Job 16:9-11
The first two strophes of Job’s lament continue the alternating 3-beat couplet (bicolon) and tricolon pattern established in vv. 7-8 (discussed in the previous note). In each strophe, a pair of tricola (vv. 9-10, 12-13) is followed by a couplet (v. 11, 14), forming a triadic 3:3:2 structure. The complaint against God that lies at the heart of vv. 7-8 is further developed and expounded in these strophes, as Job makes clear, in vivid language and rather graphic imagery, that God is the one responsible for his suffering, behaving as a hostile enemy attacker.
Verse 9
“His anger tears at (me) and assails me!
He gnashes at me with His teeth—
my enemy sharpens His eye against me!”
In his prior speeches, Job occasionally described God as a hostile adversary who has openly attacked him (with afflictions and punishments)—cf. 6:4; 7:20; 10:16-17. This imagery becomes considerably more prominent here in the lament of chaps. 16-17. The idea of God’s hostility toward Job is indicated by the verb <f^c* in line 1, and by the use of the noun rx^ (II) in line 3. The relatively rare verb <f^c* means “be an enemy, be hostile toward” (cf. further in 30:21, elsewhere Gen 27:41; 49:23; 50:15; Ps 55:4[3]; here, a hostile action (and preparation for it) is in view, i.e., “attack, assail” (cf. Gen 49:23; Clines, p. 370). The noun rx^ (II) is derived from the similar verbal root rrx (II), “be hostile, act with hostility, attack”, viz., as a hostile foe/enemy.
Blommerde (p. 77), following Dahood, understands yrx here as a form of the noun rWx (II), denoting a knife/blade made out of sharp flint (cf. Jos 5:2f)—yr!x% (= yr!Wx), with the y– sufformative taken as a third person suffix. The line thus reads, “He sharpens his blade, His eyes (are) against me”, or, parallel to the conjunctive syntax in line 1, “He sharpens his blade, (and) His eyes, against me!”.
The action of a human attacker is compared with that of a fierce animal predator (such as a lion, cf. 10:16, also 4:10-11) that gnashes and tears at its prey with its sharp teeth. Lines 2 and 3 are clearly connected in this regard, between the noun /v@ (dual, “teeth”) and the verb vf^l* (“sharpen”). Even if yrx is not to be read as yr!x% (“his blade”, cf. above), there may be some wordplay along these lines, viz., between the enemy sharpening his eyes (i.e., honing in on and preparing for attack) and possessing a sharp-toothed blade. The Targum appears to combine the two lines of imagery: “his eye is a sharpened knife [vF^l%y+ rx%] to me”; Seow, p. 745.
The fact that Job sees God as attacking with anger (“His anger tears…”) implies that God is leveling judgment—viz., punishing the wicked; in Biblical Hebrew idiom, God’s anger (here, [a^) typically stands for his judgment against human wickedness.
Verse 10
“They opened wide upon me with their mouth,
with a sharp (attack) they have struck my cheeks—
(as) one against me they bring themselves in full!”
In this second tricolon, God’s attacks (against Job) are apparently depicted as being carried out by an army of attackers—whether divine/heavenly (i.e., demonic) or human beings. Clines (p. 368), assumes the latter, building the interpretation into his translation (cf. also the ESV), with the further assumption that the attacks are with words (lit., “with their mouth”, i.e., mocking taunts/insults, “Men laugh in open mockery of me”). While the use of the mouth-motif could imply (and include) verbal assault, it seems much too narrow a view to limit the motif here in that way. Indeed, the idiom of opening one’s mouth wide (vb. ru^P*) almost certainly alludes to the traditional image of the voracious appetite (and vast gaping mouth) of Death/Sheol (see esp. the wording in Isa 5:14). Similarly, the fierce predatory animal (i.e., lion, etc., see v. 9 above) also opens its mouth wide in attack (cf. Ps 22:14[13]). The attacks of these adversaries (who carry out the assault for God Himself) have the purpose (and result) of bringing Job near to death.
The noun hp*r=j# in line 2 denotes “sharpness, (something) sharp”; while it can refer specifically to a sharp word (e.g., taunt, insult, reproach), it is better to keep here to the more general meaning, viz., of a sharp/harsh attack. The striking of Job’s cheeks should be taken both literally (i.e., attacks on his flesh and physical being, 2:5-8, etc.) and figuratively (i.e., an assault that brings shame and disgrace to Job); cf. Isa 50:6; Mic 4:14 [5:1]; Lam 3:30.
