Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Chapter 22 is Eliphaz’s final speech to Job. He accuses Job of corruption, describes how the wicked are destroyed, and encourages Job to turn to God.

II. Photo
For the first time in the book, Eliphaz accuses Job of a specific sin: “You exact pledges from your fellows without reason, and leave them naked, stripped of their clothes.” (v. 6)

III. Important Verses
vv. 5-7: You know that your wickedness is great, And that your iniquities have no limit. You exact pledges from your fellows without reason, And leave them naked, stripped of their clothes; You do not give the thirsty water to drink; You deny bread to the hungry.
vv. 13-14: You say, “What can God know? Can He govern through the dense cloud? The clouds screen Him so He cannot see As He moves about the circuit of heaven.”
vv. 15-16: Have you observed the immemorial path That evil men have trodden; How they were shriveled up before their time And their foundation poured out like a river?
vv. 23-28: If you return to Shaddai you will be restored, If you banish iniquity from your tent;  If you regard treasure as dirt, Ophir-gold as stones of the wadi, And Shaddai be your treasure And precious silver for you, When you seek the favor of Shaddai, And lift up your face to God,  You will pray to Him, and He will listen to you, And you will pay your vows. You will decree and it will be fulfilled, And light will shine upon your affairs.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-11. Accusation
12-20. The fate of the wicked
21-30. The path of return, and its rewards

V. Comment
Chapter 22 is Eliphaz’s final speech. He accuses Job of social injustice (vv. 2-11), describes the fate of the wicked (vv. 12-20), and encourages him to turn to God (vv. 21-30). The speech is a disputation speech, and it includes elements of the psalmic and prophetic tradition (see below).

Eliphaz’s speech is the first in the third cycle of speeches. The third cycle differs from the first two in a few ways: (a) Zophar doesn’t speak, (b) Bildad’s speech is extremely short (6 verses), and (c) many of Job’s statements don’t seem to make sense (see comments on chaps. 24, 26, and 27). Clines writes about the third cycle (p. 550): “Especially in its later chapters, the text is in some disarray, to the extent that at some points we cannot be sure who is the speaker.”

For the first time in the book, one of the friends accuses Job of a specific sin (vv. 5-9): “You know that your wickedness is great, And that your iniquities have no limit. You exact pledges from your fellows without reason, And leave them naked, stripped of their clothes; You do not give the thirsty water to drink; You deny bread to the hungry… You have sent away widows empty-handed; The strength of the fatherless is broken.” The theme of oppressing the poor is common in the prophets. See, for example, Isa. 1:23: “Your rulers are rogues And cronies of thieves, Every one avid for presents And greedy for gifts; They do not judge the case of the orphan, And the widow’s cause never reaches them.” Jer. 22:3 says: “Thus said the LORD: Do what is just and right; rescue from the defrauder him who is robbed; do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; commit no lawless act, and do not shed the blood of the innocent in this place.” For statements of other prophets, see Ezek. 22:7, Zech. 7:10, and Mal. 3:5.

Clines points out that Eliphaz is not accusing Job of breaking “any of the social laws we are familiar with from the Hebrew Bible in general. His sins are mostly sins of omission, and, even in the case of taking pledges, it is not the act as such that is wrong but its circumstances… There is no murder nor false witness nor idolatry here, nothing against the Ten Commandments, nothing indeed except a hardheartedness and a failure of social conscience. They are not, in fact, sins committed by the man Job, and readers are not supposed to imagine they are anything other than Eliphaz’s desperate attempt to find reason in Job’s experience of suffering.” Hakham  explains what the sin was (p. 173): “from all these matters it makes sense that Job was a judge [shofet] in his locale. According to Eliphaz, when people would come before Job regarding land disputes, he would rule according to the rule ‘may the stronger one win.’ Thus he would remove the weak ones from their land.” For sins regarding improper pledges see Deut. 24:6, 10-13, 17 and Ex. 22:25-26.

It is important to point out that Job will reject Eliphaz’s claims in 31:16-22: “Did I deny the poor their needs, Or let a widow pine away, By eating my food alone, The fatherless not eating of it also?  Why, from my youth he grew up with me as though I were his father; Since I left my mother’s womb I was her guide. I never saw an unclad wretch, A needy man without clothing, Whose loins did not bless me As he warmed himself with the shearings of my sheep. If I raised my hand against the fatherless, Looking to my supporters in the gate, May my arm drop off my shoulder; My forearm break off at the elbow.” This defense is in line with the book’s introduction (i.e. that Job is saintly, cf. 1:1), and is yet another indication that Eliphaz was assuming that Job “must have sinned,” not that he actually saw Job do so.

In vv. 12-20 Eliphaz speaks about the fate of the wicked: “Surely their substance was destroyed, And their remnant consumed by fire” (v. 20). Hakham (p. 180) makes an interesting point about how the friends often turn to tradition to support dogmas such as this (cf. 20:4-5, 8:8-10, 15:17-19): “Eliphaz doesn’t understand the words of Job. He sees them as proof that Job is wicked, similar to the wicked people who are the subject of ancient tales, e.g. those about the generation of Enosh [cf. Gen. 4:26], the generation of the flood [cf. Gen. 7-9], the generation of dispersion [cf. Gen. 11], and the men of Sodom [cf. Gen. 19].” Thus, according to Hakham, the friends are basing their theology on stories much like those found in the book of Genesis.

