Was Job originally a play? It is an old idea, going back at least to Theodore of Mopsuestia, who died in 428 AD. He was sure the Book of Job was a scandalous drama on the pattern of Greek tragedy, but the Church Council of 553 at Constantinople condemned his thinking.
Dr. Horace Kallen has fared only a little better in modern times for his The Book of Job as Greek Tragedy, which added stage directions and a chorus to the American Revised Version. The play was put on by college groups and once by professional actors in 1926. But poor Dr. Kallen has been relegated to footnote status. The current academic view runs something like this: Job is a poetic dialogue, even a dramatic dialogue in form, but of course Kallen was wrong to think it a play.
Kallen was right at least to this degree: that if the Book of Job was a play, then a Greek connection is hard to resist. Theater may have arisen among the Greeks and the Jews independently, but Athens and Jerusalem are too close and the timing too coincidental to believe so.
Thespis of Attica is generally accepted as the first tragic actor in the Greek tradition. He may have toured the countryside with a chorus putting on his plays as early as 550 B.C. In 536 the Tyrant Pisistratus of Athens established an annual prize for the best tragedy. The author of Job is thought to have traveled and so may have been to Athens and seen one of Thespis' productions. On this scenario and on the assumption that Job was drama, the earliest possible date for the book would be 550. The early tragedies had only a single actor, though, and were not nearly so sophisticated as Job, so a later date is indicated, probably several decades into the fifth century B.C.
Still on the assumption that Job was actually played, the latest likely date for it would be circa 445, when Nehemiah took over Jerusalem and rebuilt the walls of the city. Internal evidence from Job suggests that the walls of Jerusalem were still in ruins - see the note for 17:6. More cogently, Job is written in Hebrew, and Hebrew was losing its hold from 500. Finally, the Temple priesthood, once they became a force in the city, would have banned as idolatrous a play where God appears on stage. The Temple was rebuilt by 515, but just when the priesthood took charge of cultural life is unclear. It might have been as late as Nehemiah. A good guess for Job's first production? Say 470 B.C.
Was Job a play? Well, yes. The internal evidence is quite clear. There are so many scenes that only work by a reference to the surroundings or with a gesture. Let's play it again, here in Los Angeles. Let's bring Jew, Christian and Muslim together for an interreligious production. Why not? Truly, Job has a timeless message for all humanity, a message Los Angeles needs to hear. Job is a healing play, exactly the right prescription for a fractured city.
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The translation was accomplished by first comparing English versions and then going to the Hebrew. Priorities were 1) the meaning of the original Hebrew, 2) the meaningfulness of the English, 3) poetic force and 4) literal faithfulness to the received text.
The Book of Job is a difficult work in the original. Scholars dispute the meaning of many of its verses. The translator has the worst of it: 1) The author's vocabulary was the largest of all ancient Hebrew writers. 2) The verse form is more compact than prose. 3) Idiomatic expressions from the spoken language are many because the work is a dramatic dialogue in form. 4) If the peculiarities of the Hebrew are not sufficiently explained by points one through three, then perhaps Job was written in an otherwise unknown Hebrew dialect. 5) An accumulation of scribal errors is likely. And 6) thrgnlhdnvwlspncttnrspcsbtwnthwrds -- the original had no vowels, punctuation or spaces between the words.
But the interpreter also suffers. Perhaps some ten to fifty verses began as marginal notes and were copied into the text by the next scribe. In the present edition, verses thought to be unassimilable interpolations are parenthesized. Then there are deliberate distortions of the text in the name of piety, including the eighteen "Emendations of the Scribes." For instance, 1:5 in the received text says: Perhaps my sons have sinned and blessed God... Finally, the structural integrity of the work is in question. Chapters 24 to 30 are jumbled and the Elihu speeches may have been added by a second hand.
A meaningful version of Job must therefore be in part a work of the imagination. The traditional versions of the difficult passages are themselves only defensible, not proved, and too often they don't really make sense in the larger context. Yet surely the original was seldom indefinite or obscure.
In this edition, cuts are suggested using bold versus standard typeface. The cut version will run about an hour and forty-five minutes. The full version about 2 and a half hours. Additions to make the work more understandable to the radio audience are indicated by [square brackets]. This simple typography only works if the reader makes allowances. Once again, brackets for the radio announcer, parentheses for original material that is being excluded, boldface to indicate a cut version. The Storyteller's "foreword" is entirely a modern addition, of course, as is the falconry interpolation at 16:18.
| The Crowd Trashman / The Satan Burial Detail / Two men with a Body Job Job's Wife Wise Woman / Storyteller / Scribe God of the Prologue / Eliphaz |
Three Angels |
[Radio announcer. A lone palm tree grows by a city gate. A small crowd of men in Middle Eastern dress are seated on benches. Center stage are rocks and piles of ashes. Above is Heaven] with an inner curtain. [In the middle distance is a wadi, the deep gully of a desert stream, and on its far side are stately tombs for the rich. Below, in front, is the common burial pit for the poor.] This single scene, with Heaven, Earth, and Pit will suffice for the entire play. Music should be supplied as appropriate -- harp, tambourine, pipe and drums.
The angels and the messengers, when their part in the Prologue is done, join the audience. With their prompting, and with the help of cue sheets, the audience is encouraged to become part of the Crowd, the ancient jury before whom the Trial of Job will take place.
[Radio announcer. The Trashman with his basket of ashes enters from the city gate followed by two men carrying a man's body on a makeshift stretcher. A well dressed Job and his wife enter opposite. As they cross paths, the arm of the dead man flops out to smack Job squarely in the chest. Job stops to watch as the naked body is dumped unceremoniously into the Pit. Just at that moment the trashman, grinning, tips his ashes, spilling them over the feet of Job and his wife.]
[Radio announcer. Now here's the Storyteller with her scroll and her raven's quill pen.]
Storyteller. Theodore of Mopsuestia was condemned as a heretic for thinking Job a play, but it was, I know! I've played this part before. We've trimmed a bit from the original. What's left though, are still the words of Job and his friends -- God, too -- as I first took them down with this pen, nearly three thousand years ago.
Now be advised, the only plots here are that cemetary plot over there, where this poor man was dragged and dumped, and those tombs back there, where the rich are buried along with their plots against the poor. The word's the thing in this play, so give ear, you that know, "for the ear can tell a word as the tongue tells a taste!"
| Storyteller. 1:1In the land of Uz
dwelt Job, a man of integrity and righteousness who feared God and shunned evil. 2Seven sons and three daughters he had, 3and seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkey mares and many servants, so that altogether he was greatest of the chieftans of the East. 4In the feast days his sons, each in turn host at his own house, would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5Straightway the next morning Job would send for his sons to come and be purified; he would offer burnt offerings for each of them, saying, Job. Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed Storyteller. This Job would always do. 6One day when the
sons of the gods
were God. Where have you been? And the Satan replied, Roaming the earth, 8The Lord asked, Have you given thought
to my The Satan. 9But does Job fear God
for nothing? God. 12Very well,
said the Lord. Everything he has is Storyteller. Then the Satan went forth from the [Radio Announcer. Here come four messengers, 1st Messenger. The oxen were plowing and the 16He was still speaking
when another messenger came 17And he was still speaking when yet
another messenger 18And he, too, was still speaking when
yet another Storyteller. 20Then Job rose.
He tore his robe and Storyteller. 22In all this Job did
not sin nor give 2:1One day when the sons of the gods
were attending [Radio announcer. Back in Heaven now, where the 2The Lord asked the Satan, Where have you been? And the Satan replied, Roaming the earth, strolling 3The Lord asked, Have
you given thought to my 4Skin for skin, answered the Satan. [Radio announcer. This is the wager, Satan's skin Satan. All that a man has he will give for his
life. 6Very well, said the Lord.
He is in your hands but Storyteller. 7Then the Satan went
forth from the Job's wife. Do you still hold to your integrity? Curse 10Like a foolish woman you are talking,
was Job's Storyteller. Through all this Job said nothing for 11Three of Job's friends came when
they heard of |
The Storyteller opens the scroll to read in an expansive manner, as one might read a bed time tale to a child. An inner curtain opens to reveal God and angels in Heaven. Throwing off his sackcloth cloak, the Trashman appears as the Satan, dressed in a tuxedo. He steps up onto the platform with God. Music - Satan's theme. As the Story- teller takes the next speech, the Satan dances around Job and his wife. They sit on the rocks, overcome. Enter four messengers one after the other. Each has a conch shell in his left hand which he blows as he enters. After telling Job the bad news they form a square facing true North, South, East and West.
|
last changed July 4, 1997
| [Radio announcer. They waited until Job spoke.] 3:1Then Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. 2He raised his voice, saying: 3Curse the day that I was born, |
The Storyteller resettles herself behind Job. Now as the Scribe she will write the words of Job in the same scroll she read from before. Her raven's quill pen is poised. Job speaks quietly at first, with his head bowed, but he becomes more vehement as he continues. Over the course of the play Job gradually regains his vigor, so his health is completely restored even before God's appearance at the end of the play. Job raises his arms to set the fateful seal on the curse. |
Leviathan is the dragon of the sea, with seven fire breathing heads. Job is summoning the powers of disorder to blot out the day of his birth and the night he was conceived. The argument with his friends is one form that the resulting chaos takes. Also, the original time of the dialogue becomes confused with its dramatic representation hundreds or thousands of years later. By an involuted logic, the Job who is on stage becomes the mythic Job himself.
If the audience can be persuaded that chaos has really been summoned, so much the better, that earthquakes, for instance, might actually happen during the performance. Near the end of the play, God will quell this fear by relating how he defeated Leviathan in battle at the beginning of the world. The story of Job is a retelling of the creation myth, and as such it is also a healing ritual. Done at full pitch, cast and audience together will fall out of normal time into the myth.
Now the four messengers blow their conches, echoing each other eerily. Then just as the audience's eyes have time to spot them, all the house lights go dark. Complete darkness is what is wanted if that is possible. Job's voice rises above the fading conch echoes as the messengers go out.
| Stir the depths against that night. 9Darken its first twilight stars So it seeks the light in vain And does not find the faintest dawn, 10For it did not shut my mother's womb, Nor save my eyes from sorrow. 11Why did I not die at birth, |
Music as the lights come up slowly. Job is disappointed to find he is still there. Pointing feebly to the tombs of the rich. Job indicates the Pit, the common grave for the poor.
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| [Radio announcer. Then noble Eliphaz answered Job.] 4:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying, 2Perhaps a word is more than
you can bear, 12A word came furtively to
me once, |
Eliphaz is a still powerful sixty years of age, noble of bearing, with flowing gray hair and a full beard nearly white. He speaks with authority in a distinguished baritone voice, and is simply dressed in a fine white robe. He is the same actor in the same costume who played God in the Prologue. Eliphaz wants to bring the the word "just" to Job's attention. Perhaps Job, the admired judge, had secretly tried to surpass God in justice. There is a double meaning that is hard to convey in English. To be "just before" also means to be more just than -- more just than God. Musical interlude. |
| 5:1So make your appeal! Will you
find an answer? To which of the holy ones will you turn? [Radio announcer. But Job wasn't having any, so Eliphaz decided on stronger medicine.] 2Anger kills the fool And passion takes the easily enticed. 3I have seen the fool take root Until his household is suddenly cursed, 4His children abandoned, helpless, Lost in the crush, defenseless at court. 5His harvest the hungry consume Down to the last grain among the thorns While robbers thirst after his goods. 6Woe does not sprout from the dust And sorrow does not spring from the earth. 7A man begets touble As sparks fly up. 8As for me, I would apply to God And lay my case before God himself, 9Doer of great things unsearchable, Marvels beyond number, 10Who gives rain upon the earth And sends water upon the open fields, 11Who exalts the lowly And secures the wretched. 12He thwarts the plots of the crafty And their hands miss the prize. 13He catches the clever in their own guile And their wily schemes are carried headlong. 14They meet with darkness at noon And grope their way as if day were night. 15Thus he rescues the simple from the sword And the poor from the hands of the strong. 16Thus the humble have hope And evil's mouth is stopped. 17Happy is the man whom God corrects; Accept, therefore, the discipline of the Almighty. 18For he wounds, but he binds up; He strikes a blow, but his hand also heals. 19From six troubles he will save you; In seven no harm will come to you. 20In famine he will keep you from starvation, In war from the stroke of the sword. 21Evil sayings will have no power over you; Approaching ruin will not frighten you. 22At destruction and famine you will laugh; Wild beasts you'll need not fear. 23For you will be in league with the stones of the field And at peace with the beasts of the earth. 24You will know that your tent is secure, Inspect your flocks and miss nothing. 25You will know that your descendants are many, Your offspring as the grass of the earth. 26You will come in full vigor to the grave As a sheaf of wheat in its season is reaped. 27All this we have confirmed; it is true. Now hear it and know it yourself. |
Eliphaz looks expectantly at Job, who shrugs and turns away. Eliphaz wags his finger. Job sees. The 4 messengers and 3 angels have found seats in the house. Their part now is to encourage the audience to be the jury at Job's trial. Here they hiss Eliphaz for reminding Job of his children. The Crowd onstage are a very vocal group, too, agreeing and disagreeing all along the way in a mumbly buzz. Kindly spoken again. This line is the source of Job's harshest criticism of God, that God laughs at the despair of the innocent. There should be a pause to let the line ring while Job covers his ears. |
| [Radio announcer. Job was not pleased with Eliphaz' talk about the anger of the fool.] 6:1Then Job answered, saying: 2Would that my vexation might be weighed With all my ills added into the balance! 3They outweigh the sands of the sea; That is why my words are like a drunkard's, 4For the arrows of the Almighty pierce me; My spirit drinks their poison -- God's terrors are arrayed against me. 5Does the wild ox bray when he has grass Or the ox bellow over his fodder? 6Can froth be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in dreamer's drool? 7I have no appetite for such things; They are like the pain in my belly. 8Oh that what I have begged be given, That God grant me my hope, 9That it please God to crush me, To loose his hand and cut me off. 10It would be my comfort And I would exult even in throes unsparing, For I have not denied the Holy One's words. 11What strength have I, that I should have hope? What is my end that I should keep on living? 12Is my strength the strength of stones Or is my flesh bronze? 13Is there no one who will support me? Has all resource been driven so far away? 14Loyalty is due a sick friend, Even if he renounce the fear of the Almighty. 15My brothers are treacherous as a desert stream; They are like a wadi that overflows its banks, 16Running dark with ice And swollen with the snow melt. 17But comes the heat, they vanish, A new season and they fade. 18Caravans change their course; They go off in the desert and perish. 19The caravans of Tema look; The travelers of Sheba yearn. 20But they are confounded and disappointed Who come trusting the promise of water. 21So are you to me, And I to you am but a sight and a fright. 22Have I asked you to make me a gift Or ransom me with your wealth? 23Have I said, "rescue me from my enemy" Or "save me from brigands"? 24Teach me and I will say no more; Show me where I have been wrong. 25Honest reproof can be savored, But your arguments, what are they? 26To fault a man's words, is that your intent, A despairing man's talk as so much wind? 27Would you cast lots over an orphan, too, Or sell a friend if you could get your price? [Radio announcer. At that, Job's friends got up to go, and would have, if he hadn't called them back.] 28Now look at me, please; Would I lie to your face? 29Give over this injustice, I pray you; For my righteousness' sake, relent. 30Is there wickedness on my tongue? Can my mouth not tell one word from another? |
Eliphaz has angered Job with talk about the passions of the fool. Job sits up straighter. An insulting reference to Eliphaz' dream vision. Job eyes Eliphaz obliquely, but drops his gaze when Eliphaz challenges him. Job's friends turn away. Job pauses, hoping to be contradicted, but no. He realizes that his friends have lost sympathy for him. Aside. Renouncing fear of the Almighty is an unthinkable for Job, but now under the impact of losing his friends, he is struck by his own words. Addressing his friends -- 2nd person plural. Job's friends confer. The three begin to leave, but Job's softer tone now stops them. Eliphaz does look back back at Job, who drops his gaze once more. |
last changed April 3, 1997
| 7:1Has not man a soldier's life
on earth? Are not his days like those of a day laborer? 2I am like the slave who longs for the evening shadow, Like the hireling who looks to his pay at day's end. 3Empty months are my lot And nights of misery my portion. 4When I lie down I think, "When may I rise?" But the night is long and I am restless until dawn. 5My flesh is clad with worms and dust; My skin cracks and oozes. 6My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, Coming to an end without a thread of hope. 7Remember that my life is only wind, That my eye will not see good again. 8The eye that sees me now will not see me then; You will look for me but I will be gone. 9As a cloud dissolves and is gone, So a man goes down to Sheol never to return. 10He will never come to his house again; His place will know him no more. 11Therefore I'll not hold my tongue; In the anguish of my spirit I will speak; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. 12Am I the Lord of the Sea or the Dragon, That you set a watch over me? 13When I say, "My bed will comfort me; My couch will ease my complaint," 14Then you frighten me with dreams And terrify me with visions 15Until my soul would choose strangling, Death I would prefer to these sickening bones. 16I will not live forever; Let me be, for my days are only a breath. 17What is man that you should raise him up And set your heart upon him, 18Inspect him each morning And be testing him every moment? 19Will you never turn your glance away Or give me leave to swallow my spittle? 20If I sin, what is it to you, man watcher? Why choose me for your target? Why am I your burden? 21Why not forgive my sin? For soon I shall lie in the dust; You will seek me, but I shall be no more. |
Job addresses his friends. Job looks up. He is speaking to God (2nd person singular). Addressing the crowd. To God again. (2nd sing.) |
| [Radio announcer. Then Bildad, who had always been like a great uncle to Job, interrupted.] 8.1Then Bildad the Shuite answered, saying: 2How long will your keep on like this? For the words of your mouth are so much wind! 3Does God distort the course of justice? Or will the Almighty pervert what is right? 4Your children, when they sinned against him, He delivered them into the power of their sin. 5You, if you will search out God And plead for the favor of the Almighty, 6And if you are pure and upright, Then even now he will awake for you And restore what was rightfully yours, 7So that your beginnings will seem small And your end will be greatly increased. 8Just inquire, I pray, of the former generations And consider the wisdom of the patriarchs. 9For we are as yesterday's child, knowing nothing, And our days are but a shadow on the earth. 10They will teach you, they will tell you; They will reveal the words of their understanding. 11"Will the rush sprout up without marsh? Can reeds thrive without water? 12Though fresh and uncut, They wither more quickly than grass." 13Such is the fate of all who forget God; So do the hopes of the hypocrite perish. 14"He puts his confidence in a house of thread; He puts his trust in a spider's web -- 15To carry his weight, but it cannot; He grasps it, but it will not hold." 16"Like a well-watered vine in the sun He sends his shoots across the garden. 17Round a rock pile his tendrils twist;; A house of stone they find. 18But tear him loose from his place And it disowns him: 'I never saw you.' 19Yet see how he continues on his way And from the dust he sprouts anew." 20God will not reject the blameless; Neither will he take evildoers by the hand. 21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter And your lips with shouts of joy. 22The ones that hate you will be clothed with shame And the tent of the wicked shall be no more. |
