righteousness is to be righteous.]
my just dealing was like a robe and a turban;
15I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
16I was a father to the needy,[#sn The word “father” does not have a wide range of meanings in the OT. But there are places that it is metaphorical, especially in a legal setting like this where the poor need aid.]
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
17I broke the fangs of the wicked,[#tn The word rendered “fangs” actually means “teeth,” i.e., the molars probably; it is used frequently of the teeth of wild beasts. Of course, the language is here figurative, comparing the oppressing enemy to a preying animal.]
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.
18“Then I thought, ‘I will die in my own home,[#tc The expression in the MT is “with my nest.” The figure is satisfactory for the context – a home with all the young together, a picture of unity and safety. In Isa 16:2 the word can mean “nestlings,” and with the preposition “with” that might be the meaning here, except that his children had grown up and lived in their own homes. The figure cannot be pushed too far. But the verse apparently has caused enormous problems, because the versions offer a variety of readings and free paraphrases. The LXX has “My age shall grow old as the stem of a palm tree, I shall live a long time.” The Vulgate has, “In my nest I shall die and like the palm tree increase my days.” G. R. Driver found an Egyptian word meaning “strength” (“Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 [1955]: 138-39). Several read “in a ripe old age” instead of “in my nest” (Pope, Dhorme; see P. P. Saydon, “Philological and Textual Notes to the Maltese Translation of the Old Testament,” CBQ 23 [1961]: 252). This requires the verb זָקַן (zaqan, “be old”), i.e., בִּזְקוּנַי (bizqunay, “in my old age”) instead of קִנִּי (qinni, “my nest”). It has support from the LXX.]
my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19My roots reach the water,
and the dew lies on my branches all night long.
20My glory will always be fresh in me,[#tn The word is “my glory,” meaning his high respect and his honor. Hoffmann proposed to read כִּידוֹן (kidon) instead, meaning “javelin” (as in 1 Sam 17:6), to match the parallelism (RQ 3 [1961/62]: 388). But the parallelism does not need to be so tight.; #tn Heb “new.”]
and my bow ever new in my hand.’
21“People listened to me and waited silently;[#tn “People” is supplied; the verb is plural.; #tc The last verb of the first half, “wait, hope,” and the first verb in the second colon, “be silent,” are usually reversed by the commentators (see G. R. Driver, “Problems in the Hebrew text of Job,” VTSup 3 [1955]: 86). But if “wait” has the idea of being silent as they wait for him to speak, then the second line would say they were silent for the reason of his advice. The reading of the MT is not impossible.]
they kept silent for my advice.
22After I had spoken, they did not respond;
my words fell on them drop by drop.
23They waited for me as people wait for the rain,[#tn The phrase “people wait for” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation.]
and they opened their mouths
as for the spring rains.
24If I smiled at them, they hardly believed it;[#tn The connection of this clause with the verse is difficult. The line simply reads: “[if] I would smile at them, they would not believe.” Obviously something has to be supplied to make sense out of this. The view adopted here makes the most sense, namely, that when he smiled at people, they could hardly believe their good fortune. Other interpretations are strained, such as Kissane’s, “If I laughed at them, they believed not,” meaning, people rejected the views that Job laughed at.]
and they did not cause the light of my face to darken.
25I chose the way for them[#tn All of these imperfects describe what Job used to do, and so they all fit the category of customary imperfect.; #tn Heb “their way.”]
and sat as their chief;
I lived like a king among his troops;
I was like one who comforts mourners.