CHAPTER 11
1. Then Tsofar the Naamathite responded and said,
2. “Mustn’t [such] an abundance of words be answered? And just because a man has lips, will be be vindicated?
3. “Will a few [people] be deaf to your empty words? Will you scoff, and no one feel ashamed?
4. “When you said, ‘The teaching I [have received] is pure, and I have become clean in Your eyes’--
5. “But indeed, who will allow Elohim to speak and open His lips toward you?
6. “If only He would explain to you the secrets of wisdom, because they would double your sound knowledge! Realize that Elohim overlooks some of your guilt!
He is being sarcastic in the first phrase. Overlooks some: I.e., He is not punishing you as severely as you actually deserve.
7. “Can you discover the depths of Elohim by searching? If you got all the way to the utmost limit, would you find Shaddai?
I.e., Do you think you will be able to explain everything there is to know about YHWH?
8. “[They are] higher than the skies; what can you accomplish? Deeper than She-ol; how much can you know?
9. “Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea!
10. “If He should sweep through and close [us] off and summon [us into the] assembly, who could turn Him back?
11. “Because He recognizes those who pretend to be men; when He sees crookedness, won’t He discern it?
I.e., He can see better than you; are you so sure you are innocent?
12. “A hollow-headed man can become intelligent [only] when a man gives birth to a donkey’s colt!
I.e., he asserts that people cannot change their ways.
13. “If you would prepare your heart and stretch out your hands toward Him,
14. “if there was crookedness in your hand and you put it far away from you, and not let injustice remain in your tents,
15. “Certainly then you yourself could lift up your face without blemish, and you could become firmly established, and have nothing to fear!
16. “Because you could forget your misery, and remember it like waters that have gone by.
17. “The rest of your life would rise up higher than [the] noonday [sun], and though it had been covered in darkness, it would become like morning!
18. “And you would be secure, because there is hope! You could safely dig yourself in and take your rest!
19. “Then you could stretch out [and relax] with none to make you tremble; many would be weak in your presence!
Weak in your presence: an idiom for lowering themselves to entreat his favor.
20. “But the eyes of the wicked will fail, and their way of escape will be lost from them, and their hope will expire [like] a last breath.”
I.e., just admit you did something wrong and things will get better for you!
CHAPTER 12
1. Then Iyov answered and said,
2. “[These things] are true, because you are a people, and wisdom will die with you!
He starts with sarcasm about their supposed knowledge.
3. “Even I have a heart, just like you. I don’t fall short of you, and who doesn’t have [knowledge of] such things as these?
4. “I am becoming one mocked by his fellows, who called out to Elohim, and He answered him; a completely just [person] is a laughingstock!
5. “A torch is contemptible to one who is resting at ease; [it is the] right thing for one who foot is slipping!
6. “The tents of those who take spoils are prosperous, and those who provoke El to anger are secure because of what Eloah ‘has brought by His hand’!
I.e., I could take matters into my own hands and claim “God” had blessed me, but where is the integrity in that?
7. “However, please ask the animals, and they will teach you; and the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.
8. “Or commune with the earth, and it will teach you, and the fish of the sea will spell it out for you:
9. “Who among these is not aware that YHWH has done this--
10. “in Whose hand is the breath of every living thing, and the spirit of all men’s flesh?
11. “Doesn’t the ear examine words just as the palate tastes its food?
12. “There is wisdom in the aged; and discernment [comes] with length of days.
13. “With Him is wisdom and strength; to Him belong counsel and discernment.
14. “Look, He overthrows and it cannot be rebuilt; if He shuts [the door] on a man, it cannot be opened.
Rebuilt: Is he alluding to the Tower of Bavel? It was not a distant memory for Iyov.
15. “Watch! He withholds the waters, and they dry up; He sends them out, and they transform a land.
16. “With Him are power and success; to Him belong the making of mistakes and what causes them.
Success: or sound knowledge, effective wisdom. Mistakes: unintentional errors, “accidents” that seem to have no purpose or logic, but He is the force that turns everything in the direction He wants it to go.
17. “He causes advisors to go barefoot, and causes judges to rave [like fools].
18. “He loosens the correction of kings, and ties a waistband around their hips.
19. “He causes priests to go barefoot, and overturns things that [seemed] permanent.
20. “He deprives the established ones of their ability to speak, and takes away the elders’ ability to judge.
Iyov had apparently experienced the “downside” of the established order on the earth, and was grateful to YHWH for setting limits on it.