A very old and frail Bildad interrupts Job, who yet manages a smile. Bildad wears a turban and rich dark clothes and has a skimpy white beard. His speech is vigorous and highly gesticulated and there is a hint of kindly eccentricity about him. Bildad brings out a parchment. Reads. Looks up. Reads. He puts the parchment away, picks up a tablet. Bildad stops reading. Speaking to Job. |
| [Radio announcer. Job was not offended at Bildad, as he had been at Eliphaz.] 9:1Then Job answered, saying: 2Indeed, I know that this is so, But how can a man be acquitted before God? 3If he wants to summon him to court, Not one time in a thousand will he answer. 4And wise and strong as one might be, Who could defy him and come out whole? 5Without warning he rocks the mountains; In his anger he overturns them. 6He shakes the world from her place, Rattling the pillars of the earth. 7He tells the sun not to shine And sets a seal on the stars. 8Himself he frames the heavens And tramples the back of the Sea. 9He is the maker of the Bear and the Fool, The Pleiades and the Chambers of the South, 10Doer of great things unsearchable, Marvels beyond number. 11When he is going by, I do not see him; He passes on, undiscovered. 12He drags someone off, and who can stop him? Who will say to him, "What are you doing?" 13A god could not restrain his anger; The minions of Rahab groveled at his feet. 14How then could I answer him, Or match my words with him? 15Though innocent, I would have no defense; I would be at the mercy of my accuser. 16And if I summoned him and he answered, Still I doubt he would listen to me, 17For he is one to crush me for a trifle, To multiply my wounds without cause. 18He does not let me catch my breath, But he fills me with bitterness. 19If it is a matter of strength, he wins! But if a matter of justice, who can arraign him? 20Though I am in the right, he condemns me; I am innocent and he treats me like a crook. 21I am innocent; don't I know my own life? Hateful as it is to me! 22It's all the same, so I will speak: The righteous and the wicked he destroys together. 23When a sudden scourge brings death, He laughs at the despair of the innocent. 24The world is given into the hands of the wicked; He blindfolds her judges. If not he, then who? 25Now my days outpace a swift runner; They see no good; they speed away. 26Like an eagle that stoops upon its prey Or like a reed-built river skiff they fly. 27If I say, "I will forget my complaint; I will put off my sad face and take comfort," 28Then my suffering itself, it frightens me, And I know you will not acquit me. 29I am already condemned; So why this hopeless struggle? 30If I were to scrub myself with soap And wash my hands with lye, 31Then you would plunge me into a putrid pit So that my own clothes would abhor me. 32He is not a man like me to be answered Or confronted in court. 33There is no arbiter between us Who could take us both in hand. 34Let him put away his rod And not dismay me with his terror. 35Then I could speak without fear, For I have not been forthright with him. 10:1My soul wearies of life, So I will unstop my complaint And speak the bitterness within me. 2I will say to God: Do not condemn me, But tell me what is your charge against me? 3Does it please you to oppress me? Is it good to despise the work of your hands? Is it right to shine upon the schemes of the wicked? 4Have you eyes of flesh? Do you see as a man sees? 5Are your days as the days of a mortal? Are even your years numbered as a man's days, 6That you should search out my error And keep looking for my sin, 7Though you know I am not wicked? But there is no rescue from your hands! 8Your hands that made me, Together they fashioned me about And then turned to destroy me. 9You remember you molded me from clay. Will you reduce me now to dust? 10Did you not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese, 11Clothe me with skin and flesh And knit me together with bones and sinew? 12You gave me life and showed me kindness; You watched over my spirit to preserve me. 13But this is what you hid in your heart, And I know what was in your mind, 14That if I should sin, you would be witness And you would not acquit me of guilt. 15If I be wicked, then woe to me; Or innocent, I bow my head, Filled with shame and drunk with affliction. 16I look up and you are stalking me like a lion; Again you work your mighty wonders upon me! 17You send new witnesses against me And increase your anger towards me; Troops in waves surround me. 18Why did you bring me forth from the womb? Would that I had died unseen, 19As though I had never been, Carried from the womb to the grave. 20My days are few. Let me be. Turn your gaze that I may take comfort a little 21Before I go whence I shall not return, To a land of murk and gloom, 22A land of deepest night, Of chaos and the shadow of death, where the light is as darkness. |
Job does not take offense against Bildad as he did against Eliphaz. He has great respect and affection for Bildad, a man twice his age. Bitterly quoting Eliphaz back at him. Marvels, right, ambushing people! Aside. Job pauses to reflect. Job sags and his voice changes. He raises his arms to pray half-heartedly to God. To his friends. Aside. Again he pauses to reflect. Job prays again, earnestly this time. Impiously shading his eyes, mimicking God. Looking at his friends. Looking at the crowd. A deep silence falls on everyone. Music. |
| [Radio announcer. Zophar is a younger man. He is waiting in case Eliphaz or Bildad have something more to say.] 11:1Then Zophar the Na'amathite answered, saying: 2Is this fountain of words to go unanswered? Should this lip-talking man be believed? 3Can your empty words strike men dumb? Will you mock and none rebuke? 4You say, "My conduct is pure; I am clean in his eyes." 5O that God himself would speak! That he would open his lips against you. 6He would show you the hidden side of wisdom, For true wisdom has two sides. You would learn that God even forgets part of your guilt for you. 7Can you sound the depths of God? Or have you found the Almighty's outer limit? 8High as Heaven, so what can you do? And deeper than the Pit, so what can you know? 9Longer than the earth in measure, Wider than the sea. 10If he comes by and imprisons you, Assembles a court against you, who can stop him? 11He knows the men who are false, And if he sees evil, will he stand aloof? 12But a witless man will be wise The day a donkey flies! 13Set your heart in order, if you will, And stretch out your hand towards him. 14If sin be in your hand then put it away, Banish crime from your door. 15Then you will lift up a face unblemished And be secure in your position and unafraid. 16Then you will forget your suffering Or remember it as waters gone by. 17Your years will be brighter than the noonday And the darkness then shall turn to dawn. 18Trusting again in your hopes, You will look about and rest easy. 19You will lie down with none to make afraid And many will court your favor. 20But the eyes of the wicked will dim; Escape will elude them And their hope become a dying breath. |
Zophar is 30. He waits so Eliphaz or Bildad, his elders, may speak. Addressing Eliphaz and Bildad. Addressing the crowd. Speaking to Job. Gesturing to the crowd. Zophar has been circling in, and now he bends down putting his long nose right in Job's face, but Job holds his own. The crowd hisses and Zophar backs off. Gesturing to Heaven. Job looks at the potsherd he is still holding. On the offensive again. |
last changed March 24, 1997
| [Radio announcer. Job is smarting from Zophar's insult. He's never, ever been called witless before!] 12:1Then Job answered, saying: 2No doubt you are the ones And with you wisdom will die! 3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not less than you -- Who does not know such things? 4I have become like a man who is mocked, One who calls upon God, but his neighbor answers. The just, the innocent man is a laughingstock. 5Men at ease have contempt for misfortune; They take aim at those who stumble, 6While the tents of robbers are undistubed And those who provoke God are secure, Those whose god is their own mighty fist! 7Ask the beasts of the field, they will teach you, The birds of the sky, they will tell you; 8Or speak to the earth, it will teach you, The fish of the sea, they will tell you. 9Who does not know all these things, That the hand of Jehovah has done this? 10In his hand is every living soul And the spirit of all human flesh. 11Can the ear not tell a word Or the mouth what food it tastes? 12A grey beard signifies wisdom, And a long life brings understanding. 13But wisdom and might are his; With him are counsel and understanding. 14He tears down and there is no rebuilding; He imprisons and there is no release. 15He holds back the waters and there is drought; He lets them loose and they devastate the land. 16With him are power and victory; Deceived and deceiver are both his. 17He strips the counselors of their wits And turns judges into fools. 18He loosens the restraint of kings And girds their loins for war. 19He strips the priests of their reaon And overthrows those appointed for life. 20He deprives the trustworthy of speech And takes away the judgment of the elders. 21He pours contempt upon the princes And disarms the strong men. 22He opens the depths of darkness And brings forth a great shadow to the light. 23He makes nations great and he destroys them; He enlarges nations and he leads them away. 24He dements the leaders of the people of the earth; He sends them wandering through a trackless waste. 25They grope in darkness where there is no light; He makes them stagger like drunkards. 13:1My eye has seen all this; My ear has heard and understood. 2What you know, I know too; I am not less than you. 3As for me, I would speak to the Almighty And argue my case with God; that is my desire. 4But you, you gild the lie and mend the idol, Doctors of what is not, all of you. 5If you would just keep silent, It would be your wisdom. 6Please listen to my arguments And hear the plea of my lips. 7Is it for God you speak so wickedly? Is it for his sake that you lie? 8Looking to please him, are you? Lawyers for God? 9If he examines you, what then? Can you fool him as you might a man? 10He will sharply rebuke you If you are secretly currying favor. 11Won't his splendor overawe you then? And the dread of him fall upon you! 12Your parchments will be proverbs of ash then, Your ancient tablets but shards of clay. 13Be silent now that I may speak -- Then come upon me what may. 14My tongue in my teeth as my oath And my hand on my throat, a sign that I know 15He may kill me; I may have no hope, But I will defend my ways to his face. 16This might even be my salvation, For no godless man would face him so. 17Now listen closely to my speech; Lend your ears to what I say, 18For I have put my case in order And I know I will be acquitted. [Radio announcer. Job's wife has helped him up.] 19Who then will contend with me, That I should keep silent and die? 20Two things only I ask, And then I will not hide from your face: 21That you remove your hand far from me And that your dread not dismay me. 22Then summon me and I will answer Or let me speak and you reply. 23How many are my wrongs and my sins? Tell me how I have sinned or given offense. 24Why do you hide your face And regard me as your enemy? 25Will you harry a driven leaf? Pursue dry chaff? 26For your sentences against me are bitter And you fault me for the errors of my youth. 27You shackle my ankles And watch all my paths; You brand the soles of my feet. [Radio announcer. Job is shuffling over to the Pit.] 28Like something that decays he wastes away, Like a moth-eaten garment. 14:1Man born of woman, Few of days and full of trouble. 2He flowers and dies; Like a fleeting shadow, he is gone. 3Yet you watch him, And bring him to be judged in your court! 4Who can bring the clean from the unclean? No one! So let him be. 5His days are measured; The number of his months is with you; You have set the bounds and he cannot pass. 6So turn your gaze, Give him leave to enjoy his day of hire. 7There is hope for a tree If it is cut down, that it will sprout again And that its new growth will not fail. 8Though its roots grow old in the earth And its stump die in the dust, 9Still at the smell of water it may bud And put forth new shoots like a seedling. 10But a man when he dies, where is he? He breathes his last and is no more. 11As water fails from a lake, As a riverbed dries and cakes, so 12Man lies down and he does not get up. While the sky is above, they wake not; They will not be roused from sleep. 13O that you would hide me in Sheol, Conceal me till your anger has passed, Set me a time and then remember me. 14Could it be that a man die and yet live? Then all my embattled days I would endure Until my relief should come. 15You would summon me and I would answer; You would tremble to see your handiwork again. 16That now you might count my steps, Spying out my sin no more. 17The record of my wrongs would be sealed up; You would gloss over my error. 18But no, a mountain falls away to nothing; The rock itself is moved from its place. 19Water wears away the stone And storm rains wash away the dirt; Thus you destroy man's hope. 20You trample him down to stay and he goes; You change his look and send him away. 21His sons are honored but he does not know it, Or humiliated and he thinks nothing of it. 22Only his flesh upon him keeps aching And his soul within him keeps mourning. |
Addressing his friends. Addressing the crowd. His neighbor - i.e. Zophar. Job raises his fist and shakes it as if provoking God. Addressing Bildad -- 2nd person singular. Meaning Eliphaz. Meaning Bildad. Meaning God. Still to his friends. Referring to Eliphaz 5:8. But all three speak at once. But they won't stop. Job raises his voice and finally they quiet down. Again all three speak up. Job tries to quiet them. He suddenly makes a hideous gesture, sticking out his tongue and biting on it, his forefinger across his throat. He meets Eliphaz' eyes and holds them a moment, reasserting himself. Aside. To his friends again. With his wife's help, Job stands and intones v. 19 as a court ritual. Addressing God. Job pauses so God may summon him. Job pauses so God may reply. Job shuffles to the edge of the burial pit. Those in the pit. Job sinks to his knees. Aside. The actor playing Job is Job's relief! He rises, turns a circle and bows. To God. Job means now -- the time of the play. |
| [Radio announcer. Eliphaz has put his arm around Job and is walking him away from the Pit.] 15:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying: 2Does a wise man answer empty conceit, Fill his belly with the hot east wind? 3Does he offer a useless rebuke? Or words that have no profit in them? 4But you, you are casting off fear And dishonoring prayer! 5For it is your guilt that guides your mouth; You choose the tongue of guile. 6Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; Your own lips testify against you. 7Are you Adam born before Adam, Older than the hills, 8A listener at God's inner circle? Keeping your wisdom to yourself, are you? 9So what do you know that we do not know? And what understanding is yours and not ours? 10For among us are the old and gray, Older by far than your father. 11Is comfort from God not enough for you, Words that treat you gently? [Radio Job only. Enough!] 12Has your heart so carried you away, Have your eyes so failed you, 13That you turn your spirit against God And say what you say? 14How can mortal man be pure? Born of woman, how can he be righteous? 15See how God has no faith in his angels, How he faults the heavens and the stars! 16What then of the loathsome and corrupt, What of man, who drinks his sin like water? 17I will tell you -- listen! I will say what I have seen, 18What wise men have declared, What our fathers saw fit to pass on, 19To whom alone the land was given, When no stranger passed among them: 20The wicked man is in torment all his days, The tyrant all the years set in store for him. 21He hears the sound that he fears -- In the midst of prosperity, thieves breaking in. 22He despairs of escape from darkness; He is marked for the sword. 23He wanders, food for vultures, And he knows his ruin is at hand. 24Dread of that dark day is upon him; Trouble and anguish loom over him Like a king poised to attack. 25For he lifted his hand against God, Bid defiance against the Almighty, 26Charged him headlong With his thick studded shield. 27He grew jowly and sleek With fat dimpled hips. 28But he will dwell in the ruins of cities, In houses uninhabited That are ready to collapse. 29He will not grow rich And his wealth will not mount up; His treasure will not reach to the grave. 30He will not escape darkness; Flames will scorch his new growth; God's breath will blow him away. 31He is misled who trusts what is not, For his pay will be nought, 32Paid in full before due. He is Like a palm whose frond grows dry, 33Like a vine that shakes off its unripe grapes, Like an olive that casts down its blossoms. 34For the company of the godless will prove barren And the tents of the venal will burn. 35Trouble they conceive and evil they bear, But their womb nurtures a mirage. [Radio announcer. Job is beside himself with misery. Just for a moment, Eliphaz had seemed a true friend.] 16:1Then Job answered, saying: 2I have often heard such things. You are miserable comforters, all of you! 3Have empty words no end? Or what is it keeps you answering? 4I could speak as you do If your soul were where mine is. I could fill your ears with words And be shaking my head over you, 5Encouraging you with my mouth, Comforting you with my bouncing lips. 6If I speak, my pain is not less; If I stop, it does not leave me. 7But now he has wearied me. You have forsaken my company; 8You took hold of me, to be witness; But he rose up against me, Called me liar to my face! 9With his tearing rage and his hate, With his gnashing teeth in pursuit, My enemy sharpens his eyes against me. 10Their mouths wide open to rip me, Their insults like slaps in the face, They mass in numbers against me. 11God has given me into the hands of cruel youth, Handed me over to the godless. 12I was at ease and he crushed me; Yes he took me by the neck and hammered me. Now he sets me up for his target; 13His archers ring me round. He pierces my kidneys and does not care; He pours out my bile on the ground, 14He drives me through, blow after blow, Running to the attack like a mighty warrior. 15I have made my dress of sackcloth, Cast my pride in the dust. 16My face is red with weeping; Deep shadows are round my eyes. 17But my hands are free from violence And my prayer is undefiled. 18Earth cover not my blood; Give my cry no resting place. {Storyteller. Just then a falcon flew up with piercing cries. I was there. I saw it happen!} Job again. 19See now in the heavens, testifying for me, It is my witness on high, 20Interpreter of my thoughts, a cry -- Tears unto God from my eye! -- 21Arguing for a man with God As a man might argue for his friend. |
Musical interlude. Eliphaz puts his arm around Job's shoulders and walks him away from the edge of the Pit. He speaks gently to Job, who is touched. And then harshly to Zophar. More quietly to Bildad. But then Eliphaz spins Job around to face him and launches an attack. Job turns his back on Eliphaz. Eliphaz turns Job around once more. Job breaks away to sit by his wife. Raising a fist. To his three friends - 2nd plural. To Eliphaz - 2nd person singular. To all three - plural again. Aside. Meaning Eliphaz. Addressing Eliphaz. Turning to address the crowd. Catcalls against Job. Meaning the crowd. Job cries out, Ayyah! and gashes his arm with the potsherd. {not part of the original} |
last changed May 19, 1997
| 16:22For the
years are few and passing Soon I go the way of no return. 17:1My breath is labored; My days are spent; The graves beckon to me. 2Surely it is mockery; They catch my eye insistently. 3Take this, my pledge with thee. Who else will clasp hands with me? 4You have closed their minds to reason, So you will not raise them up -- you are 5Like a man sharing out his property to friends While his children starve. 6Yes, he has made a story of me, A human sacrifice for all the world to see. 7My eyes are dimmed with grief And my sight reduced to shadows. (8At this the righteous are appalled; |
Job walks back to the Pit and throws the potsherd in. Addressing the dead. Asking the crowd. Speaking to God. Addressing the crowd. These verses appear to be later interpolations -- skip. Addressing his friends. Addressing the crowd. He calls the falcon and it comes. With the falcon on his wrist, Job seats himself on the ashes. The crowd is abuzz. Addressing the crowd - second person plural. Addressing Job, second person singular. Sermonizing. With a sweeping gesture Bildad indicates both stage & audience. "No!" shouts the crowd until Job quiets them by raising his arms. Second person plural -- addressing his three friends together instead of singling his old friend Bildad out for attack. On his knees, begging, but they turn away. Job notices the scribe, who gestures with her quill to indicate that the task is already in hand. Job's defender is the actor who plays Job. He stands. This! -- copying Bildad's gesture. The actor steps out of his part. Back in character. Job sits down while his three friends confer. Elihu, a much younger man, a member of the audience in contemporary clothes, speaks the sentiment of the crowd against the three, threatening them with physical violence. Raising a fist. Elihu shouts incoherently. Speaking to Job. Glancing at Eliphaz. Job's wife puts her hand on his shoulder. God's wrath! The Pit. The playhouse. |
With that same sweeping gesture that Bildad and Job used, Zophar tells the audience that he means them. The crowd comes to its feet, Elihu at the fore, shouting and seeming about to do something rash. But Job stands to control the crowd and save his friends. This is a new, stronger Job. His righteousness has been restored. He knows his defender will arise!
