Job 19:2–6

Footnotes

1. 1 Heb “torment my soul,” with “soul” representing the self or individual. The has a verb from יָגָה (yagah, “to afflict; to torment”). This is supported by the versions. But the has “to tire” which is apparently from יָגַע (yaga’). The form in the is unusual because it preserves the final (original) yod in the Hiphil (see §75.gg). So this unusual form has been preserved, and is the correct reading. A modal nuance for the imperfect fits best here: “How long do you intend to do this?”
2. 2 The has דָּכָא (dakha’), “to crush” in the Piel. The , however, has a more general word which means “to destroy.”
3. 3 The adds to the verse: “only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.”
4. 4 The number “ten” is a general expression to convey that this has been done often (see Gen 31:7; Num 14:22).
5. 5 The Hiphil of the verb כָּלַם (kalam) means “outrage; insult; shame.” The verbs in this verse are prefixed conjugations, and may be interpreted as preterites if the reference is to the past time. But since the action is still going on, progressive imperfects work well.
6. 6 The second half of the verse uses two verbs, the one dependent on the other. It could be translated “you are not ashamed to attack me” (see §120.c), or “you attack me shamelessly.” The verb חָכַר (hakhar) poses some difficulties for both the ancient versions and the modern commentators. The verb seems to be cognate to Arabic hakara, “to oppress; to ill-treat.” This would mean that there has been a transformation of ח (khet) to ה (he). Three Hebrew actually have the ח (khet). This has been widely accepted; other suggestions are irrelevant.
7. 7 Job has held to his innocence, so the only way that he could say “I have erred” (שָׁגִיתִי, shagiti) is in a hypothetical clause like this.
8. 8 There is a long addition in the : “in having spoken words which it is not right to speak, and my words err, and are unreasonable.”
9. 9 The word מְשׁוּגָה (méshugah) is a . It is derived from שׁוּג (shug, “to wander; to err”) with root paralleling שָׁגַג (shagag) and שָׁגָה (shagah). What Job is saying is that even if it were true that he had erred, it did not injure them—it was solely his concern.
10. 10 The introductory particles repeat אָמְנָם (’amnam, “indeed”) but now with אִם (’im, “if”). It could be interpreted to mean “is it not true,” or as here in another conditional clause.
11. 11 The verb is the Hiphil of גָּדַל (gadal); it can mean “to make great” or as an internal causative “to make oneself great” or “to assume a lofty attitude, to be insolent.” There is no reason to assume another root here with the meaning of “quarrel” (as Gordis does).
12. 12 Job’s friends have been using his shame, his humiliation in all his sufferings, as proof against him in their case.
13. 13 The imperative is used here to introduce a solemn affirmation. This verse proves that Job was in no way acknowledging sin in v. 4. Here Job is declaring that God has wronged him, and in so doing, perverted justice.
14. 14 The Piel of עָוַת (’avat) means “to warp justice” (see 8:3), or here, to do wrong to someone (see Ps 119:78). The statement is chosen to refute the question that Bildad asked in his first speech.
15. 15 The verb נָקַף (naqaf) means “to turn; to make a circle; to encircle.” It means that God has encircled or engulfed Job with his net.
16. 16 The word מְצוּדוֹ (métsudo) is usually connected with צוּד (tsud, “to hunt”), and so is taken to mean “a net.” Gordis and Habel, however, interpret it to mean “siegeworks” thrown up around a city—but that would require changing the ד (dalet) to a ר (resh) (cf. , “I am like a city under siege”). The , though, has “bulwark.” Besides, the previous speech used several words for “net.”