Job 34:31-37

Job Is Foolish to Rebel

31 “Has anyone said to God,
‘I have endured chastisement,
The Hebrew text has only “I lift up” or “I bear” (= I endure). The reading “I have been led astray” is obtained by changing the vowels to read a passive. If the MT is retained, an object has to be supplied, such as “chastisement” (so RSV, NASB) or “punishment” (NRSV). If not, then a different reading would be followed (e.g., “I was misguided” [NAB]; “I am guilty” [NIV]).

but I will not act wrongly any more.
32 Teach me what I cannot see.
Heb “what I do not see,” more specifically, “apart from [that which] I see.”

If I have done evil, I will do so no more.’
33 Is it your opinion
Heb “is it from with you,” an idiomatic expression meaning “to suit you” or “according to your judgment.”
that God
Heb “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
should recompense it,
because you reject this?
There is no object on the verb, and the meaning is perhaps lost. The best guess is that Elihu is saying Job has rejected his teaching.

But you must choose, and not I,
so tell us what you know.
34 Men of understanding say to me –
any wise man listening to me says –
35 that
Adding “that” in the translation clarifies Elihu’s indirect citation of the wise individuals’ words.
Job speaks without knowledge
and his words are without understanding.
The Hiphil infinitive construct is here functioning as a substantive. The word means “prudence; understanding.”

36 But
The MT reads אָבִי (’avi, “my father”), which makes no sense. Some follow the KJV and emend the word to make a verb “I desire” or use the noun “my desire of it.” Others follow an Arabic word meaning “entreat, I pray” (cf. ESV, “Would that Job were tried”). The LXX and the Syriac versions have “but” and “surely” respectively. Since this is the only ms support, albeit weak, it may be the best choice. In this sense Elihu would be saying that because of Job’s attitude God will continue to test him.
Job will be tested to the end,
because his answers are like those of wicked men.
37 For he adds transgression
Although frequently translated “rebellion,” the basic meaning of this Hebrew term is “transgression.”
to his sin;
in our midst he claps his hands,
If this reading stands, it would mean that Job shows contempt, meaning that he mocks them and accuses God. It is a bold touch, but workable. Of the many suggested emendations, Dhorme alters some of the vowels and obtains a reading “and casts doubt among us,” and then takes “transgression” from the first colon for the complement. Some commentators simply delete the line.

and multiplies his words against God.”
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