21. “He pours out contempt on the noble ones, and the releasing of [seasonal] torrents he quiets.
Noble: or willing, generous. Iyov’s assessment is becoming somewhat bitter and sarcastic. But He does the opposite too—turning back or calming what could be destructive in its suddenness.
22. “He discloses the deep things from out of darkness, and brings the shadow of death out into [the] light.
23. “He makes nations grow great and makes them disappear; He expands nations and guides them.
24. “He turns aside the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
People of the earth: or land—an idiom for common people.
25. “They grope about in the darkness when there is no light; He makes them stagger like a drunkard.
CHAPTER 13
1. “Look! My eye has seen everything, and my ear has heard and understood.
2. “What [all of] you know, I know as well; I don’t fall short of you.
3. “However, I would [like to] speak with the Nourisher, and I desire to reason with El.
Reason with: or argue/dispute with, complain to, put to proof, refute, be cleared by—i.e., have a court session with Him in which I can argue my case for not deserving this treatment.
4. “You, though, are spreaders of false [testimony]; as therapists you are all good for nothing!
Spreaders: or smearers, plasterers-over. They are making him out to be at fault, the cause of his awful experiences, as if it were “karma” for something he had done wrong, whereas he knew of no such precipitating factor. None of them had the advantage we have of the narration at the beginning of the story, but the other men were assuming there was only one way to explain this.
5. “Who will get you to remain completely quiet? Then it would serve as wisdom for you!
“Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise!” (Prov. 17:28)
6. “Please listen to my reasoning; pay attention to the legal argument of my lips!
7. “Will you speak unjustly for El? Or will you speak negligently for Him?
Negligently: with slackness, deceit, or even treachery; in a remiss manner.
8. “If you contend for El, will you lift [yourself] up right in His presence?
Lift yourself up: or, show partiality.
9. “Will it go well when He examines you? Or can you deceive him as one deceives a mortal man?
10. “He will certainly convict you if you secretly show partiality!
Show partiality: an idiom; literally, lift up faces (one above the others).
11. “Won’t His lofty dignity overwhelm you, and the dread of Him fall on you?
12. “Your platitudes are comparable to ashes; your defenses are like bulwarks [made] of clay!
Platitudes: literally, remembrances or memorials. Comparable to: or, proverbs of.
13. “Hold off from [saying anymore to] me and let me speak, and let whatever may come upon me [come].
14. “For what [purpose] do I take up my own flesh with my teeth
or put my life in my ow hands?
15. “Though He may put me to death, in Him I will place my expectation;
I will defend my ways to His face!
Defend: or, argue. He believed so strongly that he was within his rights to risk asking YHWH up close for answers.
16. “He [will] also [prove to be] a deliverance for me,
because no hypocrite could [ever] come before Him [and survive]!
17. “Listen carefully to my speech, with my declaration in your ears.
18. “Please look! I have set my case in order;
I [have come to] know [that] I will be vindicated!
19. “Who is there who will bring a [legal] case along with me
if I remain silent now?
20. “Just don’t do [these] two [things] to me;
then I won’t hide myself from Your face:
21. “[neither] take the palm of Your hand far away from me,
nor intimidate me with Your fearsome [presence].
22. “Either call and I will respond,
or let me speak and [You] bring me back [an answer].
23. “How many [kinds of] crookedness or error do I have?
Let me know [what] my transgression or my sin [is]!
I.e., what line have I crossed, or just what have I done to deserve all of this?
24. “Why do You conceal Your face and regard me as Your enemy?
25. “Will a leaf driven [by the wind] frighten You?
Or will You chase after [mere] dry stubble?
26. “Because You’re recording bitter things about me
and are making me inherit the crookednesses of my youth!
27. “You’re both putting my feet in the stocks and scrutinizing my every move!
You’re setting a limit for the soles of my feet!
Setting a limit: or digging in, entrenching, or carving out [a customized space].
28. “And it wears out like something that’s decomposing—like a moth-eaten garment!
CHAPTER 14
1. “[Any] human [who is] born of a woman is short of days and has his fill of restlessness.
Restlessness: turmoil, agitation, trouble, disquiet, quaking. Short of days: Even centenarians’ lives are nothing like those who lived close to 1,000 years in ages past.
2. “Like a flower he comes out but is then clipped off;
he hurries away like a shadow and does not remain.
3. “Oh! In regard to this one You open Your eyes,
but me You bring with You into litigation!
4. “Who can bring [something] clean out of [something] unclean? Not one [person can]!