last changed July 31, 1997
| [Radio announcer. The crowd appears ready to do some harm to Job's friends! Here's Job again.] 21:1Then Job answered, saying: 2Listeners, hear my words, Learn what solace can be; 3Bear with me, that I, too, may speak. Then when I have done, mock on. 4As for me, is my complaint against man? So why should I not be impatient? 5Pay heed and be astonished, With your hand over your mouth. 6When I think of it myself I am appalled And I begin to shudder. 7Why do the wicked live on To a flourishing old age? 8Their family is established around them, Yes, their children, before their eyes. 9In peaceful homes they dwell, free from fear; The rod that God wields is not for them. 10The bull of such a one never fails to breed And the cows never miscarry. 11They send their children out like a flock to pasture And the boys go scampering about. 12They raise their voices to tambourine and harp And dance to the sound of the pipe. 13They spend their days in happiness And when they descend to Sheol, they go easily, 14The ones who said to God, "Leave us; We do not want to know your ways. 15What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit is ours if we pray to him?" 16Happiness is not secure in their grasp; Far from me be the thoughts of the wicked! 17Yet how often is it their lamp is put out Or disaster comes upon them And suffering from God is their portion, 18Harried like straw before the wind, Like chaff blown aloft by a gale? 19God lays up a man's sins against his children? Better he should reward the man so he knows it, 20So his eyes see the cup of his fate From which he will drink the rage of the Almighty. 21For what pleasure has he in his family after him When the number of his months is cut short? 22Is it of God his knowledge tells? And this other one, he judges those on high? 23One man dies in full vigor, Secure and at ease, 24Sleek of thigh, The marrow of his bones still moist. 25Another man dies in the bitterness of his soul, One who has never tasted happiness. 26They lie down alike in the dust And the worm covers them both just the same. 27See how I know what you are thinking, The trap you would lay for me -- 28You would ask, "Where does this great man live?" And "Just where are the tents of the wicked?" 29But have you not spoken with travelers Or do you not understand their portents, 30How on the day of disaster the sinner was spared, How on the day of thick clouds they escaped? 31So who will tell him what he is to his face And who will repay him for what he has done? 32He'll be borne in procession to the grave, Where he will watch over the tomb. 33The wadi stones will nestle him; Yes, all mankind follows in his train And beyond number are those who go before. 34How then can you comfort me with what is not, For your answers are reduced to lies. [Radio announcer. Eliphaz is not about to give up.] 22:1Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, saying: 2Is it God a man profits, That a wise man should serve him? 3Does the Almighty find pleasure in your innocence Or gain somehow from your perfection? 4Is it for your fear he rebukes you And brings you to court? 5Is it not rather for your great wickedness And your sins unending, 6For taking your brother's pledge without cause And stripping a man, leaving him naked, 7For the water you withheld from the weary to drink And the bread from the hungry to eat? 8No man of the soil, but a man of might, Looked up to by all in your country seat, 9Yet you sent widows away empty And mistreated the orphan to his ruin...? 10Of course you are surrounded by snares And overwhelmed by sudden terror, 11Or by darkness so you cannot see And rushing floods that cover you! 12Is not God in the height of heaven? Consider the topmost stars, how high they are! 13Yet you ask, "What does God really know? Can he rule through dark shadow, 14Concealed by thick clouds, unable to see As he walks the vault of heaven?" 15Will you keep the road the ages have kept, Tread the steps that wicked men trod, 16Who were taken before their time, Their foundations washed away by the river? 17They were the ones who said to God, "Leave us!" Asking what the Almighty could do for them, 18When it was he who filled their houses with goods -- But far from me be the thoughts of the wicked. 19(The righteous will see and rejoice, And the innocent one will laugh at him.) 20If not, then our witness be as if unsaid And fire consume the rest unread! 21Oh, get used to him and be at peace; Then from them shall good come to you. 22Accept the instructions of his mouth And treasure his words in your heart; 23Come back to the Almighty and be restored. Put evil far from your tent 24And adorn the dust with silver, [Radio announcer. Look at this! Eliphaz has thrown off his silver necklace, and now he is tossing gold coins from his purse.] The wadi stone with Ophir gold. 25Let the Almighty be your treasure And your stacks of silver. 26Then he will be all your delight And you will lift up your face to God. 27When you pray, he will hear you; What you vow, you will fulfill. 28As you decide, so it shall be; A light will shine on your ways. 29You will say to the humbled, "Arise," For he saves the man with the downcast eyes. 30Even one not innocent he will deliver, Who may escape by your clean hands. [Radio announcer. Job seems much recovered.] 23:1Then Job answered, saying: 2But today my complaint is rebellion itself And my groans are not easily suppressed. 3Who can tell me where to find him That I might go to his dwelling place? 4I would lay my case before him And fill my mouth with arguments, 5Hear the words of his reply And discern what he has to say. 6Would he send some lawyer to dispute with me? No, surely he would lay charge against me himself! 7There an upright man might reason with him; There I might bring my case to issue at last. 8But look how I go forward and he is not there, Backward and I do not perceive him. 9I turn to the left and I cannot find him, To the right, but I catch no glimpse of him.... 10For he has been on the path that I tread. Test me! I will shine like gold! 11My feet have followed his steps closely; I have kept his way without turning aside, 12The commands of his lips, never slipping; I have treasured his words in my breast. 13But once he decides, who can stop him? What he desires to do, that he does. 14His sentence against me he will complete And many such things he has in store! 15That is why I fear his presence; When I consider, I am afraid of him. 16God has made my heart tremble; The Almighty has filled me with dread; 17For though the darkness does not shroud me, Yet I am cloaked in gloom. 26:5The shades below are trembling, The waters and all their residents. 6Sheol is naked before him; Abaddon is uncovered. 7He stretches out Mount Zaphon over the void And founds the earth on the emptiness. 8He wraps the waters in cloud And the mists are not torn by the weight. 9He veils the face of the full moon And spreads his cloud over it. 10He draws a circle upon the waters To separate the light from the dark. 11The pillars of heaven reverberate, Shaken by the flash of his anger. 12By his power he stirs up the waves; By his cunning he strikes down the Dragon. 13He trawls the sea with his breath; His hand pierces the elusive serpent. 14And these are but stories of his might, Only the whisper of his truth in our ears. The thunder of his power, who could grasp it? 24:1Why does the anger of the Almighty not mount up? Why do his friends never see his Days of Wrath? 2Boundary stones are removed, Flock and shepherd seized. 3The orphan's donkey is driven away, The widow's ox taken in pledge. 4Beggars are pushed out of the way And the wretched of the earth must seek refuge. 5Like zebras they forage in the wilderness; The desert must provide for their children. 6In another man's field they reap, Glean in the vineyard of the wicked. 7Naked they sleep, with no blanket; They have no covering against the cold. 8They are soaked by the mountain rains, Hugging the rocks to find shelter. 9The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; The infant of the poor is taken for a debt. 10Naked they go, with no garment, And hungry, they carry in the harvest. 11In unlit workhouses they press the olive, And thirstly, they tread the grape. 12The dad are cast forth from the city And the slain cry out in their souls, Yet God thinks nothing amiss! |
Quieting the crowd. To Zophar, second person sing. Aside. Impatient with God. Pointing at Zophar. Pointing at Eliphaz. Job walks the edge of the crowd, noting faces. Looking back at his friends. He searches the crowd, finally singling out for attention a conspicuously overdressed and overfed merchant. Looking up to God. Speaking to the crowd. To Job. Barest hint of a questionmark. Indicating the crowd, who jeer him in return. Job laughs at Eliphaz' confusion. Eliphaz takes the scroll in which the scribe has been writing, threatening to throw it on the smoldering ash heap. Get used to God. From the crowd. Returning the scroll. He slips off a silver necklace and throws it down carelessly. From a pocket of his robe he takes a handful of gold coins, which he throws far into the wadi. Looking at the dead man in the pit. Job turns full circle in place as he speaks to the crowd. Where to find God. Displaying a new vigor, Job marches forward and back, to the left and to the right. Speaking to God. To the crowd again. Job's ashen cloak turns black. After a short musical interlude, Job speaks again. He has fallen into a prophetic trance. A drum rolls lightly. The drum bangs suddenly, loudly. Job returns to himself. Looking into the pit. Groans from the pit. The crowd is amazed. |
last changed March 13, 1997
| [Radio announcer. Bildad has another sermonette for us, if we can take it.] 25:1Then Bildad answered, saying: 2How fearful a sovereign is he Who keeps the peace in his high heaven! 3How can his armies be counted And upon whom has his light not risen? 4How can man be just before God? One born of woman be clean? See 5How the moon does not shine And even the stars are not clean in his sight. 6How much less is man, who is a maggot, The son of man, who is a worm! 24:13There are rebels against the light Who neither know nor keep its way. 14At dusk the murderer rises from his bed To kill the afflicted and the poor; He goes forth like a thief in the night. 15The adulterer watches for evening; "No one will see me," he says, As he covers his face. 16And the house breaker, too, digs in the dark. By day, though, they shut themselves in, For they are not acquainted with the light. 17Darkness is their morning; They know its terrors well. 18But they are swift on the face of the waters; Their portion on the earth is cursed And there is no vineyard in which they might glean. 30:2What use to me the strength of their arms? Their vigor is spent. 3Gaunt from want and hunger, They gnaw at the parched earth. By night in the desolate waste 4They gather saltwort among the scrub And roots of broom for warmth. 5They are driven out, banished And shouted after like a thief. 6In the gullies of the wadies they must dwell, In the caves of the cliffs or among the rocks. 7They bray among the bushes, Huddled together beneath the nettles. 8A base and nameless brood, They are scourged from the land! 24:19As summer drought takes the spring torrent, So Sheol takes the wicked man. 20Forgot by the womb, Sucked sweetly by the worm, He is remembered no more; Unrighteousness is felled like a tree. 21He misuses the barren woman who has no child And does ill to the widow. 22He influences the mighty with his power; He rises in the world, sure of his way. 23God gives him confidence that he leans on, But God watches him. 24He is exalted a moment, then gone, Brought low and gathered in like the rest, Cut off, like wheat before the blade. 25If it is not so, then who will prove me the liar And show there is nothing in what I say? 26:1Then Job answered, saying: 2How you have helped the infirm, Strengthened the arm that was weak! 3How you have counseled the unwise; What insight you have displayed! 4But with whose help do you speak? And whose is the spirit you express? 29:1Then Job took up his poem again, saying: 2I would it were as in months gone by, In the days when God watched over me, 3When his torch was lit above my head And I walked by his light through the darkness. 4That was the harvest of my life, When God hedged round my tent, 5When the Almighty was with me yet And my children were gathered about me. 6Then my steps were bathed in milk And the very rock poured out streams of oil for me. 7When I went forth from the city To my seat in the square outside the gate, 8The young men saw me coming and cleared the way, And the older men would rise. 9The princes interrupted their talk And put their hands on their mouths. 10Stilled were the tongues of the mighty -- Tight against the roofs of their mouths! 11The ear that heard me spoke well of me And the eye that saw me commended me. 12For I saved the afflicted one who cried out, The orphan and all who had no help. 13I was touched by the blessing of the dying And I made the widow's heart sing. 14I was righteous within and righteous without; I had justice for my robe and my turban. 15I was eyes for the blind And feet for the lame. 16I was father to the poor And I would look into the legal case of a stranger. 17I broke the jaws of the wicked And wrested the prey from his teeth. 18"I will die at a very old age," I said to myself, "I will multiply my days like the sand. 19My roots will reach to the waters And the dew will collect on my leaves. 20My glory will always be fresh, The bow ever new in my hand." 21Men listened and waited in silence; They looked to me for advice. 22When I had spoken, they had nothing to add; My words were like gentle raindrops upon them. 23They waited for me as for the rain, As for the spring rain, mouths open to the sky! 24If I smiled upon them, they couldn't believe it And their eyes clung to the light of my face. 25Like a chief, I pointed out the way; Like a king among his troops, I led them where I chose. 30:1But now they laugh at me, Men younger than I, Whose fathers I had disdained To put with my sheep dogs. 9Now they make a song of me, A byword I have become among them. 10They detest me and keep their distance, And they spit as they go by. 11He has loosed my tentcord and brought me down, So my presence no longer restrains them. 12On my right the upstarts rise; They let go the snare from round my feet Only to raise up a furious siege against me. 13They make my path rough; They hasten me to my destruction; And there is no remedy for them! 14The way is open for their attack -- Like waves upon the ruins -- I am already breached. 15Sudden terrors are turned against me; My honesty is pursued as so much wind; And my salvation becomes a dark cloud. 16Now my soul is poured out within me; Days of affliction take hold upon me, 17Nights of bone racking pain And gnawing worms that never rest. 18(My garment is very cleverly disguised; My hand closes my cloak around me.) 19Reduced to clay, I have become like dust and ashes. 20If I cry for help, you do not answer; But if I stand, you give me heed; 21You change towards me and become cruel, With your mighty hand and your hate. 22You lift me to the wind, Make me a rider on the storm; You toss me about in its roar. 23I well know you will turn me back to Death, To the place appointed for all who live. 24He would not lift his hand against a pile of ruins, Against one crying so for help in his calamity? 25Did I not weep for the unfortunate And grieve for the needy? 26I looked for good but evil came; I hoped for light but darkness came. 27My guts boiled within unceasing; Days of constant misery confronted me, 28Days of gloom when the sun did not shine. I stood in the assembly and begged for help; 29A brother I became to the howling jackal, A companion to the screeching ostrich. 30My skin turned black And my bones burned. 31(Now my harp has a mournful sound And my pipe wails.) [Radio announcer. Then Zophar showed his true colors.] 27:7Then Zophar answered, saying: May my enemy be an evil man And the one who rebels against me a wrongdoer! 8For what hope has the ungodly in his greed If God draws out his soul? 9Will God hear him crying out In his time of distress 10If he makes sport of the Almighty, Always calling upon God? 11I will teach you about the Hand of God And what is with the Almighty I will not conceal. 12You have all seen it yourselves, So why have you become such utter fools? 13This is the portion of the wicked from God, The tyrant's heritage from the Almighty! 14If his sons become many, it is for the sword, And his grandchildren will starve. 15The plague will bury those who survive him And their widows will not weep. 16He may heap up silver like dust And stack up fine clothes like bricks, 17But what he lays up, the righteous will wear, And the innocent will share out the silver. [Radio announcer. That silver necklace Eliphaz threw down, guess who is snagging it for himself!] 18He has built himself a nest of straw, Made himself a watchman's shack. 19For the last time he will lie down a wealthy man; He has opened his eyes -- and there is nothing! 20Terrors will overtake him like a flood; A whirlwind in the night has snatched him away. 21The East wind will carry him off and he is gone; It will sweep him away. 22It will hurl itself against him without mercy And he must flee from its power. 23(He claps his hands at him And hisses at him from his station.) |
Bildad, a landowner himself, reflects a moment. Aside. Speaking to the crowd. Eliphaz steadies the overexcited Bildad. Speaking to Bildad. Looking at Eliphaz. Addressing the crowd. Job pauses, in command of his audience. Indicating his friends. Job sits and draws his cloak around him, ashen side out. Speaking to God. Bang goes the drum! As a falcon might be released. Drum roll. Addressing the crowd. Musical interlude as indicated. Addressing the crowd. The crowd murmurs. The crowd boos. Shouting and pointing at Job. Picking up the necklace Eliphaz threw down and putting it on. The crowd hisses. Zophar goes onto the attack, mimicking a storm against Job. See the stage direction from the original below. Crowd hoots Zophar down. This looks like a stage direction for Zophar. |
last changed May 30, 1997
| [Radio announcer. Now Job will seal his evidence with an oath and sign the scroll.] 27:1Then Job took up his poem again saying: 2As God lives, who has refused me justice, By the Almighty, who has embittered my soul, 3While I breathe, While the spirit of God is in my nostrils, 4My lips will not speak a lie, Nor will my tongue be false. 5Far be it from me to say you are right; Until I die I will maintain my innocence. 6I hold to my integrity and won't let it go -- My heart finds no offense in my days. 31:1I made a pact with my eyes Not to gaze on a maiden. For I asked myself, 2What is God's allotment from above, What the heritage from the Almighty on high? 3Is it not disaster for the unrighteous, Woe for the workers of iniquity? 4Does he not see my ways And count all my steps? 5If I have walked with falsehood Or hurried my footsteps to deceive -- 6Let him weigh me in scales that are true, Let God know my innocence -- 7If my steps have strayed from the path Or my heart has followed my eyes, Or if there is any stain on my hands, 8Then may I sow and another eat, May my family after me be uprooted. 9If I have lost my heart to a woman, Laid in wait for her at my neighbor's door, 10Then may my wife grind for another, May others take her measure, 11For that would be a shameful indecency, An act deserving of punishment; 12It would be a fire burning down to the Abyss, Rooting out my family before me. 13If I ever ignored the right of my slave Or my slave girl in their grievance against me, 14Then what would I do if God should rise up? If he called me to account, what answer could I give? 15He who made me in the womb, did he not make him? Was he not the same who fashioned us both? 16Have I denied the poor their desire Or let a widow's eyes grow dim with hunger, 17Refused to share my crust with the orphan? 18Not I, who was father to the orphan from my youth, And eyes for the widow from my mother's belly! 19If I saw someone perishing for lack of a coat, A wretch going naked, 20And his loins did not bless me, Warmed by the fleece of my sheep, 21If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, Trusting to my advantage at court, 22Then may my arm drop off at the shoulder, May it be broken off at the elbow. 23For I dreaded calamity from God, I was awed by his splendor, so what could I do? 24If I have put my trust in gold, Said, "You are my faith" to Nubian gold, 25If I rejoiced for my great wealth, For the abundance my hand had gathered, 26If ever, when I saw the sun shining Or the moon walking in brightness, 27My thoughts were secretly seduced And my hand touched my mouth in a kiss, then 28That, too, would be an act deserving of punishment, A betrayal of God above. 29If I rejoiced at the destruction of my enemy Or exulted when evil found him 30Or let my mouth offend, which I did not, Seeking his life with a curse, 31If the men of my house ever Demanded payment in flesh -- And they did not -- 32And no stranger ever slept in the street, For I opened my door to the traveler, 33Or if I hid my sins like Adam, Concealing my guilt by covering it over, 34Or was panicked by the throng, So dreading the scorn of the clans That I kept silent, afraid to step from the door. . . 35Who will be my witness? Here is my mark, now let the Almighty reply. O that my adversary had written a scroll. 36I would carry it on my shoulder; I would make of it a crown for my head. 37I would count out to him the number of my steps; I would approach him like a prince. 38If my land cried out against me And its furrows wept together, 39If I took its yield and did not pay, So their lives ebbed away, who held the land, 40Then may thistles grow for wheat And stinking weeds for barley. The words of Job are ended. Storyteller. 32:1These three now ceased to answer Job, for he was righteous in his own eyes. 2But the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite of the Ram Clan was kindled, kindled against Job for arguing before God that he was right, 3and kindled against the three friends because they had found no answer and so had put God in the wrong. 4They were older, so Elihu had waited to speak with Job, 5but when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, then his anger blazed. |
Job stands once more to quiet the crowd. To his friends. Addressing everyone. Job begins to pace back and forth, slowly at first, but then faster and faster. There is a spring in his walk. His health has been fully restored. God's hand has been removed far from him! The scribe hands Job the quill and with a flourish he writes a tav (X) in the scroll. Using the scroll as a prop. He returns the scroll and then paces again, but he speaks more softly. But Job keeps pacing and gesturing to God as the storyteller takes up the transition to Elihu. Job takes his seat at last when Elihu speaks. |
last changed April 29, 1997
We may imagine that Elihu's speech kept the attention of the audience while a tent was raised over them. The darkness inside the tent enabled the storm effects of chapters 36 and 37. Then, after the storm, the mainstay was loosened, collapsing the tent with a rush. In the sudden brightness, God of the poetry would have dazzled with his polished obsidian dress spotlit by mirrors. "Wise men do not look at him."