Eliphaz “quotes” Job in vv. 13-14: “You say, ‘What can God know? Can He govern through the dense cloud (‘arafel)? The clouds screen Him so He cannot see As He moves about the circuit of heaven.’” This seems to be a paraphrase of 21:22 (against Clines), “Can God be instructed in knowledge, He who judges from such heights?” Clines (p. 558) points out that God’s cloud (‘arafel) usually serves to protect Him from human gaze, but here, according to Eliphaz’s interpretation of Job’s statements, it serves to obstruct God’s view of earth. For two examples of the ‘arafel “dense cloud” shielding God from humans, see Ex. 20:18, “So the people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud (‘arafel) where God was,” and Deut. 4:11, “You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds (‘arafel).”

In v. 19 Eliphaz says that the righteous laugh at the wicked, “The righteous, seeing it, rejoiced; The innocent laughed with scorn.” This statement is similar to many of the verses found in the book of Psalms. For example, see Ps. 107:42: “The upright see it and rejoice; the mouth of all wrongdoers is stopped.” Also see Ps. 58:11: “The righteous man will rejoice when he sees revenge; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.” Another instance in which Eliphaz’s speech incorporates psalmic elements is his reference to paying vows in v. 26: “Because of You I offer praise in the great congregation; I pay my vows in the presence of His worshipers.” For a similar verse, see Ps. 61:9: “So I will sing hymns to Your name forever, as I fulfill my vows day after day.” Also see Ps. 22:26: “Because of You I offer praise in the great congregation; I pay my vows in the presence of His worshipers.”

In v. 23 Eliphaz tells Job what to do: “If you turn (tashuv) to Shaddai you will be restored, If you banish iniquity from your tent.” While one might think that tashuv means “to repent,” Clines believes (p. 564) that here the word means to “turn to,” much like in Prov. 1:23: “Turn to (tashuvu) to my rebuke; I will now speak my mind to you, And let you know my thoughts.” He writes (p. 571) that tashuv “is a demand not for repentance but for a reverant and trustful commitment of his cause to God.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 21-37 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Hakham, Job (Daat Mikra (Hebrew))
Photo taken from  http://www.charity-for-children.com/clothingbig.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job tells his friends that wicked people live long, prosperous, and happy lives. While they ignore God, God doesn’t seem to care.

II. Photo

While the friends said that God kills the wicked along with their children, Job disagrees: “Their children are with them always, and they see their children’s children… They let their infants run loose like sheep, and their children skip about!” (vv. 8, 11)
III. Important Verses
vv. 6-9: When I think of it I am terrified; My body is seized with shuddering.
Why do the wicked live on, Prosper and grow wealthy? Their children are with them always, And they see their children’s children. Their homes are secure, without fear; They do not feel the rod of God.
vv. 14-15: They say to God, “Leave us alone, We do not want to learn Your ways; What is Shaddai that we should serve Him? What will we gain by praying to Him?”
v. 17: How seldom does the lamp of the wicked fail, Does the calamity they deserve befall them, Does He apportion [their] lot in anger!
vv. 22-26: Can God be instructed in knowledge, He who judges from such heights? One man dies in robust health, All tranquil and untroubled; His pails are full of milk; The marrow of his bones is juicy. Another dies embittered, Never having tasted happiness. They both lie in the dust And are covered with worms

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-6. Opening remarks
7-16. The wicked prosper
17-26. God does not punish the wicked
27-34. Proof from those who travel the world

V. Comment
Chapter 21 is Job’s final speech in the second round of discourses. Job begins with an exordium (vv. 2-6), continues with a discourse about how the wicked prosper (vv. 7-26), and ends with an appeal to reason (vv. 27-34). Clines summarizes Job’s argument as follows (p. 522): “if the wicked are not recompensed, neither are the righteous. That is the simple meaning of [Job’s] suffering: there is no meaning to it at all.” In terms of form/structure, the speech is similar to other disputation speeches in the book.

As one might expect, Job begins his speech by mentioning “words,” “speech,” or “talk”: “Listen well to what I say, And let that be your consolation. Bear with me while I speak, And after I have spoken, you may mock.” For similar verses, see 4:2, 8:2, 9:2, 11:2–3, 15:2–3, 16:2–3, 18:2, 20:2, 19:2, 32:6–33:3, 34:2, 36:2, and 38:2. His demand to be heard is similar to 15:17: “ I will hold forth; listen to me; What I have seen, I will declare…”

While the friends described the wicked’s downfall (cf. 8:8-22; 15:17-35; 18:5-21), Job describes the wicked’s pleasant and enviable lot (vv. 7-16). It is interesting that Job’s description parallels the psalmic blessings reserved for the righteous: the wicked are blessed with long life (v. 7), strength (v. 7), offspring (vv. 8, 11), security (v. 9), wealth (v. 10), music/joy (v. 12), and a peaceful death (v. 13). Indeed, it seems that the promise of prosperity that Eliphaz gave to Job in 5:19-26 has been given to the wicked.

Job mentions the thoughts of the wicked in vv. 14-15: “They say to God, ‘Leave us alone, We do not want to learn Your ways; What is Shaddai that we should serve Him? What will we gain by praying to Him?’” While it is likely that Job would agree with this statement, it is interesting to note that similar phrases occur in the book of Psalms. For example, Ps. 10:11 says, “He thinks, ‘God is not mindful, He hides His face, He never looks,’” and Ps. 53:2 says, “The benighted man thinks, ‘God does not care’…” Also see Ps. 73:11 and 14:1.