5. “If his days are [pre]determined [and] the number of his months is with You,
You have set his prescribed limits that he cannot surpass.
6. “Turn Your gaze away from him, so that he may have a break,
until he completes his day [in a satisfactory way] like a hired laborer.
7. “Because there is hope for a tree even if it is cut down,
that it may sprout again and its tender shoots not come to an end.
8. “Though its root may grow old in the earth,
and its stump die off in the dust,
9. “[yet] at the scent of water it can send out buds
and form branches [just] like [one that was deliberately] planted.
10. “But [even] the heroic [strong man] dies when he is enfeebled;
his breath expires, and where is he [then]?
11. “[As] water evaporates from [the] sea,
and peters out like a drying-up stream,
12. “so a man lies down and does not get [back] up;
they will not wake up or be roused from their sleep until there is no [more] sky!
13. “Who will hide me underground and conceal me until Your anger has gone back?
Set a definite appointment for me, and remember me!
14. “If a [strong] man dies, can [even] he live [again]?
All the days of my [military] service I will wait until my replacement comes.
Replacement: or change, i.e., to his new body in the resurrection.
15. “When You call me, I myself will answer You
so that You may yearn for the work of Your hands,
16. “because right now You are counting my steps;
Don’t keep [such a] close watch over my mis-steps!
17. “[Every time I] overstep [a line], [You] seal it up in a bag
and You smear plaster over my crookedness!
18. “Nonetheless, a mountain can fall and crumble away,
a cliff can move out of its place.
19. “Stones can be worn away, water can wash away volunteer plants [with] the fine soil,
And [likewise] You cause the hope of man to be lost.
20. “You prevail against him to the point of victory, and he goes away;
You change his appearance and send him away!
21. “His children honor him but he is not aware of it;
then they are diminished, but he does not detect it.
22. “Actually, his flesh will be in pain in regard to it,
and his soul will mourn over it.”
CHAPTER 15
1. And Elifaz the Theymanite answered and said,
2. “Should a wise man answer [with] empty knowledge
and fill his stomach with the east wind?
Empty: literally, spirit or wind; i.e., lacking substance.
3. “Should he reason with unprofitable words
Or by speeches with which he can bring no benefit?
Reason: or argue.
4. “Sure, you can defeat fear
and restrain complaining in the presence of El.
Restrain: or withdraw.
5. “because your crookedness teaches your mouth [what to say],
and you choose the tongue of crafty ones.
6. “Not I but your own mouth condemns you [as guilty],
and your own lips testify against you!
7. “Are you the first man to be begotten,
Or did you cause labor pains before the hills [were made]?
8. “Have you heard [what is said in] the secret councils of elohim?
And do you reserve [all] wisdom to yourself [alone]?
9. “What have you come to know that we do not know?
[What] can you discern that is not with us also?
10. “Both the grey-haired and the aged among us
have accrued many more days than your father!
11. “Are the consolations of Elohim and the word [spoken] to you gently
too little for you?
12. “How does your heart carry you away
and at what do your eyes flash [in mockery]
13. “that you turn your impatience against El
and let such words come out of your mouth?
14. “What is a [feeble] mortal that he could be pure,
[or] the one born of a woman that he could be in the right?
15. “He doesn’t even trust in His holy ones
and the heavens are not pure in His eyes!
Holy ones: in context, the angelic beings in heaven—and with good reason He does not trust them, for one third of them betrayed Him!
16. “How much less the man [who is] loathsome and tainted,
who drinks [down] injustice like water?
17. “I’ll make it known to you; listen to me!
And that which I have perceived I will recount--
Perceived: as in a vision, like a seer.
18. “that which wise ones have made known
and not concealed [what came] from their fathers,
19. “to whom alone was given the land
With no foreigner having passed through among them.
20. “All of his days, the wicked [one] writhes in pain,
and innumerable years are stored up for the tyrannical.
21. “Dreadful sound[s] are in his ears;
when [he is] at peace, the despoiler comes upon him.
22. “He is not sure he will return from out of the darkness;
he is on the lookout for the presence of a sword!
23. “He wanders about [looking] for bread: ‘Where is it?’
He recognizes that in His hand, a day of darkness is prepared [and ready].
24. “An oppressor will take him by surprise and distress will overpower him
Like a king preparing for an impending attack,
25. “because he stretches out his hand against El,
and acts defiantly toward Shaddai,
26. “running against Him stubbornly,
his convex shield embossed with thickness
27. “because he has concealed his face with his fatness,
and has acquired superabundant fat over his waist.
