Job 16:6-17
Abandonment by God and Man
6 “But ▼▼ “But” is supplied in the translation to strengthen the contrast.
if I speak, my pain is not relieved, ▼▼ The Niphal יֵחָשֵׂךְ (yekhasekh) means “to be soothed; to be assuaged.”
and if I refrain from speaking
– how ▼
▼ Some argue that מָה (mah) in the text is the Arabic ma, the simple negative. This would then mean “it does not depart far from me.” The interrogative used rhetorically amounts to the same thing, however, so the suggestion is not necessary.
much of it goes away? 7 Surely now he ▼
▼ 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”).
has worn me out, you have devastated my entire household.
8 You have seized me, ▼
and it ▼
▼ The subject is “my calamity.”
has become a witness; my leanness ▼ has risen up against me
and testifies against me.
9 His ▼ anger has torn me ▼ and persecuted ▼
▼ 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).
me; he has gnashed at me with his teeth;
my adversary locks ▼ his eyes on me.
10 People ▼ have opened their mouths against me,
they have struck my cheek in scorn; ▼
▼ This is an “insult” or a “reproach.”
they unite ▼
▼ The verb יִתְמַלָּאוּן (yitmalla’un) is taken from מָלֵא (male’), “to be full,” and in this stem, “to pile up; to press together.” The term has a military connotation, such as “to mobilize” (see D. W. Thomas, “ml'w in Jeremiah 4:5 : a military term,” JJS 3 [1952]: 47-52). Job sees himself surrounded by enemies who persecute him and mock him.
together against me. 11 God abandons me to evil ▼ men, ▼
and throws ▼
▼ The word יִרְטֵנִי (yirteni) does not derive from the root רָטָה (ratah) as would fit the pointing in the MT, but from יָרַט (yarat), cognate to Arabic warrata, “to throw; to hurl.” E. Dhorme (Job, 236) thinks that since the normal form would have been יִירְטֵנִי (yireteni), it is probable that one of the yods (י) would have affected the word עֲוִיל (’avil) – but that does not make much sense.
me into the hands of wicked men. 12 I was in peace, and he has shattered me. ▼
He has seized me by the neck and crushed me. ▼
▼ Here is another Pilpel, now from פָּצַץ (patsats) with a similar meaning to the other verb. It means “to dash into pieces” and even scatter the pieces. The LXX translates this line, “he took me by the hair of the head and plucked it out.”
He has made me his target;
13 his archers ▼
▼ 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.
surround me. Without pity ▼
▼ Heb “and he does not pity,” but the clause is functioning adverbially in the line.
he pierces ▼▼ The verb פָּלַח (palakh) in the Piel means “to pierce” (see Prov 7:23). A fuller comparison should be made with Lam 3:12–13.
my kidneys and pours out my gall ▼ on the ground.
14 He breaks through against me, time and time again; ▼
▼ 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-pene, “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 ▼
▼ Heb “runs.”
against me like a warrior. 15 I have sewed sackcloth on my skin, ▼
▼ 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 ▼
▼ The Poel עֹלַלְתִּי (’olalti) from עָלַל (’alal, “to enter”) has here the meaning of “to thrust in.” The activity is the opposite of “raising high the horn,” a picture of dignity and victory.
my horn ▼▼ There is no English term that captures exactly what “horn” is meant to do. Drawn from the animal world, the image was meant to convey strength and pride and victory. Some modern commentators have made other proposals for the line. Svi Rin suggested from Ugaritic that the verb be translated “lower” or “dip” (“Ugaritic – Old Testament Affinities,” BZ 7 [1963]: 22-33).
in the dust; 16 my face is reddened ▼
▼ 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”).
because of weeping, ▼▼ 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, ▼
17 although ▼
▼ For the use of the preposition עַל (’al) to introduce concessive clauses, see GKC 499 #160.c.
there is no violence in my hands and my prayer is pure.
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