Job 42

Then Job answered the LORD. He said:

1Then Job answered the LORD, and said,

2"I know that you can do anything, and that no plan of yours can be stopped.

2I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

NoteThe King James "no thought can be withholden from thee" uses "thought" in an old sense: the Hebrew word means a plan or purpose, not a private idea. Most read the line as Job saying no purpose of God's can be blocked; a minority read it as "nothing I plan is hidden from you."

3You asked, 'Who is this who covers up my purpose with words that have no knowledge in them?' It is true. I spoke about things I did not understand, things too great for me to know.

3Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

NoteJob is quoting God's own opening question back to him, God asked it at the start of the speeches (Job 38:2). Ancient Hebrew had no quotation marks, so the King James runs the quotation straight on without warning, which can make it sound as though Job is asking the question himself.

4You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak. I will ask you questions, and you will answer me.'

4Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

NoteAgain Job repeats God's words back, this time the challenge God issued twice (Job 38:3 and 40:7): the one being questioned was Job, not God.

5Before, I had only heard about you with my ears. But now my own eyes have seen you.

5I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6So I take back what I said, and I turn away from it, here in dust and ashes."

6Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

NoteThis is one of the most disputed lines in the book. The Hebrew verb translated "I abhor myself" has no object attached to it, so it can mean "I despise myself," "I take back what I said," or even "I melt away." The verb behind "repent" means to change one's mind or to be comforted, and does not by itself imply admitting sin. Sitting in dust and ashes was the customary sign of mourning or grief, not necessarily of guilt.

7After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz from Teman, "I am angry with you and with your two friends. You have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has.

7And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

NoteTeman was a district of Edom, southeast of the Dead Sea, with a reputation in the ancient world for wise men. None of Job's friends are Israelites. The phrase rendered "spoken of me the thing that is right" can mean either "spoken about me correctly" or "spoken to me rightly"; the Hebrew allows both.

8So now take seven young bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer them up as a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you. I will accept his prayer and will not treat you as your foolish talk deserves. For you have not spoken about me what is right, as my servant Job has."

8Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal killed and burned whole on an altar, with no part of it eaten, the most complete form of sacrifice. Seven was the standard number for a full or complete set. The story is set before Israel had priests or a temple, so the head of a household makes the offering himself and Job acts as the one who prays on the friends' behalf.

9So Eliphaz from Teman, Bildad from Shuah, and Zophar from Naamah went and did what the LORD told them. And the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

9So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.

NoteShuah and Naamah, like Teman, are places outside Israel; their exact locations are unknown. "The LORD accepted Job" means God granted what Job asked for the friends, accepted his prayer, not simply his person.

10When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored everything he had lost. In fact, the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

10And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Note"Turned the captivity of Job" is a Hebrew idiom. Job was never a prisoner; the phrase is normally used of bringing exiles home, and here means to reverse someone's fortunes and restore what was lost.

11Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, and everyone who had known him before. They ate a meal with him in his house. They shared his sorrow and comforted him about all the trouble the LORD had brought on him. Each of them gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

11Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.

NoteThe shared meal was the customary act of condolence for someone who had been mourning. The coin, Hebrew qesitah, is an unknown unit of weight or value; the word appears only twice elsewhere in the Bible, both times in very old settings, and gives the story an archaic feel. The gold ring was a nose ring or earring, worn by men and women alike as portable wealth as much as ornament.

12So the LORD blessed the last part of Job's life more than the first part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand pairs of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

12So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

NoteEach figure is exactly double what Job owned at the start of the book (seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred pairs of oxen, five hundred female donkeys). A "yoke" of oxen is a pair harnessed together to pull a plow, counted as one working unit.

13He also had seven sons and three daughters.

13He had also seven sons and three daughters.

NoteThe number of children is not doubled, Job had seven sons and three daughters before as well. The Hebrew word for "seven" here has an unusual ending, and some readers have taken it as "twice seven," that is fourteen sons, though most translate it simply as seven.

14He named the first daughter Jemima, the second Kezia, and the third Kerenhappuch.

14And he called the name of the first, Jemima; and the name of the second, Kezia; and the name of the third, Kerenhappuch.

NoteThe names describe beauty and scent: Jemima is linked to a word for dove or for daylight, Kezia is cassia, a cinnamon-like spice, and Kerenhappuch means "horn of eye paint", a small container of the dark cosmetic women used around the eyes.

15In all the land there were no women as beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them a share of the family property along with their brothers.

15And in all the land were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

NoteNormally daughters inherited land only when there were no sons to inherit. Giving daughters a share alongside their brothers was unusual enough that the narrator points it out.

16After this Job lived one hundred and forty years. He saw his children, and their children, down to the fourth generation.

16After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.

NoteA hundred and forty years is twice seventy, the length elsewhere described as a full human lifetime. Seeing four generations of descendants was the ancient picture of a life completed.

17Then Job died, an old man who had lived a full life.

17So Job died, being old and full of days.

Note"Old and full of days" is a set phrase used in the Hebrew Bible for a death at the natural end of a long life, the same wording used of Abraham and Isaac.