28. “And he dwells in cities that have been destroyed,
Houses no one inhabits, which are about to become heaps [of stones].
29. “He will not become rich and his wealth will not endure,
nor will his acquisitions spread over the land.
Acquisitions: especially livestock.
30. “He will never be removed from darkness; the flame will dry out his fresh shoots,
and the breath of His mouth will remove him.
31. “Don’t let him trust in vain things that mislead him,
because futility will become his recompense.
32. “When it is not [yet] the time, it will be filled up,
and his leaf will not flourish.
33. “Like a vine, he will shake off his unripe grapes,
and like an olive tree, will cast off his blossoms.
34. “Because the company of hypocrites will be sterile,
And fire will consume the tents of bribery.
35. “They conceive trouble, and give birth to sorrow,
and their womb makes ready subtle deceit!”
CHAPTER 16
1. Then Iyov answered and said,
2. “I have heard many [things] like these.
All of you are wearisome comforters!
3. “Is there [no] end to empty words?
Otherwise, what is [it that’s] pressuring you to [give an] answer?
Pressuring: pushing, provoking, irritating with a sore, making you sick. I.e., why did you feel like you had to say anything at all, if you really had nothing worth saying?
4. “Just like you, I could also talk if your life were in the same place as mine!
I could pile up allies against you with words, and wag at you with my head!
5. “But I would encourage you with my mouth,
and the moving of my lips would restrain [your grief].
Unlike your words!
6. “If I speak, my grief is not restrained;
[if] I leave it unsaid, what will proceed from me?
7. “Now he has left me just exhausted;
all who are gathered [around me] have left me stunned!
8. “You are making me shrivel up; it is coming to serve as a witness
when it rises up against me. The leanness on my face responds as evidence.
Making me shrivel up: or, snatching me away or picking me (like fruit) prematurely; the rest of the verse speaks in courtroom terminology, so he is probably saying you are bringing a case against me before you have allowed this situation to reach clarity.
9. “His anger tears me up and is in opposition to me.
He grinds at me with his teeth; my oppressor is sharpening his focus on me.
Focus: literally, eye, but referring to his gaze, his aim is getting closer to hitting the target.
10. “They open their mouth wide against me with taunts!
They strike at my cheeks; they unite together to put an end to me!
11. “He has shut me in [and delivered me over] to [someone who is] perverse,
and pushed me right into the hands of wicked ones!
12. “I had become prosperous [and was at ease], but He has shattered me.
He has also seized me by the back of the neck and dashed me to pieces!
He has even set me up as His target!
13. “His archers surround me. He splits open my organs without sparing!
He spills out my bile onto the ground!
14. “He breaks through me—breach upon breach [that was] already there.
He runs over me like a heroic warrior!
Literally, breach on the face of (or in the presence of) a breach. Iyov was hit with one affliction after another before the former ones could be healed or even comprehended.
15. “I have sewn [rough] burlap over my smooth skin,
and thrust my horn into the dust.
16. “My face is reddened from weeping,
and over my eyelids [lies] the shadow of death
17. “though there is no violence on my hands
and my prayer is pure.
18. “O earth, don’t conceal my blood,
and don’t let my cry of distress have [any] place!
19. “Even now my witness is certainly in the heavens,
and the record of my [innocence] is in the heights!
Record: or, in Michael Card’s paraphrase, “I know my advocate waits upon high; my witness in heaven sees the tears that I cry”:
20. “My companions are denouncing me to Eloah,
And my eyes drip [with tears].
Denouncing: or mocking, deriding, arrogantly laughing me to scorn.
21. “O that there might be a strong man to plead my case with Elohim,
as [one] son of Adam [pleads] for his companion,
He hints here at exactly what YHWH ultimately provided not just for Iyov but for all of us who suffer as deeply though not as obviously: “There is… one mediator between Elohim and humans, the man Yeshua the Messiah.” (1 Tim. 2:5 )
22. “because the countdown of years has arrived,
and I will walk the path of no return!”
CHAPTER 17
1. “My spirit is in a painful bind [to the point of being ruined]!
My days have been extinguished; there is [already] a grave for me.
2. “Aren’t the triflers [who mock deceitfully here] with me?
Does my eye not lock onto their [bitter] rebelliousness?
3. “Put down a pledge for me with yourself;
who is it that will strike hands with me?
Put down a pledge: or make a bargain, place a bet. Strike hands: or shake, making an agreement.
4. “Because You have hidden their heart from [finding] understanding;
therefore You will not raise them high.