In v. 17 Job proclaims, “How seldom does the lamp of the wicked fail, Does the calamity they deserve befall them, Does He apportion [their] lot in anger!” This is a refutation of Bildad’s statement in 18:5-6: “Indeed, the light of the wicked fails; The flame of his fire does not shine. The light in his tent darkens; His lamp fails him.” Job is also refuting the wisdom statement found in Prov. 24:20: “For there is no future for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked goes out.” Clines (p. 524) makes an excellent point about the potency of Job’s argument: “The fact is, if Job is even only half right… the friends case is doomed. Even a single case of a prosperous wicked man would destroy the friends’ dogma.”

In vv. 27-34 Job tells his friends to ask the travelers for insights about the issue: “You must have consulted the wayfarers; You cannot deny their evidence.” It seems that the travelers would have seen the world and better understood the fates of men. While the wayfarers are not often appealed to in Tanakh (but see Lam. 1:12), Ben Sira 31:10-11 speaks of the wisdom one gains from travelling: “He that hath no experience knoweth little: but he that hath travelled is full of prudence. When I travelled, I saw many things; and I understand more than I can express.”

Note: While I do not usually speak about theology, Clines makes a poignant point about Job’s speech (p. 536): “No one these days wants a doctrine of retribution as simplistic as that advocated by Job’s friends, but what Job puts in its place is scary. If Job is right, there is no moral order at all and your moral behavior or otherwise will have no effect on your well-being. This is the challenge Job’s speech brings, not just to the religious believer, but to any person with moral values. Inculcated in all of us is the belief that certain behavior is not just right in itself but beneficial, and even that the rewards that certain moral behavior entails constitute some kind of authentication of the value of that behavior. If Job is correct, there is indeed a right and a wrong, but no one should imagine that doing the right and eschewing the wrong is going to yield any benefit; if anything, it is wrongdoing that yields the greatest benefit.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 21-37 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Hakham, Job (Daat Mikra)

Photo taken from  http://www.browseandgrass.org/files/images/sheep_grazing.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Zophar responds to Job with a lecture about the fate of the wicked. He asserts that the wicked, who enjoy brief moments of prosperity, are eventually destroyed by God.

II. Photo
Zophar dogmatically describes the fate of the wicked: “He sucks the poison of cobras; The tongue of the viper kills him.” (v. 16)

III. Important Verses
vv. 4-7: Do you not know this, that from time immemorial, Since man was set on earth, The joy of the wicked has been brief, The happiness of the impious, fleeting? Though he grows as high as the sky, His head reaching the clouds, He perishes forever, like his dung; Those who saw him will say, ‘Where is he?’

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-3. Opening remark
4-29. Homily: the wicked are punished by God

V. Comment
Zophar’s second speech consists of an introduction (vv. 1-3) and a homily about the wicked (vv. 4-29). The speech, which contains many metaphors and similes (e.g. vv. 6, 7, 8, 14, 17, 23), parallels many other passages in the books of Job, Psalms, and Proverbs.

Zophar begins his speech with an appeal to traditional knowledge, “Do you not know this, that from time immemorial, Since man was set on earth, the joy of the wicked has been brief, The happiness of the impious, fleeting?” (vv. 4-5) This has been a common theme in the book. For example, Bildad says in 8:8-10: “Ask the generation past, Study what their fathers have searched out — For we are of yesterday and know nothing; Our days on earth are a shadow — Surely they will teach you and tell you, Speaking out of their understanding.” Eliphaz also appeals to tradition in 15:17-19. It is interesting to note that Job mocks the idea of tradition when he condescendingly asks, “Is wisdom in the aged And understanding in the long-lived?” (12:12)

In v. 19 Zophar mentions the sin of the wicked: “Because he crushed and tortured the poor, He will not build up the house he took by force.” Clines writes (p. 482): “Throughout the entire depiction, which is almost wholly metaphorical, only one verse gives any specifics of the wicked man’s wrongdoing: in v 19 we learn that he has crushed the poor and seized the houses of others (but cf also v 15a). This is confirmation enough that Zophar is not speaking expressly of Job. It is a signal too, since there are more kinds of wickedness than this, that what we are reading in this speech is a topos, an illustrative portrait of a single but typical individual.”

While Clines is convinced about this interpretation, there is room to believe that Zophar’s speech is in fact a description of Job. This is because Eliphaz explicitly accuses Job of wronging the poor in 22:5-9: “You know that your wickedness is great, And that your iniquities have no limit. You exact pledges from your fellows without reason, And leave them naked, stripped of their clothes; You do not give the thirsty water to drink; You deny bread to the hungry… You have sent away widows empty-handed; The strength of the fatherless is broken.” Also, in 29:12-16 Job feels the need to reject such accusations: “For I saved the poor man who cried out, The orphan who had none to help him… I gladdened the heart of the widow… I was eyes to the blind And feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, And I looked into the case of the stranger.” Also see 31:13-23. All in all, it seems that the friends accuse Job of a grave sin, and Job denies those claims.

Zophar ends his speech in v. 29 with what some call a “summary appraisal”: “This is the wicked man’s portion from God, The lot God has ordained for him.” This type of summary is common in the book. For example, see 18:21: “These were the haunts of the wicked; Here was the place of him who knew not God.” Also see 8:19: “Such is his happy lot; And from the earth others will grow.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Proverbs 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from  http://teacher.scholastic.com/dirtrep/friction/img/snake.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job confronts his friends about their behavior, bemoans what God has done to him, and begs the friends to treat him fairly.

