Job 9:31

Footnotes

1. 96 The pointing in the gives the meaning “pit” or “ditch.” A number of expositors change the pointing to שֻׁחוֹת (shukhot) to obtain the equivalent of שֻׂחוֹת (sukhot) / סֻחוֹת (sukhot): “filth” (Isa 5:25). This would make the contrast vivid—Job has just washed with pure water and soap, and now God plunges him into filth. M. H. Pope argues convincingly that the word “pit” in the includes the idea of “filth,” making the emendation unnecessary (“The Word sahat in Job 9:31,” 83 [1964]: 269–78).