5. “The story he recounts [to] his friends reaches the point of flattery;
even the eyes of his children will become exhausted.
Or possibly, he speaks so smoothly… that it puts his children to sleep.
6. “But He has left me to be a byword to [many] groups of people
and I am becoming one in whose face [men] spit [with contempt]!
Byword: a parable or example of what can happen or what not to be like.
7. “My eye has grown faint from provocation;
all the parts of my body [look] like [mere] shadows!
8. “Upright [people] are appalled over this,
and the innocent stirs himself up in regard to the one who is polluted.
Polluted: profane, impious, or hypocritical.
9. “Yet the righteous will hold firmly to his direction [in life],
and [the one who has] clean hands will increase in strength.
10. “Nonetheless, all of them will turn back, so please come,
Yet I will not find a wise [one] among you!
11. “My days are past, my plans torn away—
even the wishes that my heart held dear!
12. “They regard night as day:
‘Light is nearer, [they say] than the presence of darkness!’
Or, they put night in the place of day, exchange night for day (call it day when it is actually still night).
13. “If I expect the underworld to be my home,
I lay out my bed in the darkness.
14. “I call the pit, ‘My father’,
and [say] to the maggot, ‘You are my mother and my sister!’
15. “So where, then, has my hope gone?
As for what I expect, who can watch for it?
16. “The gate-bars of the underworld will come down
if together we descend into rest upon the dust.”
CHAPTER 18
1. Then Bildad the Shuhhite answered and said,
2. “How much longer will you put a knot in words?
Once you’ve determined [that], after that we will speak.
3. “Why are we considered wild beasts,
[regarded as] unclean in your eyes?
4. “[You] who tear up your soul in anger, will the earth be let loose for your sake?
Or will the rocky cliff be removed from its place?
5. “Even the light of the wicked will go out,
and the ember of his fire will not give any light.
6. “The light in his tent is dark,
and the lamp above him is being extinguished.
7. “The vigorous steps in his stride are becoming cramped,
and his own advice has cast him off
8. “because he is sent into a net by his own feet;
yes, he walks himself right into a snare!
9. “A trap [springs and] grabs him by the heel,
and the noose holds him tightly.
10. “A rope is concealed on the ground,
and laid over the road to catch him.
11. “Calamities startle him on every side,
and drive him to his feet.
12. “His physical strength will become starved,
and disaster stands ready, right at his side.
13. “It devours sections of his skin;
the first [sign] of death eats up parts [of] his [body].
14. “He is plucked up out of his tent, [taken] from his place of refuge
and they march him to the king of sudden terrors.
15. “[Those who] are not from among his own [people] make their abode in his tent;
[burnt] sulfur is scattered over his pasture!
16. “From beneath, his roots are dried up,
and from above, his crop is harvested.
I.e., by someone other than him.
17. “His memory is lost from the earth,
and he has no reputation above [any of] the faces outside.
18. “He is driven out from the light into the darkness,
and chased away from the inhabited world!
19. “He has no offspring and no posterity among his people;
and nothing remains in the places he has sojourned.
20. “Those who remain behind are appalled in regard to his day,
and the ancients [who came] before him are seized with horror:
21. “‘These must certainly be the dwelling-places of [someone] perverse,
and this can’t be the place of someone who knows El!’”
CHAPTER 19
1. And Iyov answered and said,
2. “How long will you torment my soul and crush my [into pieces] with words?
3. “This is ten times you have demeaned me,
not being ashamed that you might be doing me wrong!
Ten times: YHWH said something similar in Numbers 14:22, as did Yaaqov in Gen.31:7. In both cases and this, they could no longer bear it in silence. Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Topical Lexicon says, “Across Scripture, the phrase marks persistent, willful behavior that hardens despite corrective opportunities. Job thus places his friends in a biblical lineage of obstinate offenders.”
4. “And, really now! If I have indeed gone astray,
my error remains with me [alone].
Remains: literally, stops over, as only for a short time; it will not be here to bother you much longer.
5. “If you truly want to magnify yourselves over me
and plead [your case] against me [to] my scorn,
I.e., if you want to win a case and make yourselves look great at my expense…
6. “then be aware that Eloah [Himself] has caused me to stoop down, bent over,
and surrounded me with His net [like a hunted prey]!
7. “Here I am crying out, ‘Violence!’ and I am not answered;
I shout for help and there is no due process.
8. “He has walled off my route and I cannot get through,
and over my paths He has put darkness!