Elihu's speech can be cut considerably. However long it is, the lights should gradually dim until there is total darkness except for the lightning flashes during the storm. When God appears, all the lights should be turned up full and the most powerful spots obtainable thrown on the figure of God.
Elihu comes out of the audience onto the stage. He is a young man, perhaps a graduate student, dressed casually in modern dress.
| 32:6So Elihu, son
of Barachel the Buzite, spoke out saying: I am young and you are old; I was afraid and did not dare To tell you what I know. 7Days should speak, I thought, Advancing years expound their wisdom. 8Yet in mortal man it is the spirit And the breath of God that gives understanding. 9Wisdom does not belong to age, Nor sound judgment to the elderly. 10Listen, then, I say, I will tell you what I know. 11I waited for your words And I listened to your arguments, As you searched out what to say. 12Yes, I listened most attentatively, But you did not prove Job wrong, Nor give reply to what he said. 13And lest you say, "We have found wisdom; God will defeat him, not man," remember, 14He has not drawn up his words against me, Nor will I use your words to answer him. 15Amazed and forsaken by speech, They respond no more. 16Am I to wait when they do not reply, When they stop, nonplused? 17I, too, will have my say And tell you what I know. 18For I am full of words, With a wind bloated belly 19Like an unvented wine, Like new wineskins ready to burst. 20I must speak to find relief; I must open my mouth and answer. 21But let me curry no man's favor, please, Nor address a man with honorific titles. 22For I have no skill in flattery; Upon my Maker I rely to carry me. 33:1Now hear my words, Job, I pray you, Give ear to all I say. 2My jaws move, and, see, My tongue clicks from the roof of my mouth! 3Straight from my heart I speak; My lips tell only what they know -- 4That God's spirit made me And the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 5Answer me then, if you can. Prepare yourself to take a stand. 6For I am a man the same as you, not a god; I am shaped from clay as you were. 7No dread of me will terrify you, Nor hand of mine be heavy upon you. 8But something that I heard you say Kept sounding in my ears. 9"I am innocent," you said, "and undefiled, Without offense or guilt. 10Yet he finds occasions against me And he counts me as his enemy. 11He shackles my ankles And watches all my paths." 12But I tell you, in this you are not right, Because God is much greater than man. 13And why do you complain against him That he will not answer your words? 14God does speak, once, Twice, but no one notices. 15In a dream, in a vision of the night, When slumber falls on men Sleeping on their beds, 16He uncovers their ears And whispers his warning 17To turn a man back from his deed And keep him from pride, 18To spare his soul from the pit, His life from crossing that infernal stream. 19Or he is chastened upon a bed of pain By an endless struggle in his bones. 20His appetite turns from food And even the finest dish revolts him. 21His flesh wastes from sight And his bones come to light that were hid. 22His soul draws near to the pit, His life to the messengers of death. 23But if there be an angel to plead for him, One of a thousand to intercede for him, To declare the man's uprightness, 24Who will have mercy upon him, saying "Spare him from going down to the pit, For I have found his ransom," 25Then his flesh is made newer than a child's And he returns to the lusty days of his youth. 26He prays to God and God looks kindly upon him; He sees his face and shouts for joy; Then God returns to him his righteousness. 27In the company of his fellow man again, he says "I sinned and twisted what was right, Yet he did not make me pay in full, 28But ransomed my soul from the pit And let me live to see the light." 29Now all these things God does Twice, even three times, for a man, 30Rescuing his soul from the pit That life's light might shine upon him. 31Listen, Job, mark me well. Be silent and I will speak, 32Or answer. If you have anything to say, Speak. Your righteousness is my delight! 33If not, then listen to me; Hold your peace and I will teach you wisdom. 34:1Then Elihu continued, saying: 2Wise men, hear my words; You that know, give ear, 3For the ear can tell a word As the tongue tells a taste. 4Let us decide what is just And agree among us what is good. 5Job has said, "I am innocent; God has robbed me of my right. 6He lies about my case; His arrows are deadly though I have not sinned." 7Now what about a man like Job, With his thirst for irreverent talk, 8Who keeps company with evildoers And walks with the wicked? 9For he has said, "It profits a man nothing To seek God's favor." 10So hear me, if you have good sense. Evil be far from God, Wrongdoing far from the Almighty! 11He pays a man for what he does And rewards him according to his ways. 12God does not act wickedly, Nor does the Almighty pervert justice. 13Or who was it gave him charge over the world And put all the earth in his care? 14If he called back his concern And withdrew his spirit and his breath, 15Then all flesh would expire together And man would return to the dust. 16If you have understanding, listen, Pay heed to what I say. 17Does one hating right rule? Or will you condemn the just and mighty one, 18Who tells a king he is a villain, Great men that they are wicked? 19He is not partial to princes, Nor favors rich over poor, For they are all the work of his hands. 20In a moment they die, yes, unwarned, at night; A city is shaken and it goes; The mighty are taken and it is no man's deed. 21For his eyes are upon a man's ways; He watches his every step. 22There is no darkness deep enough, no shadow, To hide an evildoing man. 23And he appoints no man a time To come before him in judgment. 24Without a trial God shatters the mighty And sets another in the tyrant's stead. 25Because he knows their deeds, He overturns them in a night and they are crushed. 26Or he strikes them down like criminals In the open square for all to see -- 27Because they have turned aside from him And think nothing of his ways, 28Or because the oppressed have cried out to him And he heard the cry of the needy. 29But if he is unmoved, who can condemn him? And if he averts his face, If he turns from nation or man alike, 30From the ungodly ruler Or from a stubborn people, who can find him? 31Has he said to God, "I have suffered, I mean no offense. 32Teach me that I may see; If I have done wrong, I will do so no more?" 33Must God make good your every wish? This power to reject and choose, Is it yours and not mine? Come, tell us what you know! 34Thoughtful men will say to me, Yes, the wise man that hears me will agree: 35Job speaks without knowledge Words without insight. 36Let Job be tried to the end, my Father, For he answers with the wicked. 37And he adds to his sin When he denies his transgression among us And multiplies his words against God! 35:1Then Elihu continued, saying: 2Do you think it is right To say you are innocent before God, 3You who ask what profit is yours? "What will I gain from not sinning?" 4I give you words for thought, you And your friends with you. 5Look to the heavens and open your eyes; See the clouds so high above you. 6If you sin, what do you do to him? If you multiply your misdeeds, what? 7If you are righteous, what do you give to him? What does he receive from your hand? 8Wicked or righteous, 'tis a man like yourself That you help or you hurt -- your fellow man. 9Cruelly oppressed, the people cry out Seeking help against the violence of the mighty. 10But no one asks, "Where is God my Maker?" -- The one who gives courage in the night 11And teaches us to be more than desert beasts, Wiser than the birds of the air. 12There they are, crying out, and he does not answer -- Because they are wicked and proud! 13Of course God does not hear their empty cries! Of course the Almighty takes no notice! 14And you say you do not see him, That your case is before him, waiting! 15Even, because his anger does not strike, That he does not mark transgression well! 16Job's argument is idle; He multiplies words without knowledge. 36:1Then Elihu continued, saying: 2Attend me. I will show you what I mean, For I have something yet to say on God's behalf. 3I will reveal what I learned in a distant land That I may prove my Maker just. 4Truly, I tell no lie; One perfect in knowledge is with you. 5Behold, God is mighty, yet he does not disdain; He is mighty in the strength of his understanding. 6He does not preserve the wicked And to the oppressed he gives justice. 7He does not turn from the righteous; He seats them with kings on their thrones, Exalted forever! 8Or if they are fettered, Held in the cords of their affliction, 9Then he tells them what they have done, Their sin and their insolence. 10He opens their ear to discipline And orders them back from evil. 11If they hear and obey, Then their days prosper to the end And their years are a comfort. 12But if they will not listen, Then they cross that river And die without knowledge. 13Yes, the ungodly at heart do not cry for mercy, But store up anger when he straitens them. 14Their soul perishes in youth; Their life is with the angels. 15Those who suffer, he delivers by their suffering; He speaks to them through their affliction. 16You he lured forth from the jaws of pain To a broad and unfenced plain, To a table laden with rich food. 17And full you are -- of judgment against the wicked! Judgment and justice will take hold; 18So beware, let not affluence mislead you, Nor let the greatness of the ransom deter you. 19Will riches answer to him for your trouble, All the power of your wealth? 20Nor look to the night when peoples Vanish in their place. 21Beware, lest you turn to evil, For this is the reason of your affliction. |
Speaking to Job's friends - 2nd person plural. To the crowd. Addressing Job - 2nd person singular. To Job's friends again - 2nd person plural. Addressing Job. With a cluck. With a glance at Eliphaz. Sees God's face. Addressing the crowd. Meaning Job's friends. Still addressing the crowd. Speaking to Job -- 2nd person singular. Addressing the crowd. To Job again -- 2nd person singular. To the crowd. Praying to God. To the crowd. "No! Job is innocent before God." is the cry of the crowd. Addressing Job -- 2nd person singular. The crowd shouts its agreement. "Now you've got it right!" No! No! shouts the crowd. Challenging the crowd. To Job again -- 2nd person singular. Crowd hoots, is silent. "Mercy, mercy!" The crowd makes fun of Elihu. To Job still -- 2nd person singular. |
last changed July 3, 1997
| 36:22See how high are the mighty
works of God! What teacher is like him? 23Who has ordered his ways for him Or said "You have done wrong!" to him? 24Remember to magnify his work, Which men have praised in song, 25Which all men have beheld, Upon which men gaze from afar. 26God is greater than we can know; The number of his years cannot be counted. 27For it is he who divides the waterdrops And they distill the cosmic waters into rain, 28Which drizzles from the clouds Or pours in showers on the land 30bAnd covers the roots of the sea. 31By these raindrops, he nourishes the nations, Gives them food in abundance. 29Who can understand the billowing of the clouds, The thunder from his hunting blind? 30Look, 'Aliy spreads his light 32And the light dances on his hands; He bids it strike the mark. 33Its crashing tells of 'Aliy, To the cattle, also, that he arises. [Radio announcer. Now Job speaks up.] Job. 37:1Yes, and my heart, too, pounds at this And leaps from its place. 2Listen! oh listen to the thunder of his voice And the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3All beneath heaven is lit by the flash of His lightning to the ends of the earth. 4After it growls his voice, Crashing with a majestic roar. (But it does not follow that his voice is heard.) [Radio announcer. Now Job's friends have stood to speak.] Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar in chorus. 5God thunders wondrously with his voice; Great things he does beyond our ken. 6To the snow he says, "Fall upon the earth," To the rain, "Be strong you mighty rains!" -- 7His winter seal on every man's hand, That all men may know his doings. 8The beasts retire to their dens And stay within their lairs. 9From the Chamber comes the windstorm, And the scattering winds bring the cold. 10God breathes and the ice forms, The wide waters freeze. 11He hurls down hail from the nimbostratus, Scatters his lightning from the clouds, 12Which at his will turn and whirl To do as he commands Upon the face of the inhabited world -- 13For a scourge or for the land's sake Or for a blessing according to his intent. [Radio announcer. Elihu again.] 14O give ear to this, Job; Stop and think on the wonders of God. 15How does God convey his purpose? Do you know? How does he make the light flash from his clouds? 16How do the clouds hang poised? Do you know The wonders of one perfect in knowledge, 17You whose clothes burn hot When the land lies hushed under the siroc? 18Have you stretched out the heavens with him? Strong as a molten mirror? 19Tell us then what to say to him; (It is too confused for us to set in order.) 23The Almighty is beyond our reach, Exalted in power and judgment. (He does not afflict the abundantly righteous.) 24Therefore men fear him And wise men do not look at him. 20Would I have him told I wish to speak? Does a man ask to be devoured? Storyteller. 21Now the light is unseen though it shines above, But arise the wind and clear the skies. 22Then from Zaphon come gold, Fierce splendor of God. |
Elihu's tone has changed. The last gap in the tent is closed above. Now Elihu has won the crowd again. Drums. God most high. Mirror effects. Elihu looks at the crowd. They are the cattle! Drums. Addressing the crowd. Mirror effects. Fading drum roll. Job's three friends stand side by side on Job's right. Drums and lightning this whole section. The storm begins to fade. The storyteller bridges to the next scene. The tent's mainstay is released and the tent collapses in a rush. (See verse 4:21.) |
last changed July 4, 1997
The storm is over. All the lights come up. Heaven's curtain is drawn back and a majestic figure appears there in the shape of a huge man. Job gives a shout of joy and approaches Heaven. Several spotlights focus upon the highly polished surfaces of God's costume with dazzling effect. God gestures as he speaks, and sometimes he approaches Job, who just manages to hold his ground.
