Job 5:21–22

Footnotes

1. 75 The Hebrew verb essentially means “you will be hidden.” In the Niphal the verb means “to be hidden, to be in a hiding place,” and protected (Ps 31:20).
2. 76 Heb “from the lash [i.e., whip] of the tongue.” Sir 26:9 and 51:2 show usages of these kinds of expressions: “the lash of the tongue” or “the blow of the tongue.” The expression indicates that a malicious gossip is more painful than a blow. The saw here a reference to Balaam and the devastation brought on by the Midianites.
3. 77 The word here is שׁוֹד (shod); it means “destruction,” but some commentators conjecture alternate readings: שׁוֹאָה (sho’ah, “desolation”); or שֵׁד (shed, “demon”). One argument for maintaining שׁוֹד (shod) is that it fits the assonance within the verse שׁוֹד … לָשׁוֹן … שׁוֹט (shot … lashon … shod).
4. 78 The repetition of “destruction” and “famine” here has prompted some scholars to delete the whole verse. Others try to emend the text. The renders them as “the unrighteous and the lawless.” But there is no difficulty in having the repetition of the words as found in the . The word for “famine” is an Aramaic word found again in 30:3. The book of Job has a number of Aramaisms that are used to form an alternative parallel expression (see notes on “witness” in 16:19).
5. 79 The negated jussive is used here to express the conviction that something cannot or should not happen ( §109.e).