II. Photo
Job wants to be remembered: “O that my words were written down; would they were inscribed in a record, incised on a rock forever with iron stylus and lead!” (vv. 23-24)

III. Important Verses
vv. 2-3: How long will you grieve my spirit, And crush me with words? Time and again [lit. “these ten times”] you humiliate me, And are not ashamed to abuse me.
v. 6-7: Know that God has wronged me; He has thrown up siege works around me. I cry, “Violence!” but am not answered; I shout, but can get no justice.
vv. 8-10: He has barred my way; I cannot pass; He has laid darkness upon my path. He has stripped me of my glory, Removed the crown from my head. He tears down every part of me; I perish; He uproots my hope like a tree.
v. 17: My odor is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my children.
vv. 21-22: Pity me, pity me! You are my friends; For the hand of God has struck me! Why do you pursue me like God, Maligning me insatiably?
vv. 23-24: O that my words were written down; Would they were inscribed in a record, Incised on a rock forever With iron stylus and lead!

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-7. Confronting the friends
8-20. Bitter complaint about what God has done
21-22. Implicit petition for the friends to NOT act like God
23-27. Futile wish for vindication
28-29. Warning to friends

V. Comment
Job’s sixth speech consists of addresses to the friends (vv. 2-7, 21-22, 28-29), and a complaint about God (vv. 8-20). The complaint is filled with vivid metaphors and similes, what Clines calls “a veritable kaleidoscope of images”.  This speech is different for two reasons: (1) Job doesn’t address God, and (2) he doesn’t express his desire to die. In terms of form, the speech shares many characteristics with lament genre, especially the description of enemies in vv. 6-13 and a depiction of despair in vv. 13-20.

Job begins his speech in vv. 2-3: “How long will you grieve my spirit, And crush me with words? Time and again [lit. ‘eser pe’amim “these ten times”] you humiliate me, And are not ashamed to abuse me.” As one might expect, Job begins his speech by mentioning the “words/speech/talk” of his predecessors. For similar verses For similar verses, see 4:2, 8:2, 9:2, 11:2–3, 15:2–3, 16:2–3, 18:2, 20:2, 21:2, 32:6–33:3, 34:2, 36:2, and 38:2. When Job says that he has been humiliated ‘eser pe‘amim “ten times” he is using a biblical idiom which means “many times.” For example, see Neh. 4:6: “When the Jews living near them would arrive, they would tell us ten times (‘eser pe‘amim) ‘… from all the places where … you shall come back to us….’” For more instances of “ten times,” see Num. 14:22 and the related Gen. 31:7 and Lev. 26:26.

V. 17 is one of the most discussed in the whole book. In v. 17 Job laments, “My odor is repulsive to my wife; I am loathsome to my children (benei vitni ).” The major problem is that Job’s children were killed in 1:18-19. There are at least four general approaches to explaining this discrepancy: (a) one can posit that Job had other children, (b) one can interpret the phrase benei vitni as a figure of speech, (c) one can give an alternate meaning of venei vitni, or (d) one can let the contradiction stand. Each approach will now be discussed.

The first two approaches are taken by Amos Hakham in the commentary Da‘at Mikra’ (Hebrew). He writes (p. 148, translation my own): “And, if you ask, ‘Didn’t all of Job’s children die?’ one can say that those who died were the children of the primary wife (gevirah). Yet, he had other children from concubines that he took from his maidservants that were mentioned in v. 15, and these children did not die. Alternatively, some say that Job was using a figure of speech often used by complainers.” While both of these answers (and the other ones suggested in fn. 21) are possible, it is important to note that there is no textual support for either (there is no mention of other children, and there is no parallel in which benei vitni is used as a figure of speech). Clines takes the third approach by reinterpreting the meaning of benei vitni. He writes (p. 453): “The best solution is clearly that the ‘sons of my womb’ are the sons born from the same womb as Job, ie, his uterine brothers… (elsewhere such are specified as ‘my brother[s], the son[s] of my mother’ [Gen 43:29; Judg 8:19]).” Yet, while he points to Gen. 43:29 and Judg. 8:19 for support, there is no instance in Tanakh where benei vitni actually means “brothers.” The fourth solution, hinted at in the Anchor Bible Dictionary (“Job, Book of” in Vol. III, pp. 858-868), is to let the contradiction stand. Indeed, there seem to be other differences between the prose “frame” and the poetic core of the book. For example, while the Tetragrammaton is used often in the prose sections, it is conspicuously absent in chaps. 3-37 where God is referred to as ’el, ’eloha, and shaddai. Also, while the Satan plays a leading role in chaps. 1-2 he isn’t mentioned again.

In vv. 21-22 Job asks his friends for sympathy: “Pity me, pity me! You are my friends; For the hand of God has struck me! Why do you pursue me like God, Maligning me insatiably?” Clines (p. 452-453) points out that “A strikingly new note is sounded here… [Job] has never before asked for their pity. Indeed, having berated them for their treachery (6:15), their callousness (6:27), their stupidity (12:2–3; 13:2), their worthlessness (13:4), their lies (13:7), their partisanship (13:7–9), their torture (16:2), and their attempts to destroy him (19:2), having done everything wrong if he had been trying to win friends and influence people, it is truly amazing that he should suddenly fall into a supplicative mood, and that for only two verses, to be followed shortly by as aggressive an address to the friends as we have heard (vv 28–29).”