| [Radio announcer. The storm is over and Heaven's curtain has been drawn back. Here is God himself, now, dazzling to the eyes. He has questions for Job.] 38:1Then the Lord answered Job from the storm, saying: 2(Who is this that obscures the intent, Using words without knowledge?) 3Gird your loins like a stouthearted man; I will ask and you will answer. 4Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Answer me that if you have your wits. 5Who determined its measure, if you know, And who stretched out the builder's line? 6Wherein are its pillars sunk And who laid the cornerstone 7When the morning stars sang together And all the angels shouted for joy? 8Who shut the sea behind double doors When it burst from the womb, 9When I wrapped it in mist And swaddled it with thick clouds, 10When I broke out its limit And set the bar to its gate, saying, 11"This far you may come and no further; Here your proud waves shall halt"? 12Have you roused the morning in your day And assigned the dawn its place, 13That it might catch the skirt of the earth And shake the wicked from it? 14Then the land is changed as clay under the seal Or like a garment that is dyed. 15But the wicked are robbed of their light; The Arm on high is shivered in the dogstar night. 16Have you come to the springs of the sea Or walked in the caverns of the deep? 17Have the Gates of Death been revealed to you? Have you seen the Guards of Darkness? 18Have you surveyed the breadth of the earth? Tell me if you know all these things. 19What path leads to the abode of light And where does darkness dwell 20That you might lead it to its outer bounds And show it the way home again? 21Surely you know, for you were born then And the number of your days is great! 22Have you been to the storehouses of snow Or seen the hail treasured up, 23Reserved against the time of trouble, The day of battle and war? 24How are the upper waters dispersed, The fresh water spread upon the earth? 25Who cut a sluice for the heavy rains, A channel for the thundershower, 26To bring rain to an uninhabited land, To the desert where no man lives, 27To satisfy the desolate waste And make the grass grow on the thirsty ground? 28Has the rain a father And who begets the dew? 29From whose womb comes the ice And who is mother to the hoarfrost of heaven 30When the waters harden like stone And the face of the deep freezes? 31Can you narrow the bounds of the Pleiades Or loose the bands of the Fool? 32Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth in its season Or guide the Bear with her Cubs? 33Do you know the laws of heaven? Or can you establish heaven's rule on earth -- 34Can you send up your voice to the clouds That rushing floods might cover you? 35Can you order the bolts of lightning forth And they answer: "Here we are"? 36Who gave wisdom to the feelings, Understanding to the mind? 37Who has the skill to mass the clouds And tilt the bottles of the sky 38When the soil cakes And the clods cling together? 39Do you hunt for the lioness And feed her hungry cubs, 40That are settled in their den Or waiting quietly in some thicket? 41Who provides the raven's prey When its fledglings cry to God And wander far because there is no food? 39:1Do you know when the mountain goats give birth Or do you watch over the calving of the doe? 2Do you count the months that they fulfill And mark the season they bring forth 3When they crouch to bear their young And have their labor done? 4In the open fields their offspring thrive and grow; Soon they leave their mother's side, never to return. 5Who set the zebra free? Who loosed the wild ass from his bonds, 6Whose home I made the wilderness, The salt plains his habitat? 7He laughs at the city throngs; He hears no driver's shout. 8He roams the hills for pasture, Searching out the greenery. 9Will the wild ox be your beast? Can your manger keep him? 10Will you lead him down the furrows by a rope? Will he follow with the harrow down the row? 11Will you rely on his great strength And trust the profit of your labor to him, 12Confident he will come home, Hauling the grain of your threshing floor? 13Would that screeching bird rejoice for a wing Pinioned like the sheltering wing of the stork, 14The ostrich, who lays her eggs on the ground, Letting them warm in the dust, 15Forgetting that a foot may crush them Or a wild beast trample them? 16She is cruel to her young, as if they were not hers, Caring little if her labor is in vain, 17For God deprived her of wisdom, Gave her no share of understanding, 18But when up she spreads her plumes, She laughs at horse and rider! 19Is it you that gives the horse his might, Adorns his neck with a windsnapped mane, 20Makes him quiver like a bed of locusts, His awful snorts a terror? 21He stamps the ground and mightily exults; He charges into battle. 22He laughs at fear and is not afraid; He does not shy from the sword. 23The arrows whistle by, The flashing spear and the lance. 24He swallows the land with his fierce pounding stride And will not believe the trumpet's recall. 25When the trumpet sounds, he cries "He'aah!" Scenting the battle from afar, The roar of the captains and the shouting. 26Does the hawk mount up by some wisdom of yours And stretch her wings to the strong south wind? 27Is it at your command the vulture soars And makes her nest on high, 28Dwelling on the rock, Lodging upon the fastness of the crag? 29Thence she spies her prey; Her eyes can see from afar. 30Her young ones drink blood And where the slain are, there is she. 40:1Then the Lord said to Job: 2Will the one contending with the Almighty yield? Or let him answer, the one who accuses God! 3And Job answered the Lord, saying: 4How little I am! What shall I answer thee? I lay my hand upon my mouth. 5I have spoken once and will not reply; Twice, but I will say no more. 6Then the Lord answered Job from the storm, saying: 7Gird your loins like a stouthearted man; I will ask and you will answer. 8Will you reduce my justice to nought, Make me wrong that you may be right? 9Have you an arm like God Or can you thunder with a voice like his? 10Then assume your dignity and state. Array yourself in majesty and splendor. 11Let loose your transports of anger. (Bring low every proud man with a look.) 12Humble every proud man with a look And demolish the wicked where they stand. 13Bury them all in the dust together; Bind their faces in the crypt. 14Then I myself will give thanks that your own right hand can save you. 15Consider Behemoth, beast of beasts, Which I created with you; Grass he eats like an ox. 16See the strength he has in his loins, The power in the muscles of his belly! 17His tail is arched like a cedar; The sinews of ths thighs are closely knit. 18His bones are pipes of brass; His ribs like iron bars. 19He was first of the ways of God, Made to be lord of his fellows. 20The creatures of the hills are at ease with him And the beasts of the grassland play there. 21He lies beneath the lotus thorns, Hidden by reed and fen. 22The lotus gives him shade; The wadi willows stand on every side. 23Though the river rage, yet he is calm, Though the Jordan surge against his mouth. 24Who can take him by the eyes Or pierce his nose with a peg? 41:1Can you fish out Leviathan with a hook Or fasten his tongue with a cord? 2Can you put a ring through his nose Or pierce his jaw with a gaff? 3Will he pray to you for mercy And coax you with gentle words, 4Bargain with you To be your slave forever, 5That you may sport with him as with a bird Like a sparrow on a leash? 6Will the tradesmen put a price on him And divide him among the merchants? 7Will you prepare his hide with spice And serve his head with onions? 8Lay your hand upon him; A fight you won't forget, that's all you'll get! 9The hope of taking him is vain. The very look of him would dismay him. 10Is he not fierce that he should rouse him? But who is he to stand before me? 11Who could confront me and come out whole, Under all of heaven, who? 12Was it not I who silenced his empty boast, His proud talk and his arrogant charm? 13Who can describe the look of his garb And who can penetrate his double defense, 14Force the doors of his face Where lies the terror of his teeth, 15Or breach the shields in dorsal rows, Sealed with adamant, 16One so near the next No air can pass between, 17Joined to one another, Interlocked forever? 18He snorts and lightning flashes forth; His eyes are like the early dawn. 19From his mouth come firebrands, Fiery sparks escaping. 20His nostrils smoke Like a hot furnace on a reed fire. 21His spirit sets the coals ablaze and the flame issues from his mouth. 22In his neck dwells strength And weakness runs before him. 23The dewlaps of his flesh are tightly knit, Firmly cast upon him with no motion of their own. 24His heart is hard as rock, Solid as the nether millstone. 25The gods are terrified at his appearance; They lose their self-control. 26Useless is the sword of his attacker, The spear, the dart and the lance. 27Iron he counts for straw, Brass for rotten wood. 28Arrows cannot make him flee; Slingstones turn to chaff when used against him. 29Clubs he counts for stubble And he laughs at the javelin's whirr. 30His underside is sharp as shards; Like a threshing machine he drags the mire. 31He makes the depths boil like a caldron; He churns the sea like an unguent pot. 32He leaves a shining wake That makes the deep seem hoary. 33His match will not be found on earth, A creature born intrepid. 34He looks down on all high things; He is king of all proud beasts. 42:1Then Job answered the Lord, saying: 2You can do all things, I know, And no purpose of yours can be hindered. 3(Who is this concealing intent without knowledge?) I spoke of things I did not understand, Of wonders beyond my ken. 4(Hear me now and I will speak; I will ask and you will answer.) 5For I had report of you by ear, But now my eye gives sight of you. [Radio announcer. Now God gives judgment.] God. 6Therefore I reject . . .[Radio only. him] And take pity upon the dust and ashes. [Radio announcer. It is Job God has accepted, and the Satan who is rejected!] |
Addressing Job. God raises a fist. God pauses briefly to give Job a chance to regroup. Addressing Job. Answering God instead of yielding. Ironically, gesturing to Job with his left hand. Addressing the crowd. Would dismay Job. Leviathan not fierce that Job... Deliberately ambiguous. Job pulls his cloak about him. God raises both hands. Rejecting Satan with left hand, accepting Job with his right. |
Music. Job's wife adorns Job with a golden cloak and crown given her
by one of the angels in the audience. The spotlights are on Job, making
his prophecy that he will shine like gold come true.
last changed April 23, 1997
Storyteller. 42:7After the Lord had said these words to Job, he found occasion to speak to Eliphaz the Temanite, saying, "My anger has grown hot against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right as has my servant Job. 8Now therefore take with you seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job; offer up for yourselves a burnt offering and let my servant Job pray for you -- for him I will accept -- lest I do something scandalous to you, for you did not speak of me what is right as did my servant Job." 9And so Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuite and Zophar the Na'amathite did just as God had told them and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.
As the storyteller continues, Job and his wife come down into the audience where they are congratulated, and money is pressed upon them. Job puts his mark on copies of the play presented to him for his signature by the audience.
10And the Lord turned the captivity of Job because he had prayed on behalf of his neighbor, and he gave Job double what he had before. 11All his brothers and sisters and all those who had known him came to him and dined with him at his house. They sympathized with him and comforted him for all the evil the Lord had brought upon him, and each of them brought him a piece of money and a gold ring.
12So the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, {and} a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkey mares. 13Also he had seven sons and three daughters. 14Jemimah he called the first daughter, Keziah the second and the third Keren-happuch -- Turtledove, Cinnamon and Mascara. 15In all the land no women were found so fair as the daughters of Job. Their father gave them an inheritance with their brothers.
16After this Job lived a hundred and forty years. He saw his sons and grandsons to the fourth generation. So Job died old and full of days.
Job and his wife return to the stage, where the entire cast, including the Satan and God, takes the finale in chorus.
| 28:1There is a mine for silver And a place where gold is refined. 2Iron is taken from the earth And copper is smelted from rock. 3Man puts an end to darkness Searching out the farthest bounds Through stone of heavy gloom and shadow. 4Another people sink their shafts there; Forgotten of the foot that passes by, Far from men they dangle and sway. 5The earth, from which comes bread, Below seems overturned by fire. 6From its rock comes sapphire And in its dust is gold. 7A path it is unknown to bird of prey, Unseen by falcon's eye. 8No proud beast has trod that path; The lion has not crossed it. 9Man puts his hand to the flinty rock And overturns the mountains at their roots. 10He honeycombs the stone; His eye sees every precious thing. 11He probes the weeping river spring And what is hid he brings to light. 12But where is wisdom to be found And where the place of understanding? 13No man knows the way to her; She is not found among the living. 14"Not with me," says the Deep; "Nor with me," says the Sea. 15Solid gold cannot get her And her price cannot be weighed in silver 16Or valued in gold of Ophir," In precious onyx or sapphire. 17Gold and glass cannot compare, Nor can any vessel of fine gold be exchanged for her. 18No mention shall be made of coral or of quartz; The price of wisdom is beyond rubies. 19Topaz of Cush is not her match; Pure gold cannot buy her. 20Whence, then, does wisdom come And where is the place of understanding? 21For she is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, Unseen by the birds in the sky. 22Death and Destruction say, "We have only heard report of her." 23God understands the way to her; He knows her dwelling place, 24For he looks to the ends of the earth And he sees the whole world under heaven. 25When he made a weight for the wind And measured out the waters, 26When he cut a groove for the rain, A channel for the thundershower, 27Then it was that he saw wisdom and told her worth, Measured her and searched her through. 28And he said to man, |
| God. 28:8"Behold, the fear
of the Lord is wisdom And to turn from evil is understanding." |
God takes the last line. |
Music. God points the Satan's way to the Pit, and the Satan obeys. As he jumps into the Pit, he jostles the dead man, waking him. Job takes the man's hand and pulls him up onto the stage, where he dons Job's old cloak, the one that originally had been worn by the Satan. Job and the risen man parade together to the music. Inner curtain. Outer curtain.
The End
last changed May 3, 1997
1:6. The Satan. The definite article is in the original -- the title of a royal court personage, perhaps patterned after the Persian secret police, who were called the "eyes and ears of the king." The Satan roams the earth; God's eyes sweep over the land (Zechariah 4;10) -- same verb, "sut". In Numbers 22:22 an angel of the Lord places himself as "a satan" against Balaam, from another verb meaning to accuse, or be against. We might think of the Satan as the police agent who tortures an innocent man to get a confession.
1:16. Lightning is "fire of God" in the Hebrew, shepherds is "shepherd boys" and killing is "eating them up". So the original actually says that the fire of God went blazing among the shepherd boys eating them up. This is a children's story!! Herding tribes in the North Kenya scrub still send the boys out with the camels and in the unsettled conditions of the Somali border, raids still occurred in the 1980's.
1:21. Return. The original says "and naked shall I return there." I.e., to the womb of all things, mother earth. Psalm 139: For thou didst form me, weave me in my mother's womb...Thou knewest my soul of old and my bones were not hid from thee when I was made in secret, knit together in the world below.
2:3. More literally: ...a man blameless and upright, fearing God and turning from evil and still he holds to his integrity - and you incite me against him to swallow him up for nothing.
God is charging the Satan with error (see 4:18), but the Satan persists and so puts himself in the balance with Job. One must rise and the other fall.
Notice "swallow him up". This is the Lord as God of Death, King of Terrors. See 18:14, 37:20. The ancient Canaanite myths spoke of Death eating the living. The grave was Death's mouth.
Carl Jung, in his "Answer to Job," says that Christ was God's answer to Job, after the enormity of what he had done sank in. Oswald Spengler, in the Decline of the West, says Job's author was the first Arab to worship God from the standpoint of pure Islam (=submission). That is, the first to push to its logical conclusion the concept that only God has a Will and that man therefore lives by Grace. Spengler contrasts this Job with Faust, the man of the West who has a Will of his own and who relates to God by a willful act of Contrition. But Job's unbroken integrity is the great theme of the book. The Power of God is important in the story for itself, yes, but more as the terrible condition within which Job successfully maintains his innocence.
2:9. Job's wife is mentioned again at 19:17 and again at 31:10. There is a great deal of interest in her. Why was she spared when Job's children were killed? As a plague to him thought St. John Chrysostom. As a helpmeet for Satan said Augustine and Calvin. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures from around 200 BC adds a whole paragraph:
And when much time had passed, his wife said to him, how long will you hold out, saying you will wait yet a little while, expecting the hope of your deliverance? For, behold, your memory is abolished from the earth, your sons and daughters, the travail of my womb which I bore in vain and sorrows. And you yourself sit down to nights in the open air amidst the corruption of worms while I wander a servant from house to house waiting for the setting of the sun that I may rest from my labor and pain.
Best is the Islamic tradition that she passed along to Job a deal offered by the Devil: worship me and be restored. But Job was angry and swore to lash her a hundred lashes if he recovered. Afterwards, at God's suggestion, Job honored his oath by striking her once with a palm branch that had a hundred leaves.
3:8. Leviathan is a sea monster standing here for the forces of chaos. The "sea" is the god of the sea. Order must be overruled if the past is to be subverted. Psalm 74:12-14 describes an ancient battle in which God defeats the Sea and crushes the heads of Leviathan. Chapter 41 of Job is devoted intirely to Leviathan. See the notes there. Close relatives are Tannin the Dragon and Rahab the elusive serpent. See also Psalm 89:9-10, 104:26, Isaiah 27:1, 51:9, Ezekiel 29:3 and 32:3, Amos 9:3, Job 7:12, 9:8, 9:13, 26:12,13.
3:17. There the wicked
cease agitation/raging
And there they rest,
those weary of strength.
This verse and many other verses in Job require a gesture to be fully meaningful. At 11:13 Zophar tells Job to "stretch out your hand towards God". Zophar may be referring there to Job's gesture here at 3:17. His meaning then would be, "Look to God, not to the grave." The theme of gesturing with the hand is carried forward at 12:6, 15:25, 31:21 and 38:15. See also 18:21, 19:26, 20:29 and 35:12. These last four verses suggest a sweeping arm gesture that includes the entire audience.
3:25. There is a wonderful subtlety in this verse which is entirely characteristic of the Book of Job. What he fears comes to him, says Job, the man of integrity who fears God and shuns evil. So we understand why God appears in person to Job later in the story.
4:1. Eliphaz is the first of Job's three friends to speak, so he is likely to have been a man of great authority. It is from such slender clues that the characters of Job's friends must be deduced.
4:6. Fear meant fear of God, hence piety. In the author's day the verse would have slipped by all but the most watchful. But after all, how can fear be assurance? Thus the author tells us he is going to put the notion of fearing God in question. Job was in the "wisdom" tradition, as opposed to the prophetic tradition, which emphasized the fear of God. Wisdom accepts, it is said, while the prophets reject.
4:10,11. In these two verses five different words are used for 'lion'. The exact meanings of the words translated "lion on the hunt" and "mighty lion" are unknown. The Hebrew is even more compact than usual:
Lion's roarings and lion's growl
and lions' teeth broken;
Lion perishing lacking prey
and lioness' sons scattered.
Eliphaz means the lion as a symbol of the evil forces arrayed against Job, forces which God will surely blow away. As the animosity between Job and his friends develops, Job comes to see his friends as the lions. See 10:16 and 16:9. The theme reappears at 29:17 and again at 38:39-40, where God argues that lions must eat, too!
4:17. An important ambiguity here is lost in the English. The Hebrew phrase "just before God" also means "more just than God". Job is listening intently and this is a seed that will grow within him. He wants to be just before God. His friends, on the other hand, will accuse him of thinking he is more just than God.
4:18. See also 1:6, 15:15. The angels are the lesser gods, some good and some evil. At 21:22 Job may be referring to Eliphaz' attitude toward the angels. Psalm 82, which is thought to predate Job, describes God's charge against the gods: "How long will you defend the unjust and be partial to the wicked?"
4:20. This verse will serve to introduce some background information and to illustrate the kind of arguments that the scholars bring to bear upon the text. The argument here is between the standard versions, which translate "without regard", and three moderns who translate "without name": Mitchell Dahood, Marvin Pope and Norman Habel.
Some background: the Masoretes were Jewish scholars of the fifth to tenth centuries who did their best to pass on Biblical text accurately. They divided the original consonantal text into words and marked it with diacritics to indicate vowels. The result is called the received or Masoretic text (MT), and is the primary basis of most translations of the Bible. The MT is highly regarded. The Masoretes had written texts to work from predating anything now extant and they had an unbroken oral tradition from the earliest times to guide them.
