Job 36:7–12

36:7 He does not take his eyes12 off the righteous;

but with kings on the throne

he seats the righteous13 and exalts them forever.14

36:8 But if they are bound in chains,15

and held captive by the cords of affliction,

36:9 then he reveals16 to them what they have done,17

and their transgressions,

that they were behaving proudly.

36:10 And he reveals18 this19 for correction,

and says that they must turn20 from evil.

36:11 If they obey and serve him,

they live out their days in prosperity

and their years in pleasantness.21

36:12 But if they refuse to listen,

they pass over the river of death,22

and expire without knowledge.

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12	tc Many commentators accept the change of “his eyes” to “his right” (reading דִּינוֹ [dino] for עֵינָיו [’enayv]). There is no compelling reason for the change; it makes the line commonplace.
13	tn Heb “them”; the referent (the righteous) has been repeated from the first part of the verse for clarity.
14	tn Heb “he seats them forever and exalts them.” The last verb can be understood as expressing a logical consequence of the preceding action (cf. GKC 328 §111.l = “he seats them forever so that he exalts them”). Or the two verbs can be taken as an adverbial hendiadys whereby the first modifies the second adverbially: “he exalts them by seating them forever” or “when he seats them forever” (cf. GKC 326 §111.d). Some interpret this verse to say that God seats kings on the throne, making a change in subject in the middle of the verse. But it makes better sense to see the righteous as the subject matter throughout—they are not only protected, but are exalted.
15	tn Dhorme thinks that the verse is still talking about kings, who may be in captivity. But this diverts attention from Elihu’s emphasis on the righteous.
16	tn The verb נָגַד (nagad) means “to declare; to tell.” Here it is clear that God is making known the sins that caused the enslavement or captivity, so “reveal” makes a good interpretive translation.
17	tn Heb “their work.”
18	tn The idiom once again is “he uncovers their ear.”
19	tn The revelation is in the preceding verse, and so a pronoun must be added to make the reference clear.
20	tn The verb שׁוּב (shuv, “to turn; to return”) is one of the two major words in the OT for “repent”—to return from evil. Here the imperfect should be obligatory—they must do it.
21	tc Some commentators delete this last line for metrical considerations. But there is no textual evidence for the deletion; it is simply the attempt by some to make the meter rigid.
22	tn This is a similar expression to the one in Job 33:18, where the suggestion was made by many that it means crossing over the canal or river of death. Some retain the earlier interpretation of “perish by the sword” (cf. NIV).

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