In vv. 23-24 Job expresses what he feels to be a futile wish: “O that (mi yitein) my words were written down; Would they (mi yitein) were inscribed in a record, Incised on a rock forever With iron stylus and lead!” The idiom mi yitein (lit. “who would give”), which appears twelve times in the book (nine times more than in any other book), is what indicates Job’s pessimism. Another example of the phrase is Zophar’s statement in 11:5: “But would that (mi yitein) God might speak, And talk to you Himself.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Hakham, Job (Da‘at Mikra’)
Crenshaw, “Job, Book of” in Anchor Bible Dictionary Vol III. pp. 858-868
Photo taken from  http://www.cas.usf.edu/~cconnor/field_school/rock_hammer.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Bildad confronts Job in chapter 18. He rejects Job’s blasphemy, defends his own intelligence, and reiterates that it is the wicked – not the innocent – who suffer.

II. Photo
Bildad scoffs at Job in v. 4: “Will the earth’s order be disrupted for your sake? Will rocks be dislodged from their place?”

III. Important Verses
vv. 3-4: Why are we thought of as brutes, Regarded by you as stupid? You who tear yourself to pieces in anger — Will the earth’s order be disrupted for your sake? Will rocks be dislodged from their place?
vv. 5-6: Indeed, the light of the wicked fails; The flame of his fire does not shine. The light in his tent darkens; His lamp fails him.
v. 18: [The wicked one] is thrust from light to darkness, Driven from the world.

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-4. Confrontation
5-21. Discourse on the fate of the wicked

V. Comment
Bildad delivers his second speech in ch. 18. The chapter can be divided into two sections: Bildad begins by confronting Job (vv. 1-4) and then delivers a discourse about the fate of the wicked (vv. 5-21). In terms of structure, Bildad begins his speech like most other speeches in the book by mentioning the “words/speech/talk” of his predecessor: “How long? Put an end to talk! Consider, and then we shall speak” (v. 2). For similar verses, see 4:2, 8:2, 9:2, 11:2–3, 15:2–3, 16:2–3, 20:2, 21:2, 32:6–33:3, 34:2, 36:2, and 38:2. Also, like the friends’ previous speeches, Bildad incorporates a discussion about the wicked (vv. 5-21; cf. 4:7-11, 8:8-19, 11:20, 15:17-35).

It seems that Bildad references many of Job’s previous statements. For example,  Job asked in 16:3, “Have windy words no limit (qeitz)? What afflicts you that you speak on?” and Bildad says in v. 2 “How long? Put an end (qintzei) to talk! Consider, and then we shall speak.” (Note: the translation of qintzei as “end” in v. 2 is debatable, see BDB) In 12:7 Job mocks the friends by telling them “But ask the beasts (beheimot), and they will teach you; The birds of the sky, they will tell you,” and Bildad asks in v. 3 “Why are we thought of as beasts (beheima), Regarded by you as stupid?” Also, in 14:18 Job says “Mountains collapse and crumble; Rocks are dislodged from their place (zur ye’etaq mimekomo).” Bildad parallels this phrase in v. 4, “…  Will earth’s order be disrupted for your sake? Will rocks be dislodged from their place (ye’etaq zur mimekomo)?”

In vv. 5-21 Bildad speaks about how the wicked are punished for their sins. Clines writes (p. 409), “The primary interpretive question for this speech is whether Bildad casts Job as one of the wicked, who will inevitably suffer the fate here portrayed, or whether the picture here drawn is of what precisely Job is not.” While some think that Bildad is describing Job’s wickedness (e.g. Murphy, p. 32), Clines believes that Bildad is encouraging Job by letting him know that he will be killed unless he turns to God by admitting his sins.

Bildad’s sapiential speech can be summarized by Prov. 14:11: “The house of the wicked will be demolished, But the tent of the upright will flourish.” In fact, his speech has many parallels in the books of Proverbs and Psalms. For examples, see Ps. 7:15-17, 10:2-11, and 49:14-15 where the fates of the wicked are described. Also, see Prov. 24:20 and 13:9 where the wicked’s “lamp” goes out, much like our v. 5-6, “ Indeed, the light of the wicked fails; The flame of his fire does not shine. The light in his tent darkens; His lamp fails him.” As one might expect, there are many more parallels to both books.

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from  http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/images/Scale/Boulder.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job continues his fifth speech in chapter 17. He laments how people ignore the truth which is so obvious to him, i.e. the fact that God punishes the innocent for no reason. Job ends with a gruesome description of his steady advance to the grave.

II. Photo
Job describes what his eyes see: “My eyes fail from vexation; All shapes seem to me like shadows.” (v. 7)

III. Important Verses
v. 2: Surely mocking men keep me company, And with their provocations I close my eyes.
v. 7: My eyes fail from vexation; All shapes seem to me like shadows.
v. 12: They say that night is day, That light is here — in the face of darkness.
vv. 13-16: If I must look forward to Sheol as my home, And make my bed in the dark place, Say to the Pit, “You are my father,” To the maggots, “Mother,” “Sister” — Where, then, is my hope? Who can see hope for me? Will it descend to Sheol? Shall we go down together to the dust?