More background: since 1928, excavations of the Ras Shamra mound on the north Syrian coast have yielded many cuneiform inscribed clay tablets from the latter centuries of the second millenium B.C. The deciphered Ugaritic texts - so called from the resurrected name of their city - have been a treasure of information about early Semitic religion and politics.
Dahood thinks the Masoretes mispointed the text. They were a thousand years or more removed from the date of Job, so the possibility that they made a mistake has to be considered, especially when their version makes little sense. Dahood reads 'mibbeli-m sem' instead of the Masoretic 'mibbeli mesim'. This repointing of the text was actually first suggested in 1900, but the trailing mem on mibbeli was superfluous in ancient Hebrew as then understood. However, in the Ugaritic texts there are examples of mem as an enclitic emphatic particle. (Cars-orama = traffic jam; orama = enclitic emphatic particle.) So a revision of the MT is defensible.
5:6,7. Plenty of trouble in these lines. The author was playing with the word for ground (adamah) and the word for man (adam). Not from adamah springs sorrow; adam trouble begets. The exchange between Job and his three friends is cast in the form of a verbal duel where wit is as important as the substance of any argument. The audience would have appreciated many nuances which are completely lost in translation. Digging for these nuances in the Hebrew is like panning for gold. It is plenty hard work, but the joy of finding a nugget is great.
5:7. The original says "And the sons of Resheph fly high," but since we don't know who the sons of Resheph are, it seems best to keep the inspired KJ "as sparks fly up". One intriguing possibility is that the sons of Resheph are vultures or eagles. Birds of prey are a theme in Job. See 12:7, 15:23, 16:18, 30:22, 35:11, 38:41, 39:26-30, 41:5, 28:7.
5:8. God...God himself: El...Elohim. Literally Elohim is plural, as in 1:6, the sons of the gods. Ancient Hebrew, however, had a trick of rendering the superlative with the plural. Thus Elohim means great God. Behemoth from 40:15 is another such plural -- beast of beasts.
Chapter 5 from the eighth verse to the end is a most appealing passage, and please note, what Eliphaz says here will come true for Job. The book of Job is no simple fable. The friends of Job are wrong, but they are right. They harass Job with their narrow-mindedness, but somehow in the process he is healed. They were his friends; "seven days and seven nights they sat with him on the ground, and none said a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great." (2:13)
5:14. Day and night, innocence and wickedness, life and death, prosperity and calamity, freedom and constraint, hope and fear, wisdom and folly, master and slave -- paired themes of Job.
6:10c. Holy One. Perhaps short for Holy One of Israel as in Isaiah 41:16. This line is best taken, with 6:14a as a sign that Job is thinking dreadful thoughts about God. He knows he is one to speak his mind and he would rather die in torment. The author is setting the scene for Job's first outbreak against God at 7:11.
6:21. Job's first direct reference to his friends -- an indication he is coming out of his shell.
7:5. This strong translation is taken straight from the Anchor Bible version, and here is a story from the rabbinic tradition Marvin Pope tells to go with it: One day the worms in Job's flesh began to argue. Job separated them, putting each in its own hole, saying, "It is my flesh, yet you quarrel over it."
7:6. Thread of hope. A pun in the Hebrew, with one word, tiqwah, that means both thread and hope.
7:9. Sheol. The ancient antecedent of Hell, a land of shades similar to the Greek Hades even to the River round it. See 14:13, 33:18. The Land of No Return was a Babylonian epithet for the underworld.
7:12. The Lord of the Sea. A Ugaritic text describes Baal's defeat of Sea: "Sea tripped and fell. His bones rattled; his frame was shattered. Baal captured Sea and drank him; he drank Lord River." See also 38:8. Psalms 68:23 in the Anchor Bible reading: "I stifled the Serpent, muzzled the Deep Sea." An Akkadian text has Marduk, storm god and chief of the Babylonian gods, posting a watch on a dragon and charging the watchers to keep her waters confined. See Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern Texts.
7:15. Sickening bones. The Masoretic text has ma'asti at the beginning of verse 7:16, where it is usually translated "I loathe it." Moved back to 7:15b, which is a short line, the syntax can be stretched to cover it: "to these bones [which] I loathe." Asyndesis si! Hypotaxis no!
7:19. Swallow my spittle. An Arabic expression for a moment. Job is complaining to God that he needs a chance to express his momentary bitterness without being condemned for what he says -- a chance to swallow his spittle. As it happens, God is listening and does give him the chance.
7:20. Why am I your burden? The translation follows the LXX. The received text has "Why am I my burden?" One of the pious emendations of the scribes.
9:2. Going to court with God -- the central metaphor of Job. Eliphaz had suggested that no man could be in the right before God (4:17). Bildad had said that God does not distort the course of justice (8:3). Now Job answers that in his own court, God is both accuser and judge, so what justice is to be expected (9:14)? God is not righteous, Job charges (9:22). He appeals to him anyway, but God does not respond (13:13). Yet Job's witness testifies (16:19). And Job is sure he will at last find a defender (19:25). He proves his case against God (chapters 21-24) and takes a great oath that he himself is innocent (chapter 31). At last God answers (chapters 38,39) in person and when Job recognizes that he is out of his depth (42:3), God decides the case in his favor (42:6).
9:9. The Fool. Probably Orion.
9:13. In the context, which is that of God the Creator, Rahab probably refers to a sea monster destroyed by God when he brought order to the world. But Rahab in the Bible also means Egypt, so the reference here might be to the destruction of Pharoah's army at Exodus 14:26.
9:23. Of all Job's charges against God, this seems by far the most serious. Why would God mock the calamity of the innocent? Perhaps instead of "he laughs" we should translate "it (the scourge) laughs at the despair of the innocent." The early commentator Rashi says it must be Satan that laughs. Still, the given translation seems most likely, especially in light of Eliphaz' promise to Job at 5:22. "At destruction and famine you will laugh."
9:34. Rod. The same rod that comforts David in the 23rd Psalm.
10:8,9. See how Job has changed under the prodding of his friends. He began by saying he wanted to die, but now he wants to live.
10:15. If
I be wicked, then woe to me,
Or
innocent, I raise not my head,
Sated
with shame,
Looking
upon my affliction.
Job seems to be saying that wicked or innocent, woe comes. Job still accepts the doctrine of divine retribution, but he no longer thinks that God is just. He fears God still, yet he sees that fear is no protection. He is struggling to be free of his confusion.
10:22. Light and darkness -- a recurring theme in Job. The Latin Vulgate outdoes the original: Terra tenebrosa, et operta mortis caligine: terra miseriae et tenebrarum, ubi umbra mortis, et nullus ordo, sed sempiternus horror inhabitat. A land gloomy, and filled with blackness of death: a land of misery and gloom where the shadow of death and no order but eternal horror dwells!
11:2. Rabbi Dr. Victor Reichert gives his assessment of the three friends in his comment on this verse: "Zophar, less sensitive than the dignified Eliphaz and the gentle Bildad, appears annoyed..."
11:4. You
say, my assumptions are pure,
I
am clean in thine eyes.
The distinction between direct and indirect discourse in Hebrew is problematical. There seems to have been no conception of the exact quote, or perhaps throwing a persons exact words back in their face was simply a thing not done.
11:12. But
a hollow man will get understanding
When
a wild ass donkey is born a man.
A proverb too clever for the translators. An insult to Job's intelligence, anyway.
11:13. See the note at 3:17. The word translated "hand" here means more exactly the palm of the hand.
12:22. If war is the meaning of this verse, then perhaps the author is referring to Judah's struggle against Babylon in the early 6th century. Nebuchadnezzar carried off the top ranks of Judean society to Babylon in 597, and installed Jedekiah as his puppet king. Against the might of the Chaldeans, the Jews had no chance. Rebellion was folly, but the second echelon of leaders, Zedekiah included, were braver than they were wise: Judah had been stripped of her reason by the first exile. In 586 Babylon was made great and Judah was lead away into Exile.
13:8-12. These verses have implications for all morality that is based on fear and tradition instead of on honest feeling of what is right. As a man of integrity, Job has no need of sycophants and he is sure that God has even less use for them. In chapter 15 Eliphaz tells Job, "you are casting off fear." Indeed, that is what Job is doing. He is making himself ready to face God.
13:15. The received
text:
Behold he slays me I await not
[any good]
But my ways to his face I will
argue.
The much loved King James version:
Though he slay me, yet will I trust
in him:
but I will maintain mine own ways before
him.
The adopted translation:
He may kill me; I may have no hope,
But I will defend my ways to his face.
The elements of the difficulty: The received text has "not" but the margin of early MT manuscripts says "to him" should be read. The ancient versions, LXX, Vulgate, Syriac and Targum may have read "to him" and certainly did not read "not". In ancient Hebrew "not" and "to him" though they are spelled differently sound just the same, so a scibal error is likely enough. The verb "wait" always means to wait for or expect something good; sometimes it takes the preposition "to" and sometimes it takes no preposition. At 6:11 without "to" the same verb is translated "to have hope" and at 29:23 with "to" it is translated "to wait for". "Behold" can be taken as a conditional particle.
On textual grounds alone the matter could go either way, so it comes down to a question of interpretation. Job is about to summon God to court with him; in that sense he awaits him. And he has not cursed God as Satan said he would. Does that add up to trusting God?
13:16. The received
text:
Moreover, this/he to me for salvation
For not before his face does a hypocrite
come.
King James version:
He also shall be my salvation;
For an hypocrite shall not come before
him.
The adopted translation:
This might even be my salvation,
For no godless man would face him so.
The structures of ancient Hebrew and modern European verbs differ greatly. The Hebrew tenses were not as definite with respect to time as modern tenses are and for moods had only the indicative, imperative and perhaps something of the volitional. To relate time, condition or volition they used adverbial particles or relied on the context. Sometimes they expressed the jussive (let him, let her, may they, etc.) by an apocopation, an internal vowel shift. Instead of definite tense and mood, most verbs had perfect and imperfect forms in several voices. The perfect forms signified objective, completed or sure action. The imperfect forms signified subjective, ideal, interrupted, repeated, continuing, beginning or future action. The imperative was formed from the imperfect form of the verb. There were seven voices, but most verbs were not used in all seven: the Qal, simple active; the Niphal, simple passive; the Piel, intensive active; the Pual, intensive passive; the Hithpael, reflexive; the Hiphal, causative active; the Hophal, causative passive. In 13:16b, "come" is Qal imperfect third person masculine singular. The imperfect suggests that the very thought of coming before God would be rejected by the ungodly.
The difference in verbal structure often requires words to be added for the sake of the English from the feel of the Hebrew. Naturally there is some disagreement about the feel of the Hebrew! Compare English versions for difference of mood and tense.
Jewish Pub. Soc. (1960)
This also shall be my salvation,
That a hypocrite cannot come before
him.
Jewish Pub. Soc. (1982)
In this too is my salvation:
That no impious man can come into His
presence.
Moffatt
This should be in my favor,
that before him no godless man dare
come.
New English Bible
This at least assures my success,
that no godless man may appear before
him.
New International Version
Indeed, this might turn out for my
deliverance,
for no godless man would dare come
before him.
Revised Standard Version
This will be my salvation,
that a godless man shall not come before
him.
14:13. There is a Jewish tale that when God was angry he would hide the saints under his throne so they would be safe from his wrath.
14:14c. Relief. I.e., a soldier's replacement, but this is a guess; the basic meaning of the word is "succession". The King James version has "till my change come." Christian commentators then refer the reader to the familiar passage in First Corinthians, chapter 15: "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." The given translation, though very different, also has Christian connotations, for in the Christian context, who is Job's relief if not Christ himself?
There is another answer to the mystery, though. Job's relief might be the actor who plays him. The root meaning of "relief" signifies a change, and it can signify a change of clothes in particular -- Gen 35:2, 45:22, Ps 102:26. A pretty good word for an actor, one who changes costume. Job's puzzling "defender" at 19:25 might also be the actor who plays him.
14:16. For
now you count my steps;
You
do not keep a watch over my sin.
A difficult verse. It is tempting to follow the ancient Syriac version,
which reads a "not" in the first line:
But
now you would not be counting my steps
And
always spying out my sin.
15:7. First
Adam were you born,
Or
brought forth before the hills?
The translation assumes, perhaps incorrectly, that this is an early reference to the "before-Adam" of later Jewish myth, Adam before Adam. Most English versions translate "First of mankind," which may be what was meant. Here is K. Schlottmann's lovely Hindu proverb, quoted in several commentaries - "Yes, indeed, he is the first man; no wonder he is wise!" See also 38:21, Prov 8:22 ff.
last changed June 22, 1997
Footnotes - continued
15:11. Eliphaz, who was named for God and who seems to be a standin for God, now apparently thinks his own speech beginning at 5:8 came from God himself. There are hints in the text that Job has had trouble meeting Eliphaz' eyes. At some point Job reestablishes his footing vis-a-vis Eliphaz, probably at 13:14, but perhaps not until 16:7.
16:15. Job has sewn a sackcloth garment to wear next to his skin. Verse 30:18 seems to indicate that Job's garment was ingeniously fashioned to some purpose, perhaps as camouflage. At 30:19 Job says he has become like dust and ashes. At 20:7 Zophar says, "he vanishes like dung forever; those who see him ask, 'Where is he?'" And in the prologue at 2:12 Job's three friends at first don't recognize him. As a guess, Job was wearing a sleeveless sackcloth tunic and over that a "dust and ashes" cloak, which if he pulled it round himself would make him look just like another rock by the ash heap. If 23:17 is not mistranslated, perhaps the cloak was easily reversible, ashen gray on one side, velvet black on the other.
16:18. The meaning of verses 18-21 is obscure. Some believe the witness of verse 19 is God, but the context is still goo gloomy to think that Job has found any part of an answer. That a falcon might have been released to represent Job's cry is only a guess, of course, but it would have been grand theater! Job is getting stronger. He has faced up to Eliphaz, but he is still dealing with the shock of finding his friend hostile. The "witness" of 16:19a is the same in the Hebrew as at 16:8, where he accused Eliphaz of being a treacherous witness. Job is saying, if I have no human witness, then let my blood be my witness, my cry, my tears; surely God will answer my cry. And when God does not answer, then Job asks, "Who can see my hope?...Will it go down to Sheol with me? Shall we descend to the dust together?"
16:22. For the
years are numbered that come
And I shall
go the way of no return.
At the bottom, it is his mortality that disturbs Job the most. His other ills point to his coming death. Job dramatizes the ordinary human realization of death. For the first round of Job's afflictions (1:12-19), read the common misfortunes, loss of property, the death of someone loved. For the second round (2:4-7), read the decline of the body in middle age.
17:5. He tells friends
to partake
While the eyes of
his sons fail.
A proverb. The first line is obscure. The Hebrew word translated "partake" appears only here, nowhere else in all the ancient Hebrew literature. It may be related to a word meaning "smooth" or to another word meaning "divide". "Tell" may mean anything from "denounce" to "invite".
Possibilities:
* he denounces friends for a share
* he speaks flattery to friends
* he denounces friends for flattery
* he invites friends to share
The last makes the best proverb, and in context it is very powerful indeed. Job is accusing God of letting those he has known longest die while he turns his attention to those who are younger -- mere acquaintances, relatively.
17:6. Yes he has
set me up to tell a story to the peoples;
And a Tophet/spitting
before the face I am become.
Tophet was an infamous place of child sacrifice. See Jeremiah 7:31. The use of the word tophet to mean "spit" is not known in the Hebrew, but there are cognates with that meaning in Arabic and Chaldee. However, the Chaldee Targum for 6b has: "And I shall be Gehenna to them." Tophet was in the valley of the children of Hinnom, i.e., GeHinnom. See 2 K 23:10.
The authorities conflict, but it appears the Wadi Hinnom ran along the south wall of Jerusalem where it would have been reached through the Dung Gate or through the Potsherd Gate. If so, then it is the modern Wadi er-Rababi, which is a rather deep valley with steep walls, almost a gorge. It is thought that the town dump and possibly a graveyard for paupers was there. Also, the tombs of richer citizens may have been located on the steep south face of the Wadi.
If Job was played in Jerusalem after the Return and before the city wall was rebuilt, the western heights overlooking the Wadi Hinnom to the south would have been the likely spot. The walls of the city had been thrown down when Jerusalem was taken early in the 6th century, so the scene would have been perfectly set. To be sure, this is speculation upon speculation, but many verses of Job would have taken on a special depth of meaning at this location.
For instance the references to the ashpit and the potsherd of chapter two. For instance all mentions of Sheol and Abbadon, which would have been more deeply felt here overlooking the original Gehenna. For instance, all the talk about ruins and breached walls. Job himself would have become a symbol of Jerusalem when he said, "The way is open for their attack...I am already breached." (30:14). And there are references to the wadi itself. "He'll be borne in procession to the grave," says Job of the wealthy sinner, pointing to the graves on the far side of the Wadi Hinnom, "The wadi stones will nestle him." (21:32,33) Eliphaz answers by pointing to the road to Tophet running below and saying: "Will you keep the road the ages have kept, Tread the steps that wicked men trod, who were taken before their time, Their foundations washed away by the river?" (22:15,16) "Adorn...the wadi stone with Ophir gold." (22:24)
The emotions of the Returnee community would have been stirred by Job. They were not doing very well in Jerusalem and it was their fathers and grandfathers who had made God angry, not them. They were innocent, like Job, whose restoration at the end of the play would have cheered them enormously. Could it be that a lasting affection for the play, because it had buoyed them in the dark days before the walls were restored, was the reason why it survived?
17:13-16. These verses make a good example of the beauty and compactness of the Hebrew. Here Job is face to face with the truth he has insisted upon: the light is not near, and there is no escape from death. At the same time, under the goading of his friends, he has realized that he wants to live. After his dramatic appeal to God in chapter 13, he cannot go back to the comforting delusion of chapters 3 and 4, that the grave is his own desire.
