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Job 10:16

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10:16If I lift myself up,41

you hunt me as a fierce lion,42

and again43 you display your power44 against me.

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Footnotes

  1. 41 The has the 3rd person of the verb, “and he lifts himself up.” One might assume that the subject is “my head”—but that is rather far removed from the verb. It appears that Job is talking about himself in some way. Some commentators simply emend the text to make it first person. This has the support of Job, which would be expected since it would be interpreting the passage in its context (see D. M. Stec, “The Rendering of WYG’H in Job X 16,” 34 [1984]: 367–8). Pope and Gordis make the word adjectival, modifying the subject: “proudly you hunt me,” but support is lacking. E. Dhorme thinks the line should be parallel to the two preceding it, and so suggests יָגֵּעַ (yagea’, “exhausted”) for יִגְאֶה (yig’eh, “lift up”). The contextual argument is that Job has said that he cannot raise his head, but if he were to do so, God would hunt him down. God could be taken as the subject of the verb if the text is using enallage (shifting of grammatical persons within a discourse) for dramatic effect. Perhaps the initial 3rd person was intended with respect within a legal context of witnesses and a complaint, but was switched to 2nd person for direct accusation.
  2. 42 There is some ambiguity here: Job could be the lion being hunted by God, or God could be hunting Job like a lion hunts its prey. The point of the line is clear in either case.
  3. 43 The text uses two verbs without a coordinating conjunction: “then you return, you display your power.” This should be explained as a verbal hendiadys, the first verb serving adverbially in the clause (see further §120.g).
  4. 44 The form is the Hitpael of פָּלָא (pala’, “to be wonderful; to be surpassing; to be extraordinary”). Here in this stem it has the sense of “make oneself admirable, surpassing” or “render oneself powerful, glorious.” The text is ironic; the word that described God’s marvelous creation of Job is here used to describe God’s awesome destruction of Job.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And were my head lifted up, you would hunt me like a lion

and again work wonders against me.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion

and again display your awesome power against me.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

If I am proud, you hunt me like a lion

and again display your miraculous power against me.

NLTNew Living Translation

And if I hold my head high, you hunt me like a lion

and display your awesome power against me.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And if my head grows bold, you would hunt me as the lion in its prime;

and you repeat your exploits against me.

KJV 1900King James Version

For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion:

And again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.