IV. Outline
1. Hopelessness
2-5. Description of friends to God
7-9. Description of how others react
10-12. Description of situation to friends
13-16. Hopelessness

V. Comment
Job concludes his fifth speech in chapter 17. There are two difficulties in reading the chapter: (1) it isn’t always clear who Job is addressing, and (2) many of the chapter’s verses are ambiguous. It seems that vv. 1-5 are an address to God, but vv. 6-10 are an address to the friends. Vv. 11-16 might be an address to the friends, God, both, or possibly no one. In terms of structure, Job characteristically ends his speech with a description of death (vv. 13-16; cf. 7:21; 10:21-22; 14:20-22).

Like the previous chapter, ch. 17 has features in common with lament genre found in the book of Psalms. For example, in v. 2 Job speaks about those who mock him: “Surely mocking men keep me company, And with their provocations I close my eyes.” This is similar to 12:4, “I have become a laughingstock to my friend — ‘One who calls to God and is answered, Blamelessly innocent’ — a laughingstock.” A common complaint in the book of psalms is about “mockers.” For instance, Ps. 22:8 says “All who see me mock me; they curl their lips, they shake their heads,” and Ps. 35:15-16 says, “But when I stumble, they gleefully gather; wretches gather against me, I know not why; they tear at me without end. With impious, mocking grimace they gnash their teeth at me.”

In vv. 13-16 Job talks about his descent to Sheol (the “abode of the dead”): “If I must look forward to Sheol as my home, And make my bed in the dark place, Say to the Pit, ‘You are my father,’ To the maggots, ‘Mother,’ ‘Sister’ — Where, then, is my hope? Who can see hope for me? Will it descend to Sheol? Shall we go down together to the dust?” In this passage Job touches upon many of the prominent themes of “Sheol” (which occurs roughly 65 times in Tanakh). He describes it as a place which one “descends” to (v. 16, cf. Num 16:30; Job 7:9; Isa 57:9; cf. Isa 29:4; Ps 88:3–4), and as a place of darkness (v. 13, cf. Lam 3:6; Job 18:18). Job calls Sheol his “house” in v. 13, much like 30:23: “I know You will bring me to death, The house (beit) assigned for all the living.” Similarly, Ps. 49:12 says, “Their grave is their eternal home (batteimo), the dwelling-place for all generations of those once famous on earth,” and Eccl. 12:5 says, “… And the caper bush may bud again; But man sets out for his eternal abode (beit ‘olamo), With mourners all around in the street.”

Job also describes Sheol as the shachat “pit” in v. 14, a common term for the abode of death (cf. Job 33:18, 22, 24, 30; Ps 16:10; Jonah 2:7). In v. 16 Job talks about the ‘afar “dust” of Sheol, and this is also a common description for the underworld. For example, Ps. 30:10 says, “What is to be gained from my death, from my descent into the Pit (shachat)? Can dust (‘afar) praise You? Can it declare Your faithfulness?” Similarly, Dan 12:12 says, “Many of those that sleep in the dust (‘afar) of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence.” Also see Job 7:21, 20:11, 21:26, Ps. 22:16, 22:30, and Isa 26:19.

One might ask, what exactly is “Sheol”? Lewis writes (“Abode of the Dead, The” The Anchor Bible Dictionary Vol. II, pp. 101-105): “Sheol is intimately connected with the grave, although the degree to which it is identified with the grave has been debated. On one extreme we have those who see the grave behind every reference to Sheol, while on the other extreme Sheol and the grave are kept totally separate.” In support of the theory that Sheol is related to the grave, Clines notes (p. 399) that archaeologists have found an ossuary (a box used to store bones) in Israel which is shaped like a house (see the discussion of the word “house” and Sheol above) and bears the inscription “Sheol” (see E. M. Meyers, “Secondary Burials in Palestine,” BA2 33 [1970] 2–29, and L. Y. Rahmani, “Jerusalem’s Tomb Monuments on Jewish Ossuaries,” IEJ 18 [1968] 220–25 [222] and pl 23).

Clines gives an interesting summary of Job’s fifth speech (p. 377): “The function of this speech is to urge a prompt response from God to the demand for a lawsuit made in Job’s previous speech (chaps. 12–14). On the trajectory of Job’s developing argument, this speech adds no new matter to his complaint against God, but serves—in the absence of any divine reply to his summons in 13:22—to stress the urgency of a reply. ‘Sleepless I wait for God’s reply,’ he says (16:20b). He has nothing further of substance to lay before God; his legal cry for justice of chap. 13 has been uttered in heaven’s presence, and can now be assumed to be awaiting its turn to be heard: ‘it is my cry that is my spokesman . . . it will argue a mortal’s case before God;’ (18:20–21).”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Murphy, Wisdom Literature (Forms of Old Testament Literature)
Lewis, “Abode of the Dead, The” in Anchor Bible Dictionary Vol. II (pp. 101-105)
Photo taken from  http://chiaroscuro.baltiblogs.com/archives/shadows.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job responds to his friends by rejecting their arguments and lamenting how God treats him.

II. Photo
Job describes what God has done to him: “I had been untroubled, and He broke me in pieces; He took me by the scruff and shattered me; He set me up as His target!” (v. 12)

III. Important Verses
vv. 4-5: I would also talk like you If you were in my place; I would barrage you with words, I would wag my head over you. I would encourage you with words, My moving lips would bring relief.
vv. 11-13: God hands me over to an evil man, Thrusts me into the clutches of the wicked. I had been untroubled, and He broke me in pieces; He took me by the scruff and shattered me; He set me up as His target; His bowmen surrounded me; He pierced my kidneys; He showed no mercy; He spilled my bile onto the ground.
v. 18: Earth, do not cover my blood; Let there be no resting place for my outcry!