13 'im-'eqaveh sheol bayithi
if - I look to sheol
my house
ba-khoshek ripadti yitso'yi
in the darkness I spread my
couch
14 lashakhath qara'thi abyi 'atah
to the pit I
say my father thou art
'amyi va'khothi la-rimah
my mother and
my sister to the worm
15 v'ayeh - 'epho tiqvathi
then where - indeed my
hope
vtiqvathi mi yshurenah
and my hope who doth
see her
16 badye sheol teradna
the parts of sheol they
go down to
'im-yakhad al-afar nakhath
when-together upon
the dust ease
In verse 15, if we read 'ayah for 'ayeh without any change in the consonants, we can translate, "then my falcon/hawk is indeed my hope". 'Ayah is probably derived form a root meaning 'cry' or 'howl'. Job's name in the Hebrew is 'Ayob. One wonders if it is not related.
18:2,3. Bildad uses the second person plural in both verses to address the crowd. The versions generally translate as if they were reading a singular because the plural doesn't make much sense -- unless Job was theater!
18:4. One tearing
his soul/self in his anger,
Shall for thy sake
forsaken be the earth,
The rock removed
from its place?
The word for soul, nephesh, is commonly used to mean "self", but more primitively it means life and is connected with the blood by Dt 12:23: "But be sure you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the nephesh..." Most commentators think 18:4 refers to 16:9a: "His anger tears and he hates me." The same commentators then must say Job is being figurative at 16:18: "Earth cover not my blood." The greatness of the poem, though, is in the concreteness of the imagery. When Job calls upon God, God shows up in person. Every generalization must be particularized: "No proud beast has trod that path, The lion has not crossed it." -- 28:8. There are dozens of examples. If Job is theater, then we see that same characteristic particularity in Bildad's lines here at 18:4.
Nor are the earth and rock of this verse just metaphors for the orderliness of creation, as many commentators would have them. Rather, Bildad is speaking to Job's complaint (17:4,5) that God sends all his children to their death, forever. Shall the earth be forsaken? Shall all the graves be emptied out? Shall the rock be moved from its place, the lid of Sheol be shifted so the dead may rise? (See also Mark 16:4 in the New Testament.)
Job had said at 14:18:
A mountain falls away to nothing;
The rock itself is moved from its place.
Water wears away the stone
And storm rains wash away the dirt;
Thus you destroy man's hope.
In the contest of wits that the exchange has become, Bildad is scoring by using Job's words against him. Bildad speaks rhetorically, of course; he is sure the rock will not be moved from its place. But as so often happens, Job picks up on a theme and reworks it. At 19:25, he has a vision of another kind of resurrection.
18:5-21. The prototype of all hellfire and brimstone sermons.
19:2-5. Job uses the second person plural here, presumably addressing his three friends together. Because he loved his old friend or out of respect for his great age, Job didn't want to single Bildad out for attack.
19:17. There may be an undercurrent of sexuality running through chapter 19. In verses 13 & 14 the famous Biblical "to know" is used, which usually, though not always, implied sexual relations. Some modern commentators wonder about 19:22b, too. If Job is in part the story of a convalescent, then the author may be hinting at a reawakening of sexual desire after a serious illness.
19:23. Who will
give, then, that my words be written?
Who will
give in a scroll that they be engraved?
The phrase "who will give" was a common rhetorical flourish meaning "O would that..." But it is not impossible that Job is literally asking for a volunteer to take down his argument. Since his friends won't help him, his only hope is for vindication after his death. See the note at 31:35.
19:25. And
I myself know my goel shall appear/lives,
And
aftermost upon the dust he will arise/witness.
19:26. And after my skin
they will destroy--this,
And
out-of my flesh I shall see God.
19:27. Whom I myself shall
see for myself/on my side,
And
my eyes shall behold, and not another's/estranged.
My
kidneys fail within me.
Goel is Hebrew for one's near kinsman whose duty it was to avenge one's murder or buy one back from servitude. When used figuratively, it meant an after the fact rescuer or defender. The preposition translated "out-of" in the second line of verse 26 is ambiguous in Hebrew. It may mean without his body or it may mean from the standpoint of his body.
These unexpected verses stand at a highpoint of the drama. The translation is not easy and the interpretation is even more difficult. Job is confident that his name will be cleared; that much is sure. But who is it that Job means when he mentions his goel? Does he expect exoneration before or after his death? What is the connection with Job's wish to have his words written down?
The ancient version don't help. Jerome's Vulgate has "de terra surrecturus sum" -- from the earth I will rise up, where the Masoretes have "upon the dust he will arise." The Greek LXX and the Syriac differ from the received text even more radically:
LXX: For I know that he is eternal
Who is about
to deliver me,
To raise up
upon the earth my skin that endures these,
For these things
have been accomplished to me of the Lord;
Which I am
conscious of in myself,
Which mine
eye has seen, and not another,
But all have
been fulfilled to me in bosom.
SYR: I know my goel lives,
and in the end he
will be revealed upon the earth,
and after my skin
I shall bless myself in these things,
and after my flesh.
If my eyes shall
see God,
I shall see light.
From Clarke's early 19th century commentary: "Any attempt to establish the true meaning of this passage is almost hopeless. By learned men and eminent critics the words have been understood very differently; some vehemently contending that they refer to the resurrection of the body, and the redemption of the human race by Jesus Christ; while others with equal vehemence and show of argument, have contended that they refer only to Job's restoration [to health]. In defence of these two opinions larger treatises have been written than the whole Book of Job would amount to, if written even in capitals."
Nor has the flow of words diminished, though even among Christian scholars there are few now who would defend the narrow Christian reading. But no one has proposed a convincing alternative. The best the scholars can do is to demolish each other's suggestions. No surprise, then, that the English versions vary considerably:
King James
For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth;
And though after my skin worms destroy this
body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God:
Whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;
though my reins be consumed within me.
Revised Standard Version
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then without my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Anchor Bible
I know my vindicator lives,
A guarantor upon the dust will stand;
Even after my skin is flayed,
Without my flesh I shall see God.
I will see him on my side,
My own eyes will see him unestranged.
My heart faints within me.
New American Bible
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator
lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon
the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
My own eyes, not another's shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
My inmost being is consumed with longing.
New International Version
I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
Yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes--I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
New English Bible
But in my heart I know that my vindicator
lives
and that he will rise last to speak in court;
and I shall discern my witness standing at
my side
and see my defending counsel, even God himself,
whom I shall see with my own eyes,
I myself and no other.
My heart failed me when you said...
Moffatt
Still, I know One to champion me at last,
to stand up for me upon earth.
This body may break up, but even then
my life shall have a sight of God;
my heart is pining as I yearn
to see him on my side,
see him estranged no longer.
Against all the versions, here is an interpretation based upon the idea that Job was played by actors before holiday crowds:
19:25a Then I myself know my defender shall appear
The use of the first person pronoun for emphasis is curious. What is the point of the stress? Who else could it be but Job who knows about his goel? Thus a delicate suspense, barely perceptible to the listener, is established. Then when the emphatic pronoun in repeated at the beginning of verse 27, the suspense is lifted, an answer has been suggested. The listener then knows that the emphatic "I" in verse 25 meant that Job the character was speaking and that its paired emphasis at verse 27 means now it is the actor playing Job who speaks, out of character. For the use of "goel" as defender in court, see Pr 23:11, Jer 50:34.
19:25b And aftermost upon the dust he will arise.
Aftermost. I.e., in the distant future, the contemporary time for the audience. Job stands up at this point, thus telling the audience that he, the actor playing Job, is Job's goel. The verb "to arise" also meant to stand as witness; thus verse 25 continues the metaphor of the court case. Job wanted his words written down so his defender could carry on his case as a true witness. The moral that the author relies upon is that the prophecies of an honest man come true. By this device he pulls the audience into his circular logic transforming it into the assembly or court before which the cosmic trial of Job will proceed. When Job is played, the audience is actually in attendance at that trial.
19:26a And after my skin they will destroy--this,
Hebrew sometimes used the third person plural as we use the passive, to obscure the subject of the action. Thus general conditions, or perhaps more especially, the worms, will destroy Job's skin. If the verse is not corrupt, then "this" must have been accompanied by a demonstrative gesture. Here Job copies the sweeping gesture Zophar made at 18:21 -- this scene of actors and audience, he implies, is where the vindication he is predicting will take place.
19:26b And out-of my flesh I shall see God
It is still the character Job who is speaking, but he is in part identified with the actor playing the character. To "see God" was to feel the strength of righteousness within. See 33:26, Ps 11:7. As the ancient Job who suffered, he feels his future vindication ringing back through the ages, working to restore his sense of presentableness before God. Verbs in Hebrew too their tense in part from the circumstances, so the timeless quality of the story was perhaps more accessible to the ancient audience than it is to us.
The magic of identification works both ways. The vindication wrought by the actor is transported back to the original Job, and the original Job is transported forward to be present in the body of the actor. Thus he will see God literally, as explained in the next verse, but "out-of" or apart from his body.
19:27 As
to which I myself shall see for myself,
And
my eyes shall behold, and not another's.
My
kidneys fail within me.
The emphasis on the first person singular corresponds to the similar emphasis at the beginning of verse 25. Now it is Job the actor who will speak, as distinct from Job the character. By stepping out of character, the actor confirms to the audience the extraordinary implication of the two previous verses. He is both Job and Job's goel. He is the character he is acting.
"As to which". As to God, or with respect to seeing God. The actor is creating suspense by advertising the coming appearance of God on stage at chapter 38. The appearance of God would have been rather high on the bill for the play(!), and the whole audience would be expecting it. That interview with God is timeless, but it is the actor and not the original Job who will see God in the flesh -- with his own eyes and not another's.
"My heart fails within me." Here the actor resumes his part. Job has seen his vindication and the excitement is too much for his frail state. His illness reasserts itself and he collapses to his knees but regains control to seat himself. He is temporarily lost in thought.
19:28,29. Eliphaz had mentioned a sword at 15:22, and Bildad's fire and brimstone sermon of chapter 18 was unconscionable. Even so, Job would not have launched into this attack upon his friends directly upon being overcome by a vision of his future vindication. When Job speaks again in chapter 21, he is not defensive.
The assignment of the verses to Elihu is imaginative, perhaps, but not out of the question. By speaking up from the audience against Job's friends Elihu would gain standing as spokesman for the crowd and so a better reception for his big speech at chapter 32. Also, the references to Job in the third person, in verse 28 make better sense if it is Elihu speaking; and the word for "judgment" in verse 29 occurs elsewhere in Job only in the speeches of Elihu, where it occurs twice (???34:23, 36:17).
last changed July 19, 1997
Footnotes - continued
20:11. His bones
are filled with youthful feelings
And/but
with him upon the dust she shall lie down.
"Youthful feelings" is thought to be collective in the Hebrew, and so possible as antecedent for "she" in the second line. "Lie down" here takes both figurative senses associated with the verb: to die, and to have sexual relations. The sexual meaning seems clear in the Hebrew but the English versions shy away.
20:12. Say sweet in his mouth is evil
(f.),
He hide/efface
her under his tongue,
20:13. He have compassion to her and not let her go,
And he
keep her in the middle of his palate,
20:14. His food in his bowels is changed,
Gall
of asps in his guts.
The Hebrew for verses 12 and 13 is not quite standard. Three of the verbs in these verses contain epenthetic nuns!
20:15. Zophar's meaning here could be that God will inherit the rich man's wealth for redistribution to the poor. Zophar's revolutionary thoughts might have been recognizable -- and distasteful -- to an audience of farmers, merchants and tradesmen.
20:17. From Michael Coogan's wonderful translatoin of the 14th century BC Ras Shamra myths: "In a dream of El the Kind, the Compassionate, in a vision of the Creator of All, the heavens rained down oil, the wadis ran with honey." See also Ex 3:8, the land of milk and honey.
20:25. The sinner is under attack from above. For a parallel in the New Testament, see John 19:34, "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water."
21:30. That as
to the day of calamity spared is the wicked,
As to
the day of wraths they are led forth.
By the deletion of a single letter, the "wraths" of 30b becomes "thick clouds": One the day of dense cloud they escaped. (I.e., the travelers of v.29 escaped.) The dark clouds are a sign that when God is angry, he destroys the good and the evil together without paying close attention. If God does not discriminate, then Job cannot be expected to : "Who will tell the wealthy sinner what he is to his face?" Job asks.
This translation looks back to Zophar's "clouds" at 20:6 and "darkness" at 20:26 and forward to the otherwise enigmatic remark of Eliphaz at 22:13, 14: "You ask 'What does God really know? Can he rule through dark shadow, concealed by thick clouds, unable to see, as he walks the vault of heaven?'" See also Elihu's charge against Job at verse 35:15.
22:2. Eliphaz intimates that the wise man serves God for the reward.
22:3. But God does take pleasure in Job's perfection! See 1:8 and 2:3.
22:21. Make-it-habit, please, with him and be at peace;
In them
your increase shall be prosperity.
The prepositional phrase "in them", which opens the second line, is difficult. Several English versions interpret freely: "thereby", but this meaning is adopted only because no other can be discovered. If Job was played, Eliphaz could be referring to the crowd. "Just find your God again," he tells Job, "and then these good people will see to it that you get a second start in life. Strew your gold in the dust... Let the Almighty be your gold and your silver...Then when you pray, He will hear you...a light will shine on your ways." When the play is done the audience will have a chance to contribute toward Job's renewed prosperity. See 42:11.
22:30. Job himself, by a fine irony, delivers his three friends at the end of the story. See 42:7-10. See also Ezek: 14:12-20.
23:7. The Satan had been sure Job would curse God to his face, but Job is still hoping for justice from God. To this extent the author has preserved the image of Job in the children's story as long-suffering and patient.
23:10. Job explains why he is suddenly marching up and down, back and forth like a madman. He is merely following in God's footsteps!
26:5-14. This section seems to work in its new spot after chapter 23, but it may have been intended for Bildad instead of for Job.
Chapters 24 through 30 are clearly jumbled. Job's final speech is two or three times longer than average, while Bildad's speech in chapter 25 is very short and Zophar does not get a final speech at all. Moreover, sections of Job's speech have him saying things he would never agree to. See 24:20 and 27:7. Then, too, chapter 28 is a self-contained wisdom poem which though relevant to the Book of Job does not make sense in its place.
There is nothing for it but to reorder the text as best we can, realizing that the original order is probably lost forever. Here is the (relatively simple) rearrangement adopted for the current edition:
These notes will be kept in chapter and verse order for easier reference.
26:2-4. In these three verses Job addresses someone, probably Bildad, in the second person singular. Similar puzzling usage of the singular occurs at 16:3b and 21:3b and elsewhere. How can the reader be sure that Job singled out Bildad rather than Eliphaz or Zophar?
Good modern writers realize that text is more ambiguous than speech and must be constructed carefully if it is to convey the intended meaning. But the Hebrews seem to have had little regard for the plight of the reader. Pronouns with ambiguous reference are nearly a signature for the age. Maybe they thought of written language less as a medium in its own right and more as an aid to the memory in the reconstruction of the spoken or chanted word. Or maybe Job really was a play!
26:7. As happens often in Job, the text is far from clear. The word 'zaphon' in Hebrew means 'north'. Mount Zaphon on the North Syrian coast was the stronghold of Baal according to the Ugaritic texts of the fourteenth century B.C. Still, one might have expected the heavens to be stretched out, not the north or a mountain, however important.
27:19,20. The variations of tense are in the Hebrew original -- a sign of Zophar's frenzy.
27:23. He claps at him his hands
And hisses
at him from his standing-place.
The usual assumption is that Zophar is still speaking and that the object of the clapping and the hissing must be Job. The "he" of the verbs might be God or the East wind from verse 21. Also, though, the Hebrews had a way of saying "one" to mean persons in general, so the meaning might be:
They will clap at Job their hands
And hiss at Job from their place.
Several English versions forsake grammar and take the "at him" of the second line as a direct object instead of an indirect object. The technique is questionable, but the result is intriguing if we interpret the verse as a marginal comment, in which case Zophar might be the object:
The crowd will clap at Zophar their hands
And hiss Zophar from his place.
There is no need to be ungrammatical, though. Allow the verse as a marginal comment and there it is, the world's earliest surviving stage direction (in Hebrew, anyway):
Zophar claps his hands at Job
And hisses at Job from his station.
28:1. Chapter 28 is a self-contained wisdom poem which is related to Job by theme and allusion. It does not represent the viewpoint of any of the characters but seems to be instead the author's commentary on his play.
28:28. This verse is suspected of being a later addition because the piety of the verse contradicts the spirit of the dialogue. Also, the Hebrew word 'Adonay - "Lord" - occurs only here in Job and the phrase "And he said to man" is outside the regular meter.
But the phrase that stands outside the meter serves very well as an accent and some manuscripts have YWHW instead of 'Adonay. If chapter 28 stood at the end of the play, then the last verse of the play pairs the first verse, which introduced Job as a man who "feared God and shunned evil." By returning to the beginning from the end, the author would avoid making a conclusion. Thus he might broaden the minds of his audience without cluttering up the world with yet another definite opinion.
29:10. Job is referring to Zophar's clever remark at 20:13. Elihu takes up the thread at 33:2.
30:18. With great strength/ability is disguised my garment
like
a mouth of my tunic girds me round
Or, with the original consonants unchanged, the second line can be read:
my hand my tunic closes round me
Either way the verse is senseless in context. The scholars make varoius changes to the Hebrew with little success and the versions differ greatly. My speculation is that 30:18 is a marginal comment from the actor who played Job, maybe the author himself, explaining how his tunic was made specially so he could suddenly become like dust and ashes.
30:19. Dust and ashes: 'awfar v'ayfer. A pretty turn of words and important to remember for reference at 42:6.
30:31. This verse may be a direction to the musicians. Musical interludes and accompaniment seem likely if Job was a staged production.
31:5-8. Technically, the subordinate "if" clause of a conditional sentence is the protasis and the main clause is the apodosis. "If my steps have strayed from the path (protasis), then may I sow and another eat (apodosis)." In chapter 31 the pattern recurs that several protases share an apodosis. The Hebrew for "if", though, can also be an interrogative particle introducing a question which expects the answer "no". So at 31:5 we might translate: "Have I walked with falsehood or hurried my footsteps to deceive?"
