Job 21:23–24

Footnotes

1. 59 The line has “in the bone of his perfection.” The word עֶצֶם (’etsem), which means “bone,” is used pronominally to express “the same, very”; here it is “in the very fullness of his strength” (see §139.g). The abstract תֹּם (tom) is used here in the sense of physical perfection and strengths.
2. 60 The verb עָטַן (’atan) has the precise meaning of “press olives.” But because here it says “full of milk,” the derived meaning for the noun has been made to mean “breasts” or “pails” (although in later Hebrew this word occurs—but with olives, not with milk). Dhorme takes it to refer to “his sides,” and repoints the word for “milk” (חָלָב, khalav) to get “fat” (חֶלֶב, khelev)—“his sides are full of fat,” a rendering followed by . However, this weakens the parallelism.
3. 61 This interpretation, adopted by several commentaries and modern translations (cf. , ), is a general rendering to capture the sense of the line.
4. 62 The verb שָׁקָה (shaqah) means “to water” and here “to be watered thoroughly.” The picture in the line is that of health and vigor.