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-6. Rejecting the friends’ arguments
7-22. Struggling with God’s actions

V. Comment
Job responds to his friends in chapter 16. He first rejects their arguments (vv. 2-6) and then describes his struggle with God (vv. 7-22; it isn’t always clear who Job is addressing in this section). It is interesting that Job’s speech resembles the “complaint/lament” genre in two ways: he complains about his wretched state (vv. 6, 15-16, 22), and speaks of the detestable “enemy” (vv. 7-8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13-14).

In regards to the tone of this speech, Clines writes (p. 377): “The tonality of the speech resembles that of Job’s previous speech in chaps. 12–14. There is the same combination of sarcasm directed to the friends at the opening (16:2–5), though less pugnacious, less intellectualist, and the same hopeless conviction of the imminence of death at the close (17:11–16). The middle of the speech exhibits a self-pitying expression of exhaustion (16:7), dryness (16:8), weeping (16:16), extinction of the life-force (17:1), destruction of hope (17:11). The “laments” that protest at God’s ferocious behavior display, strangely enough, a sense of keen vitality on Job’s part; it is as though when he considers himself in his suffering his spirit droops, but when he considers how his suffering has come about and what it proves about the God who has caused it his anger rouses him to fresh élan.”

In v. 18 Job cries out, “Earth, do not cover my blood; Let there be no resting place for my outcry!” What exactly does he mean? It seems that innocent blood calls out to God as long as it remains uncovered on the ground. For instance, in the Cain and Able story one finds the following verse: “Then [God] said, ‘What have you done? Hark, your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!’” Similarly, Isa. 26:21 says, “For lo! The LORD shall come forth from His place To punish the dwellers of the earth For their iniquity; And the earth shall disclose its bloodshed And shall no longer conceal its slain.” Also, Ezek. 24:7-8 says, “For the blood she shed is still in her; She set it upon a bare rock; She did not pour it out on the ground To cover it with earth. She set her blood upon the bare rock, So that it was not covered, So that it may stir up [My] fury To take vengeance.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Job 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from  http://theblogentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/target.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Eliphaz responds to Job in chapter 15. He claims that Job’s words – which are an affront to God – are themselves an indication of his guilt. Eliphaz ends his speech with a lengthy discourse about the fate of the wicked.

II. Photo
Eliphaz tells Job about the fate of the wicked: “He will drop his unripe grapes like a vine; He will shed his blossoms like an olive tree.” (v. 33)

III. Important Verses
vv. 2-6: Does a wise man answer with windy opinions, And fill his belly with the east wind? Should he argue with useless talk, With words that are of no worth? You subvert piety And restrain prayer to God. Your sinfulness dictates your speech, So you choose crafty language. Your own mouth condemns you — not I; Your lips testify against you.
v. 9: What do you know that we do not know, Or understand that we do not?
vv. 12-13: How your heart has carried you away, How your eyes have failed you, That you could vent your anger on God, And let such words out of your mouth!

IV. Outline
1. Introduction
2-16. Confronting Job
17-35. The fate of the wicked

V. Comment
In chapter 15 Eliphaz addresses Job for the second time. His speech can be divided into two sections, a confrontation with Job (vv. 2-16), and a homily about the fate of the wicked (vv. 17-35). It is interesting to note that Eliphaz’s first speech – and the speeches of all the friends for that matter – contains a discourse about the fate of the wicked (cf. 4:7-11, 5:12-14, 8:8-19, and 11:20). Eliphaz’s speech has many characteristics of the wisdom genre: it speaks of how wise men should behave (vv. 2-3, 12-13), uses rhetorical questions (vv. 7-9), and speaks about the wicked (vv. 20-35).

Clines gives an exceptional summary of Eliphaz’s speech, and puts it into its broader perspective (pp. 345-346): “The function of the speech as a whole may be said to be encouragement. Eliphaz makes no criticism of Job’s behavior prior to his suffering, and holds against him only what he has said in this dialogue (v 5; see the Comment). He does not condemn Job (v 6a). for he believes he is fundamentally innocent; Job’s own words, however, put him in the wrong (v 6). Eliphaz views his own interpositions as “speech that deals gently” with Job, and sees himself as conveying “the encouragements of God” (v 11). The assertion that humankind cannot be morally pure in God’s sight (vv 14–16) intends to be excusatory of Job: even the best of people are bound to sin at some time. Read in this light, the depiction of the wicked in vv 20–35 can only be essentially encouragement to Job, since the experience of the wicked is so alien to Job’s own experience.

“The tonality of the speech, in line with its function, is sympathetic but firm; Job has spoken unwisely (vv 2–3), self-importantly (vv 7–9), and aggressively (vv 12–13), and he has adopted a position that ill becomes his piety (vv 4–5). He has abandoned proper reverence before God (v 4). He ignores fundamental truths about human nature (vv 14–16) and needs clear correction. There is some sarcasm in the speech, in the questions whether Job has not mistaken himself for the First Man, possessor of superhuman wisdom (vv 7–8), but the very extravagance of the sarcasm blunts its edge, and it seems that Eliphaz is administering a douche of cold water to Job to bring him to his senses rather than essentially attacking Job or attempting to humiliate him.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Proverbs 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from http://corningpd.org/recfiles/Olive%20Tree%20Orchard.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job finishes his fourth speech in chapter 14. He laments his fate and the fate of all mankind; both are destined to die without any hope for future life.