31:10. Though clearly sexual from the context, the meaning of these two verbs is not quite explicit in the Hebrew. In 10a the verb "to grind" can mean to do a slave's work and the literal meaning of the second line is "And others kneel upon her." We can read Job's character here. His innocence is the first line of protection for his wife against the consequences of his oath, but he uses his wit to make doubly sure she will come to no harm.
31:21,22. An example of the lex talionis, though Job offers even more than is due. For raising his hand, he will lose his arm. See Ex 21:23-25.
31:35. A pleasing addition to the action could be made in connection with this verse. The storyteller of chapters 1, 2 and 42 could also play a scribe unobtrusively taking down in a scroll every word that Job and his friends utter. Here at 31:35 he could present the scroll to Job for his signature.
We can imaging that when the play was originally produced in 465 B.C., the rumour was circulated that the script had been found in the wall of an old house recently knocked down in an earthquake. Then the play could have been advertised as the true words of Job, recently discovered, etc, etc. Of course, in that case there must have been someone present at the original exchange between Job and his friends to take it all down. To emphasize the circularity of the argument, the scroll that the scribe writes in could be the same that the storyteller reads from.
The presence of a scribe would also help explain Job's sudden conviction at 19:25 that his eventual exoneration was assured. In verses 19:23 and 19:24 Job wishes that his words could be preserved. "Who then will grant that my words be written down?" he asks. At that moment the scribe could bring herself to Job's attention for the first time. Job would take heart because his wish had been so swiftly fulfilled.
31:37. "I would approach him like a prince." Job no longer fears God.
32:3. The Hebrew has "put Job in the wrong" instead of "put God in the wrong" -- one of the eighteen Emendations of the Scribes.
32:6. The Elihu speeches, at least through 36:22, are more direct in style that the rest of Job. They may even have been written by someone else entirely or added in the author's old age. More likely though, their plainer style is a deliberate mark of Elihu's character. See 32:21,22 where Elihu disclaims any truck with the flowery talk of the upper class. Also, if Elihu came from the audience, then his would be modern instead of ancient speech.
Elihu is an intelligent young man. His ability to reason appears to outstrip that of Job and his friends. With almost mathematical logic he proves that Job must have done something to deserve his punishment. But we know that Job is innocent so the net effect is to discredit rational argument and logic as too shallow. Wisdom is more elusive than Elihu imagines. For all his intelligence and for all the seriousness of what he has to say, Elihu is in part a buffoon, full of wind as he himself proclaims.
The speeches of Elihu are powerfully written, a positive addition to the Book of Job. Still it is a wonder why there should be such a long interlude between Job's great oath and God's response. As a guess, the time might have been used to erect a tent of darkness over the crowd. The storm inside the tent would play well in itself and it would heighten the effect of God's appearance in chapter 38. Also, the author would have enjoyed illustrating the "storm and eclipse" of 3:5, the "darkness at noon" from 5:14 and the sudden collapse of a "tent whose mainstay has been loosened" from 4:21.
32:21,22. The dropping of honorific titles may have been a recognizable trait among the young or even a sign of membership in some particular group of social levelers. Zophar seems to have been a social leveler, too, of the distribute-the-wealth sort. Throughout Job there are signs that the book was written in a time of chaos, a time when many were made homeless by economic dislocation, a time when the world was given into the hands of the wicked. Amidst these calamities authority itself came into question, even that of God. See also 34:17-19.
33:2. Today among the Arabs the cluck indicates dismay. Elihu is referring to verses 20:13 and 29:10.
33:16-18. According to Elihu, Job's suffering is less a punishment for his past misdeeds than a warning lest he stray from the path. At 34:7,8 Elihu does not accuse Job of wrongdoing, but only of associating with the wicked. See the section on Elihu in the Commentary of Robert Gordis.
34:2-15. These lines are good evidence that Job was played before a live crowd. Elihu would not be addressing the three friends in this manner, so he must be interacting with the audience here.
last changed July 31, 1997
Footnotes - continued
34:6. The received text has "I lie about my case." This may have been one of the pious Emendations of the Scribes. The translation follows the LXX: "He has erred in my judgment."
35:12. More evidence of an active crowd. The audience has a part in the play as the town assembly before which Job is tried. If Job was put on year after year at an annual festival, as seems possible, then the crowd would have learnt its part eventually. At first the playwright would have had to plant confederates in the crowd to guarantee the proper reactions.
36:14. Perishes in youth their soul
Their
life is among the qadeshim.
The qadeshim are literally the clean or holy ones, but the meaning, strangely enough, is male homosexuals, Canaanite temple prostitutes. The King James Version translates "and their life is among the unclean." A complete turnabout of meaning. The temple prostitutes are mentioned at Deut. 23:17, I Kings 14:24, 15:12, 22:46, and II Kings 23:7. With only a change of vowels, we can read qadoshim instead, which yields a more sensible meaning in context. The qadoshim are angels as at Job 5:1 and 15:15.
34:36. The Hebrew plainly says "my father". Elihu refers to God as "my Maker" three times, so why not "my Father"? The Vulgate so translated but the English versions nearly all transform or disregard the phrase.
35:3. Elihu seems to be referring to 21:15. But was Job speaking for himself there or continuing to quote the prosperous sinners of the previous verse? Most English versions assign both 21:14 and 21:15 to the sinners, which puts Elihu a little in the wrong here in chapter 35. There were no quotation marks in ancient Hebrew, though, so there is no way to be sure. The audience/jury will have to decide for itself.
36:29-33. The rearrangement of the lines in these verses is a last ditch attempt to wring meaning from a difficult passage. 'Aliy is a name of God meaning "Most High". Could the "cattle" be a sly reference to the audience?
37:1-13. Job and friends speak? The wording of 37:1 indicates a change of speaker. Also, the writing in this section has a pre-Elihu feel to it.
37:17. Sirocco is the Italian name for the hot south wind. See Luke 12:55.
37:19b. Not-we-set-in-order because of darkness/confusion.
This could be a marginal comment of an early editor trying to make sense of 37:19-24, which is indeed a confusing passage.
38:1. Then YWHW answered Job from the tempest and he said:
The headings in the section of God's speeches from 38:1 to 42:6 may have been added by someone other than the author. There is no proof, only several small reasons which together form a possibility. The question would not even be worth pursuing except that it bears on the status of verse 42:6, which is critical to the meaning of the book.
If the chapter headings are taken as conclusive, then 42:6 belongs to Job, and Job must repent in dust and ashes. But 42:6 may belong to God, in which case the meaning is that God takes pity on Job. Any argument that weakens the authority of the chapter headings strengthens this latter possibility. See the note at 42:6. The note at 38:2 is also relevant.
The name of the God of Israel, YWHW, occurs often in the prose prologue and epilogue. Outside of that it occurs in Job only at 12:9 and in the headings of God's speeches at 38:1, 40:1,3,6 and 42:1. Of course the headings are not the poetry, so the inconsistency may mean nothing at all.
More persuasively, the headings at 38:1 and 40:6 both have God answering Job "from the storm". But if we can believe 37:21,22 then the storm is already over: "Now the light is unseen though it shines above, but arise the wind and clear the skies. Then from Zaphon come gold, fierce splendor of God." However, the last section of chapter 37 is confused and difficult so no definite conclusion can be drawn.
Also, the formula for the headings from 38:1 to 40:1 includes both the name of the speaker and the name of the person spoken to: "The Job answered the Lord," or "Then the Lord said to Job". The headings in the earlier chapters mention only the speaker, not the one spoken to.
38:2. The King James interpretation of 38;2 is generally accepted: "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" But what a weak opening line for God! True, a theologian's meaning can be wrung from the words. But in Job God is no theologian. I tried and I could neither find nor invent a satisfying translation. For strength of address, compare 38:3.
Verse 38:2 makes more sense as a marginal comment that was later copied into the text. Imagine an early reader of the manuscript, when it was still in its first disarray, recording his reaction in the margin: "Who is this who ignorantly obscures the design?" If 38:1 had not yet been added to the text, then he was probably reacting to God's "Gird your loins...", which, unsignposted, might easily strike a reader as a crude interruption.
38:3b. Court procedures of the time seem to have had one party asking and the other answering. See 13:22.
38:12. Here is Emily Dickenson's rendition:
Bring me the sunset in a cup,
Reckon the morning's flagons up
And say how many Dew,
Tell me how far the morning leaps --
Tell me what time the weaver sleeps
Who spun the breadths of blue!
Write me how many notes there be
In the new Robin's ecstasy
Among the astonished boughs --
How many trips the Tortoise makes --
How many cups the Bee partakes,
The Debauchee of Dews!
Also, who laid the Rainbow's piers,
Also, who leads the docile spheres
By withes of supple blue?
Whose fingers string the stalactite --
Who counts the wampum of the night
To see that none is due?
Who built this little Alban House
And shut the windows down so close
My spirit cannot see?
Who'll let me out some Gala day
With implements to fly away,
Passing Pomposity?
38:15. The "Arm on high" would be an ancient constellation. The Dog Star is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. The "dogstar night" is therefore the morning hour when all the other stars have faded.
39:17. How odd that God should refer to himself this way. But see 1:8, 2:3, 40:2. What seems to be similar usage at 40:9,19 may not be. See the notes there and at 41:9.
40:7-14. God and man keep changing. Of all that I have learned from the study of Job, this is the most profound. In the twentieth century man has armed himself like God of old. What are we thinking? That God will say in praise that our own right arm can save us?
40:9,19. In these two verses God refers to "El". El was the ancient name of God as well as the common noun for "god". In the 14th century B.C. Canaanite stories from Ugarit, El was the Father of Gods, the Kind, the Compassionate, the Creator of All. In the pagan tradition, El's power was usurped by Baal, who was a storm god, Rider on the Clouds. Yahweh of the Jewish tradition is also a storm god like Baal, but Yahweh is the Creator, too.
In chapters 40 and 41 the references to El may be more pagan than Jewish. Probably not, but see the note below for 41:9.
41:1. Job's call to Leviathan at 3:8 would have aroused a superstitious fear in the crowd. Here in chapter 41 the author releases the audience from his spell by having Leviathan appear. This is God at his most terrible, yet also at his kindest, for he conjures up Leviathan, symbol of chaos, only to defeat him again as he did at the beginning of the world. Thus he negates Job's curse against the night of his conception (3:3) and Job is made whole again.
41:5. Will you play with them as with a bird
And tie him
up for your maidens?
It would be excessively cruel of God to remind Job of his lost children this way. With a small stretch of the Hebrew, the second line can be translated: "And tie him up as your sparrows?" The LXX conflates the two meanings: "Or bind him as a sparrow for a child?"
41:9. Lo, the hope of him is-proved-false
Even at the look
of him he/one is overwhelmed?
With no change to the consonantal text, the preposition "at" can be read as "El", so the second line could mean:
Was not El dismayed [at] the look of him?
The grammar would seem to suffer a bit without the preposition, but the ancient Syriac version understood "El", and an old story of how a sea god once dismayed El has miraculously survived. Here is Michael David Coogan's inspired translation from the Ugarit in his Stories from Ancient Canaan:
Sea sent two messengers...
"Leave, lads, do not turn back;
now head toward the Assembly in council,
at the center of the mountain of night.
Do not fall at El's feet,
do not prostrate yourself before the
Assembly in council;
Still standing speak your speech,
repeat to the Assembly in council:
'Message of Sea, your master,
your lord, Judge River,
El, give up Baal and his powers,
the son of Dagon: I will assume
his inheritance.'"
The lads left; they did not turn back;
they headed toward the center of the
mountain of night, the Assemby
in council.
There the gods had sat down to eat,
the holy ones to a meal;
Baal was standing by El.
As soon as the gods saw them,
saw the messengers of Sea,
the mission of Judge River,
the gods lowered their heads
to the top of their knees,
and onto their princely seats.
Baal rebuked them:
"Gods, why have you lowered your heads
to the top of your knees,
and onto your princely seats?
I see, gods, that you are stricken
with fear of the messengers of Sea,
the mission of Judge River.
Gods, raise your heads
from the top of your knees,
from your princely seats.
For I will reply to the messengers of Sea,
the mission of Judge River."
The gods raised their heads
from the top of their knees,
from their princely seats.
Then the messengers of Sea arrived,
the mission of Judge River.
They did not fall at El's feet,
they did not prostrate themselves
before the Assembly in council;
still standing they spoke their speech,
they repeated their message.
They seemed like one fire, or two;
their tongues were sharpened swords.
They addressed the Bull, his father El:
"Message of Sea, your master,
your lord, Judge River:
El, give up the one you are hiding;
the one the masses are hiding;
give up Baal and his powers, the son of Dagon:
I will assume his inheritance."
And the Bull, his father El, replied:
"Sea, Baal is your servant,
the son of Dagon your prisoner.
He will be brought as your tribute,
when the gods bring you payment,
and the holy ones gifts.
Then Baal will be gentle...."
It is not hard to see echoes of this ancient myth in chapters 40 and 41. Leviathan is a Sea god and Behemoth is a river god. Could they be Lord Sea and Judge River? In the story from Ugarit El does seem to have been dismayed by Lord Sea. The text is broken, though, so we can't be sure. Maybe El was just buying time. Baal goes on to prepare his weapons and defeat Lord Sea, an outcome that seems to be reflected in Job 41:12. And verse 41:25 may well refer to the great fear which afflicted the gods when the messengers of Prince Sea made their demands. See the notes at 7:12 and 40:9, too.
References to myth fit the pattern of Job, which uses concrete imagery in preference to abstract generalization. To translate 41:9 as the dismay of El, though, would suggest it is Baal who is speaking in Job chapter 41, and that seems scarcely credible. The author of Job was in the Jewish tradition, where El and Yahweh were not two gods, but One. See Ex 6:2,3.
Who is dismayed, then, if not El? The KJ interpretation is too prosaic: "shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?" Better to have God speak this line to the crowd: "Even [at] the look of him (Leviathan) wouldn't he (Job) be dismayed?"
42:2-6. These verses are Job's final answer to God. Line 3a and the whole of verse 4 appear to have been copied in from the margin or directly from parallel verses in chapter 38. With the removal of the interlopers, the section begins to make sense, but there is still a problem with 42:6.
42:5. Job sees God with his eye. The story requires the visible presence of God. Satan had said Job would curse God to His face (2:5). The motif continues at 13:15, 13:20, 13:24, 19:26,7, 23:8,9 and 37:24.
42:6. Upon this I reject/despise [something] and am
sorry/comforted
For/Concerning/Upon
the dust and ashes.
The verb "reject" normally requires an object. Ancient manuscripts smudged easily, so accidental erasure is one possibility. A daydreaming copyist is another. At 34:33 and 36:5, "reject" is used without an object but the usage in those verses is pretty clearly not applicable here, though the coincidence of three abnormal usages in a row like that does give pause.
The prologue has Job sitting in an ashpit (2:8), so if we assume that 42:6 is his, then we get something like this:
KJ: Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.
JPS: Wherefore I abhor my words, and repent,
Seeing
I am dust and ashes.
There are good reasons, though, to give this verse to God instead of to Job.
Job had likened himself to dust and ashes at 30:19. "Dust and ashes" is a memorable phrase in Hebrew: 'awfar v'ayfer. (At Gen 18:27 Abraham also spoke of himself as "dust and ashes".) The Jewish Publication Society version has picked up on this, but since it has Job speaking, JPS has to struggle with the Hebrew.
Also, the Hebrew for "am sorry for / am comforted concerning" is a standard verb-preposition compound. The King James reading is still possible, but Job would have to put a definite break between the verb and the preposition to get his non-standard meaning across, and he would end up sounding awkward and a little pompous: "I reject [something] and I repent --pause-- upon the dust and ashes."
The heading at 42;1 assigns the section to Job, but that heading itself may have been added later by someone other than the author. See the note for 38:1. The next verse (42:7) continues: "And it happened after Jehovah spoke these words/speeches..." This is direct support from the text for the idea that 42:6 belongs to God, but 42:7 may refer to the whole of God's speeches so there is no absolute proof here. Still, in an exchange between Job and God, who would have the last word? And so much more so in the context of a Trial where only God can be Judge.
Four times in the epilogue God speaks proudly of "his servant Job", twice saying Job has spoken "what is right" of Him. If God is so proud of him, why does Job despise himself and repent in dust and ashes? "As God lives" Job had said, "I will maintain my innocence until I die." (27:2-6) If Job has just broken so solemn an oath, why is God so proud of him?
Job has done nothing worthy of repentence in dust and ashes. He did charge God with being unjust. But Job's charge was not in any way corrupt or blameworthy. Rather it was a spirited defense of the truth as best Job could see it. God answered Job's charge by showing him there is a larger view beyond a man's comprehension and Job acknowledged God's answer at 42:3, saying "I spoke of things I did not understand, of wonders beyond my ken... For I had report of you by ear, but now my eye gives sight of you." Why should he go on to abase himself?
In his Messengers of God, Elie Wiesel says, "I prefer to think that the Book's true ending was lost. That Job died without having repented, without having humiliated himself; that he succumbed to his grief an uncompromising and whole man.... The third act of a play is usually a kind of apotheosis; this one is pale, disappointing. The fighter has turned into a lamb. A sad metamorphosis, inexplicable in literary terms."
Inexplicable, too, is the Satan's absence from the story after the prologue. Job's answer to God has proved he will not curse God to His face as the Satan had foretold. So if 42:6 belongs to God, then the Satan is logical for the missing object in the first line: Therefore I reject [the Satan] and take pity upon the dust and ashes." Job's idea was to bring suit against God. Job even worried that there was no fitting "arbiter" between himself and God. (See 9:33). By rejecting the Satan, God effortlessly transcends Job's conception. yes, there is a trial, but God is not one of the parties; he is the Judge. The Satan is the Accuser and Job is the defendant. The verdict goes against the Satan. Job is found innocent. Twenty-four centuries of abysmal error is enough! Job was innocent before God, a hero who confirmed God's faith in man.
42:10. In the early years of the Return to Jerusalem from Babylon the Jews clashed with the Samaritans. See Ezra, chapter 4. If Job is from that era, the author may be counseling an end to the enmity.
last changed July 3, 1997