Job 23

Then Job answered:

1Then Job answered and said,

NoteJob is speaking in a long back-and-forth with three friends who came to comfort him and ended up accusing him. This is his reply to Eliphaz, who has just argued that Job's suffering must be punishment for hidden wrongdoing.

2"Even today my complaint is bitter. The blow against me is heavier than my groaning.

2Even to day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Note"Complaint" here is not grumbling; the Hebrew word is closer to a formal grievance, the kind of case a person brings to court. The second half of the verse is uncertain in the Hebrew: the text as written reads roughly "my hand is heavy on my groaning," while ancient translators read "his hand," meaning the blow God is striking is worse than the noise Job makes about it.

3If only I knew where to find him, so that I could come right up to the place where he sits.

3Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!

Note"The place where he sits" is a judge's seat. From here through verse 7 Job's language is all courtroom language, finding the judge, laying out a case, presenting arguments, hearing a verdict. He is imagining a legal hearing with God as the judge on the bench.

4I would lay out my case in front of him and fill my mouth with arguments.

4I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.

5I would learn the words he would use to answer me, and understand what he would say to me.

5I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.

6Would he use his great power to argue me down? No. Instead he would give me strength.

6Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

NoteThe Hebrew of the second half can be read two ways: "he would put strength in me" (so that Job could stand up to the hearing), or "he would pay attention to me": that is, he would actually listen rather than simply overpower Job. The wording does not settle which.

7There an honest man could reason with him, and I would be set free forever from the one who judges me.

7There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

Note"Honest man" translates a word meaning straight or upright. In a legal setting like this one it means the party who is in the right in the dispute, not simply a person of good character.

8Look: I go forward, but he is not there; I go back, but I cannot find him.

8Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him:

NoteHebrew describes direction as if the speaker is facing east, so "forward" is east and "back" is west; in the next verse "left" is north and "right" is south. Together the four cover every direction: Job has looked everywhere.

9When he is at work on the left, I cannot see him; when he turns to the right, he hides himself, and I cannot see him.

9On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him:

10But he knows the way I have taken. When he has tested me, I will come out like gold.

10But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Note"Tested" and "come out like gold" describe metalworking: ore was heated in a furnace so the impurities burned away and the pure metal was left. The image is of being put through fire and proving genuine, not of being improved.

11My feet have stayed in his tracks. I have kept to his road and have not turned aside.

11My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

12I have not turned back from the commands he spoke. I have valued the words of his mouth more than my daily food.

12Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Note"Daily food" renders a Hebrew word whose sense is disputed, most likely "my allotted portion," the ration a person needs to live. Some read a similar-looking word meaning "in my bosom," giving "I have stored up the words of his mouth within me."

13But he has made up his mind, and who can turn him? He does whatever he wants.

13But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

NoteThe Hebrew here reads literally "but he is in one," a famously obscure phrase. It is usually taken to mean either that God is fixed and unchanging in his purpose, or that he is alone, with no one above him to overrule what he decides.

14He carries out what he has decided for me, and he has many more plans like it.

14For he performeth the thing that is appointed for me: and many such things are with him.

Note"What he has decided for me" translates a word for a fixed allotment or decree, a portion assigned to a person, whether they want it or not.

15That is why I am terrified in his presence. When I think about it, I am afraid of him.

15Therefore am I troubled at his presence: when I consider, I am afraid of him.

16God has made my heart weak, and the Almighty has terrified me,

16For God maketh my heart soft, and the Almighty troubleth me:

NoteThe King James "maketh my heart soft" does not mean tender-hearted; in older English a heart made soft was a heart melting with fear, that is, courage draining away. "The Almighty" translates the ancient title Shaddai, used far more often in Job than anywhere else in the Bible; its original meaning is uncertain, suggestions include "the mountain one" and "the mighty one."

17yet the darkness has not silenced me, and he has not hidden the thick darkness from my face."

17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.

NoteThis verse is one of the most disputed in the book. The Hebrew verb can mean either "silenced" or "destroyed, cut off," and the two negatives can be read as plain statements or as a wish. So it can mean "the darkness has not silenced me" (Job is still speaking in spite of it), or "if only I had been cut off before the darkness came" (Job wishing he had died first). "Darkness" and "thick darkness" are standard Hebrew images for disaster and death, not literal night.