Job 42
42
Job’s Confession
1 Then Job answered the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted;
3 you asked,#tn The expression “you asked” is added here to clarify the presence of the line to follow. Many commentators delete it as a gloss from Job 38:2. If it is retained, then Job has to be recalling God’s question before he answers it.
‘Who is this who darkens counsel
without knowledge?’
But#tn The word לָכֵן (lakhen) is simply “but,” as in Job 31:37. I have declared without understanding#tn Heb “and I do not understand.” The expression serves here in an adverbial capacity. It also could be subordinated as a complement: “I have declared [things that] I do not understand.”
things too wonderful for me to know.#tn The last clause is “and I do not know.” This is also subordinated to become a dependent clause.
4 You said,#tn This phrase, “you said,” is supplied in the translation to introduce the recollection of God’s words.
‘Pay attention, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye has seen you.#sn This statement does not imply there was a vision. He is simply saying that this experience of God was real and personal. In the past his knowledge of God was what he had heard – hearsay. This was real.
6 Therefore I despise myself,#tn Or “despise what I said.” There is no object on the verb; Job could be despising himself or the things he said (see L. J. Kuyper, “Repentance of Job,” VT 9 [1959]: 91-94).
and I repent in dust and ashes!
VII. The Epilogue (42:7-17)
7 After the Lord had spoken these things to Job, he#tn Heb “the Lord.” The title has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons. said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My anger is stirred up#tn Heb “is kindled.” against you and your two friends, because you have not spoken about me what is right,#tn The form נְכוֹנָה (nÿkhonah) is from כּוּן (kun, “to be firm; to be fixed; to be established”). Here it means “the right thing” or “truth.” The Akkadian word kenu (from כּוּן, kun) connotes justice and truth. as my servant Job has. 8 So now take#tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together. seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will intercede#tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.” for you, and I will respect him,#tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.” so that I do not deal with you#tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct. according to your folly,#tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative. because you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.”#sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.
9 So they went, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, and did just as the Lord had told them; and the Lord had respect for Job.#tn The expression “had respect for Job” means God answered his prayer.
10 So the Lord#tn The paragraph begins with the disjunctive vav, “Now as for the Lord, he….” restored what Job had lost#sn The expression here is interesting: “he returned the captivity of Job,” a clause used elsewhere in the Bible of Israel (see e.g., Ps 126). Here it must mean “the fortunes of Job,” i.e., what he had lost. There is a good deal of literature on this; for example, see R. Borger, “Zu sub sb(i)t,” ZAW 25 (1954): 315-16; and E. Baumann, ZAW 6 (1929): 17ff. after he prayed for his friends,#tn This is a temporal clause, using the infinitive construct with the subject genitive suffix. By this it seems that this act of Job was also something of a prerequisite for restoration – to pray for them. and the Lord doubled#tn The construction uses the verb “and he added” with the word “repeat” (or “twice”). all that had belonged to Job. 11 So they came to him, all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and they dined#tn Heb “ate bread.” with him in his house. They comforted him and consoled him for all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver#tn The Hebrew word קְשִׂיטָה (qÿsitah) is generally understood to refer to a unit of money, but the value is unknown.sn The Hebrew word refers to a piece of silver, yet uncoined. It is the kind used in Gen 33:19 and Josh 24:32. It is what would be expected of a story set in the patriarchal age. and a gold ring.#sn This gold ring was worn by women in the nose, or men and women in the ear.
12 So the Lord blessed the second part of Job’s life more than the first. He had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons#tn The word for “seven” is spelled in an unusual way. From this some have thought it means “twice seven,” or fourteen sons. Several commentators take this view; but it is probably not warranted. and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah,#sn The Hebrew name Jemimah means “dove.” the second Keziah,#sn The Hebrew name Keziah means “cassia.” and the third Keren-Happuch.#sn The Hebrew name Keren-Happuch means “horn of eye-paint.” 15 Nowhere in all the land could women be found who were as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance alongside their brothers.
16 After this Job lived 140 years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, old and full of days.
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Job 42
42
Job’s Repentance and Restoration
1Then#Hebrew “And” Job answered Yahweh and said,
2“I know that you can do all things,
and any scheme from you will not be thwarted.
3‘Who is this darkening counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I uttered, but#Hebrew “and” I did not understand;
things too wonderful for me,#Literally “wonderful things from me” but I did not know.
4‘Hear and I will speak;
I will question you, then#Hebrew “and” inform me.’
5By the ear’s hearing I heard of you,
but#Hebrew “and” now my eye has seen you.
6Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7And then#Literally “And it happened” after Yahweh spoke these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath has been kindled#Literally “My nose became hot” against you#Singular and against the two of your friends, for you#Plural have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has. 8So then,#Or “And now,” or “Therefore” take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will pray for you,#Plural for I will certainly accept his prayer,#Literally “if his face I will lift up,” or “indeed his face I will lift up” (“if” used as an oath particle) so that it will not be done with you#Plural according to your folly, for you#Plural have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has.”
9So#Hebrew “And” Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did just as Yahweh had told them, and Yahweh accepted Job’s prayer.#Literally “Yahweh lifted up the face of Job”
10Then#Hebrew “And” Yahweh returned Job’s fortune when he prayed to him on behalf of his friends. Thus#Hebrew “And” Yahweh increased all that Job had twice as much as before.#Literally “all which for Job to twice” 11So#Hebrew “And” all his brothers and all his sisters and all those who had known him before#Literally “to faces” came to him, and they ate bread#Or “food” with him in his house and showed sympathy to him and comforted him for all the disaster#Or “evil” that Yahweh had brought upon him. Then#Hebrew “And” each one gave to him one piece of money, and each one gave to him one ornamental ring of gold.
12So#Hebrew “And” Yahweh blessed Job’s latter days more than his beginning. Thus he had#Literally “And it came to be for him,” or “And it was for him” fourteen thousand sheep and goats and six thousand camels and a thousand pair of oxen and a thousand female donkeys. 13And he had#Literally “And it came to be for him,” or “And it was for him” seven sons and three daughters. 14And he called the name of the first Jemimah and the name of the second Keziah and the name of the third Qeren-Happuk. 15And beautiful women were not found in all the land like Job’s daughters, and their father gave to them an inheritance in the midst of their brothers.
16And Job lived after this one hundred and forty years, and he saw his sons and his grandsons#Literally “the sons of his sons” for four generations. 17Then#Hebrew “And” Job died old and full of days.
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