9. “He has stripped me of my honor
and taken the laurel [crown] off my head!
Laurel: a head-wreath by which both emperors and athletic champions were crowned in ancient times.
10. “He is chipping away at me from every side, and I am departing;
He has pulled out my hope like an uprooted tree!
Chipping away: pulling down, forcefully dismantling, tearing down, breaking off pieces, demolishing. Hope: literally, a cable or rope by which one might be pulled up from a well or a pit, but this rope has been pulled up when he was not holding onto it!
11. “He has heated up His nostrils against me
and considers me [like] an adversary to Himself!
12. “Together His troops come and build up their highway against me
and encamp all around my tent [on every side]!
13. “He has removed my relatives far away from me,
and even those who know me have become estranged from me.
14. “Those who are closest to me have left [me]
and my acquaintances have forgotten me!
Left me: or ceased to exist. (All of his children had died.)
15. “Those who still dwell in my house, even my maidservants, consider me a stranger;
I have become a foreigner in their eyes!
16. “I call for my servant, but he does not respond;
with my mouth I have to beg him for mercy!
17. “My breath is loathsome [even] to my wife,
and I am ‘pitiful’ to the sons of my own body!
18. “Even little children reject me;
when I get up, they speak against me.
Reject: or possibly, run away from.
19. “All the [select] people in which I [would] confide [now] utterly abhor me,
and this one whom I have come to love has turned on me!
His own wife gave him foolish counsel, having despaired of his ever getting better. (2:9)
20. “My skeleton sticks to my skin and my flesh,
and I have survived [only] by the skin of my teeth!
Notice how ancient some of our idioms are! (See also verses 24 and 28.)
21. “Have mercy on me! Have pity on me, you friends of mine,
because the hand of Elohim has struck me!
22. “Why do you persecute me as El [does]?
And [why have you] not had enough [of the frailty] of my [gaunt] flesh?
23. “If only my words could be written down somewhere!
Who will provide a book to inscribe them in?
He got his wish! It is thought that Iyov is the first complete book of the Bible that was written. (Genesis was probably begun prior to this, but not completed until after it.)
24. “O that they might be engraved in stone forever
With a pen of iron and lead!
25. “I have come to recognize both that my Redeemer is alive
and that at the very last [time] he will stand upon the dust!
He may be acknowledging that he is certain in his hope that YHWH will provide a mediator (see 16:19-21) to restore his lost heritage (as a kinsman redeemer), possibly even the redeemer par excellence, the Messiah himself. Or, in a different vein, this could be read as, “I am certain that He will exact vengeance, and He will be the last one standing when everything else has been reduced to rubble.”
26. “And this [I know, that] after my skin is struck off [of me].
yet from my flesh I will behold my Elohim [as a seer does in a vision],
In Michael Card’s paraphrase, “And though my body by then is no more, yet in my flesh I know I’ll see the Lord.” He seems to be expressing faith in a resurrection of his physical body in a day when very little had been revealed about that matter, though the Enoch’s writings were probably circulating by that time.
27. “Whom I will perceive for myself and my eyes will see—and not a stranger!
[O how] my emotions are complete [deep] within me!
Stranger: another, in the sense of one who is unauthorized or an alien, as seen in Numbers 18:7. The latter couplet could also be read, “My organs within my torso are failing, having reached their limit.” The wonder of Hebrew is that it can mean both things at the same time.
28. “Because you are [all] saying, “How are we persecuting him?”
and the root of the matter is found within me.
29. “Be in dread for yourselves due to the presence of the sword,
because the sword is [hot] indignation [for] perversities,
so that you will acknowledge that [there is] a decisive judgment.”
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More coming soon.
THE STORY OF
Iyov
(also known as Job)
INTRODUCTION: Iyov is thought to be the oldest book that came to be included in the Biblical collection. It addresses the same basic question that many of us struggle with today: “Why would YHWH allow me to go through this problem?” It gives us a look “behind the scenes” at what may precipitate such experiences, and tells us some of the wrong ways to approach the question as well as the right. Iyov may have been one of the men called Yov-av in Genesis 10:29 (a grandson of Ever, and therefore a Semite and a Hebrew) or Gen. 36:33-34 (an Edomite king (especially considering that the man whose reign followed his was a Theymanite--precursor to the Yemenites--an ethnicity that shows up among Iyov’s closest friends—Elifaz. (2:11) An Elifaz the father of Theyman actually appears in the same chapter (36:11), also among Esau’s descendants. This is not proven, but the possibility is intriguing.