II. Photo
Job laments the fate of man: “There is hope for a tree; If it is cut down it will renew itself; Its shoots will not cease. If its roots are old in the earth, And its stump dies in the ground, At the scent of water it will bud And produce branches like a sapling. But mortals languish and die; Man expires; where is he?” (vv. 7-10)

III. Important Verses
vv. 1-2: Man born of woman is short-lived and sated with trouble. He blossoms like a flower and withers; He vanishes like a shadow and does not endure.
vv. 7-10: There is hope for a tree; If it is cut down it will renew itself; Its shoots will not cease. If its roots are old in the earth, And its stump dies in the ground, At the scent of water it will bud And produce branches like a sapling. But mortals languish and die; Man expires; where is he?
v. 14: If a man dies, can he live again? All the time of my service I wait Until my replacement comes.
vv. 18-22: Mountains collapse and crumble; Rocks are dislodged from their place. Water wears away stone; Torrents wash away earth; So you destroy man’s hope, You overpower him forever and he perishes; You alter his visage and dispatch him. His sons attain honor and he does not know it; They are humbled and he is not aware of it. He feels only the pain of his flesh, And his spirit mourns in him.

IV. Outline
1-6. Man is destined to die
7-22. Man has no existence after death

V. Comment
In chapter 14 Job finishes his fourth speech. Like he has done in previous chapters, Job extends his own situation to that of all mankind (cf. 3:20-23, 7:1-10). He laments the fact that man is destined to die (vv. 1-6). He also laments the fact that there is no hope for man after death (vv. 7-22).

Clines gives an exceptional summary and interpretation of Job’s fourth speech (p. 337): “Something quite new and dramatic has happened in this speech. Standing as it does at the junction between the first and second cycles of speeches it signals a climax in the progress of Job’s emotions and lays down a marker for the future development of the plot of the work as a whole.

“The dramatic development in this speech is that after all his desire to be put out of his misery as soon as possible (6:8–9), after his acknowledgment of the danger—not to say to the impossibility— of calling God to account (9:3, 14, 16), after his conviction that if he goes to law with God he is bound to be found guilty (9:29), after his demand for an assurance of safe conduct if he is to approach God (9:34–35), here he does the unthinkable and acts as he had not imagined himself acting. Here, at the center of the speech, he unequivocally calls on God to provide the evidence on which God would justify his severity toward him. It matters not which of them is to be plaintiff, and which defendant (13:22); what Job seeks is a formal judicial process, in which an obligation is laid upon God to supply a catalogue of Job’s supposed crimes (13:23). This is an utterance which, once made, cannot be unsaid; Job is now committed to confrontation with God, whatever the risks.

“What outcome to this legal battle does Job expect? He has no illusions, and no hope; of one thing he is confident, that his temerity will issue in his death (13:15). But he has not gone to court to plead for his life or to beg for mercy, but to clear his name. He has no faith in the goodness of God, and not a lot in his justice; but he believes so strongly in the rightness of his own cause that he cannot doubt that in the end, whether before or after his death, he will be vindicated (13:18). He seeks the triumph, certainly not of God, and not even of himself, but of truth.”

VI. Works Used
(see “Commentaries” page)
Clines, Proverbs 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from  http://www.outdoorliaisons.com/pepperhollowtree.jpg

Hebrew-English Text
I. Summary
Job continues his fourth speech in chapter 13. He tells his friends that they have falsely accused him, and that they don’t understand God. Job then demands God to list any sins that he has supposedly committed.
II. Photo
Job confronts God: “Why do You hide Your face, and treat me like an enemy? Will You harass a driven leaf, will You pursue dried-up straw?” (vv. 24-25)

III. Important Verses
vv. 2-3: What you know, I know also; I am not less than you. Indeed, I would speak to the Almighty; I insist on arguing with God.
v. 5: If you would only keep quiet It would be considered wisdom on your part.
v. 7: Will you speak unjustly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for Him?
v. 12: Your briefs are empty platitudes; Your responses are unsubstantial.
v. 15: He may well slay me; I may have no hope; Yet I will argue my case before Him.
vv. 22-24: Then summon me and I will respond, Or I will speak and You reply to me. How many are my iniquities and sins? Advise me of my transgression and sin. Why do You hide Your face, And treat me like an enemy?
v. 25: Will You harass a driven leaf, Will You pursue dried-up straw

IV. Outline
1-12. Confronting the friends
13-19. Preparing to confront God
20-28. Confronting God

V. Comment
Job continues his fourth speech in chapter 13. He accuses his friends of inaccurately defending God (vv. 1-12), prepares to confront God (vv. 13-19), and then finally enters into a “court case” with God (vv. 20-28). In terms of structure, there is a turn from addressing the friends to addressing God, and that occurs at vv. 19-20. There is also a heavy use of legal terminology (vv. 3, 6, 8, 15, 18-19, and 22).

VI. Works Used
Clines, Job 1-20 (Word Biblical Commentary)
Photo taken from  http://www.markmccoyphotography.com/images/water.leaf.med.over.jpg