The third line emphasizes two points regarding the adversaries’ attack: (i) they act together (“[as] one”, dj^y~), and (ii) they come against Job in full force. The use of the verb al@m* (“be full”, active “fill”) in the reflexive Hitpael stem is extremely rare (this is the only Scriptural occurrence); its meaning, “bring themselves (together) in full (force)”, should perhaps be connected specifically with the related noun al)m= (“full number/measure/extent”), as suggested by Seow (p. 746). Cf. the Piel of the verb in Jer 4:5, where it is used in comparable military context—i.e., assemble/muster the full number of troops.
To the extent that human adversaries are in view, and the attacks primarily verbal (i.e., with words), Job would almost certainly be making an indirect reference to the speeches of the companions. In 13:7-8, Job described the companions as speaking (i.e., making ‘attacks’) on God’s behalf; and, indeed, their arguments have been on the orthodox religious side, viz., defending Divine justice against Job’s complaints and accusations (of unfairness and injustice, etc.). Frequently in the Psalms, a group of otherwise unidentified (wicked) human adversaries are described as gathering/massing together to attack the righteous protagonist; often their attacks are presented as primarily of a verbal nature (i.e., taunts, insults, slander), cf. Ps 35:15, and for other examples, Clines, p. 370.
Verse 11
“(The) Mighty (One) shut me up (with the) crooked,
and upon (the) hands of (the) wicked threw me down!”
In this final couplet, Job at last specifies that it is God (la@) who has done these things, who is responsible for the attacks against him; note the alliterative wordplay of la@ juxtaposed with the preposition la# (i.e., la# la@ ’ēl ’el). The imagery here is of a person being thrown into prison, implying that Job is a wicked criminal deserving of such a punishment; cf. earlier in 7:12; 10:14; 12:14; 13:27; 14:17. This is part of the legal-judicial imagery and terminology that runs throughout Job’s speeches.
The precise meaning of the couplet is uncertain. The verb rg~s* (“close, shut”) in the Hiphil stem in this context (i.e., “cause [a person] to be shut up in prison”) typically refers to giving/handing a person over into custody, as the parallel in the second makes clear (cf. Deut 23:16, etc). But who are these “crooked” and “wicked” people to whom Job is being given? It seems that the best way to explain these lines is through the judicial image of a person being thrown into prison along with all the other wicked ones who are there in the prison (and who belong there). The whole point of Job’s complaint (and appeal) is that God has punished him as though he were one of the wicked. The verb fr^y` in line 2 is apparently to be connected with Arabic waraṭa (II) “throw down”, the only other Scriptural occurrence being in Num 22:32. Thus, the image is of a person being cast (i.e., thrown) bodily into prison, where he falls into (lit., “upon”) the hands of the wicked; presumably, he will become subject to subsequent abuse at their hands.
The MT reads the noun lyw]u& (“boy, lad, child”, cf. 21:11), but, as this makes little sense in context, most commentators (e.g., Clines, p. 370f; Seow, p. 746) follow the Versions in reading lW`u^ (“crooked”, i.e., perverse, unjust). Both readings can be explained by an original lwu, which the Masoretic tradition vocalized as lw]u& (> lyw]u&). Gordis (p. 177) less plausibly suggests that the MT here represents a by-form of lW`a^; others have sought to explain it is a diminutive form (see the note by Driver-Gray, vol. 2, p. 105f).
Metrically, verse 11 is a couplet, following the tricola of vv. 9-10; the same metrical pattern applies to the second strophe (vv. 12-14), which will be examined in the next note.
-
- References above (and throughout these notes) marked “Seow” are to C. L. [Choon Leong] Seow, Job 1-21: Interpretation and Commentary, Illuminations Commentary Series (Eerdmans: 2013).
- Those marked “Clines” are to David J. A. Clines, Job 1–20, Word Biblical Commentary [WBC] vol. 17 (1989).
- Those marked “Blommerde” are to Anton C. M. Blommerde, Northwest Semitic Grammar and Job, Biblica et Orientalia 22 (Rome, Pontifical Biblical Institute: 1969).
- Those marked “Gordis” are to Robert Gordis, The Book of Job: Commentary, New Translation, and Special Studies, Moreshet Series, Studies in Jewish History, Literature and Thought, vol. II (The Jewish Theological Seminary of America: 1978).
- Those marked “Driver-Gray” are to Samuel Rolles Driver and George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Job, 2 vols., International Critical Commentary [ICC] (T. & T. Clark: 1921).