31 The clause begins with אִם (’im) which here has more of the sense of “since.” E. Dhorme (Job, 253) takes a rather rare use of the word to get “Can I hope again” (see also §150.f for the caveat).
32 This is understood because the conditional clauses seem to run to the apodosis in v. 15.
33 The word שַׁחַת (shakhat) may be the word “corruption” from a root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “to destroy”) or a word “pit” from שׁוּחַ (shuakh, “to sink down”). The same problem surfaces in Ps 16:10, where it is parallel to “Sheol.” E. F. Sutcliffe, The Old Testament and the Future Life, 76ff., defends the meaning “corruption.” But many commentators here take it to mean “the grave” in harmony with “Sheol.” But in this verse “worms” would suggest “corruption” is better.
34 The adverb אֵפוֹ (’efo, “then”) plays an enclitic role here (see Job 4:7).
35 The repetition of “my hope” in the verse has thrown the versions off, and their translations have led commentators also to change the second one to something like “goodness,” on the assumption that a word cannot be repeated in the same verse. The word actually carries two different senses here. The first would be the basic meaning “hope,” but the second a metonymy of cause, namely, what hope produces, what will be seen.
36 It is natural to assume that this verse continues the interrogative clause of the preceding verse.
37 The plural form of the verb probably refers to the two words, or the two senses of the word in the preceding verse. Hope and what it produces will perish with Job.
38 The Hebrew word בַּדִּים (baddim) describes the “bars” or “bolts” of Sheol, referring (by synecdoche) to the “gates of Sheol.” The has “with me to Sheol,” and many adopt that as “by my side.”
39 The conjunction אִם (’im) confirms the interrogative interpretation.
40 The translation follows the and the versions with the change of vocalization in the . The has the noun “rest,” yielding, “will our rest be together in the dust?” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) in Aramaic means “to go down; to descend.” If that is the preferred reading—and it almost is universally accepted here—then it would be spelled נֵחַת (nekhat). In either case the point of the verse is clearly describing death and going to the grave.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If I hope for Sheol as my house,

if I make my bed in darkness,

if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

Will it go down to the bars of Sheol?

Shall we descend together into the dust?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If the only home I hope for is the grave,

if I spread out my bed in the realm of darkness,

if I say to corruption, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother’ or ‘My sister,’

where then is my hope—

who can see any hope for me?

Will it go down to the gates of death?

Will we descend together into the dust?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

If I await Sheol as my home,

spread out my bed in darkness,

and say to corruption, “You are my father,”

and to the maggot, “My mother” or “My sister,”

where then is my hope?

Who can see any hope for me?

Will it go down to the gates of Sheol,

or will we descend together to the dust?

NLTNew Living Translation

What if I go to the grave

and make my bed in darkness?

What if I call the grave my father,

and the maggot my mother or my sister?

Where then is my hope?

Can anyone find it?

No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.

We will rest together in the dust!”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

If I hope for Sheol as my house,

if I spread my couch in the darkness,

if I call to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

to the maggot, ‘You are my mother or my sister,’

where then is my hope?

And who will see my hope?

Will they go down to the bars of Sheol?

Or shall we descend together into the dust?”

KJV 1900King James Version

If I wait, the grave is mine house:

I have made my bed in the darkness.

I have said to corruption, Thou art my father:

To the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister.

And where is now my hope?

As for my hope, who shall see it?

They shall go down to the bars of the pit,

When our rest together is in the dust.

Public Domain